Meagan_Elinski

Meagan Elinski

Hope College

Meagan Elinski joined Hope College as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the fall of 2020. A Hope alumna, she earned her BS in Chemistry in 2013. For her graduate work at Texas A&M University, she specialized in surface chemistry and tribology (the study of surfaces in relative motion), determining how tailoring surface forces controlled the frictional properties of graphene. After completing her PhD in 2018 Elinski expanded her interest in tribology through postdoctoral research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania. Working across multiple length scales, she focused on developing a mechanistic understanding of anti-wear film formation to enable lower viscosity lubricants and enhance the energy efficiency of vehicles. Capitalizing on her multidisciplinary training, Elinski is building a research program at Hope that targets the intersection of chemistry and mechanics within nanoscopic contacts. Current projects are investigating competing surface reactions, multifunctional tribofilms, the impact of drug-delivery nanomaterials on joint sliding, and cartilage repair. Her work has been recognized through several honors including the Texas A&M U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Doctoral Fellowship for Research and Teaching (2017), the University of Pennsylvania Office of the Vice Provost for Research Postdoctoral Fellowship for Academic Diversity (2018), and the Hope College 10 Under 10 Award (2020).


Appearances