The Recycling Research Foundation (RRF), a nonprofit organization closely associated with the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), announced Sean Kelly as the recipient of its 2015 National Scholarship. Recognizing the need for affordable graduate education, the scholarship awards US$5,000 to an individual seeking a graduate degree in a field that supports the scrap processing and recycling industry as a whole.
Sean received his B.S. from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Biomedical Engineering in 2014, and is currently pursuing his M.S. in Material Science and Engineering at the school’s Metal Processing Institute. Sean’s research focuses on scrap characterization to optimize the recycling process as a function of polymeric and metallic composition. In addition, he is also working with the Aluminum Association researching the recycling rate of automotive aluminum in the U.S. Sean’s current research is being expanded as a dissertation for his PhD.
Sean hopes for a career in the recycling industry in order to help with both legislative and technological advances toward a world that is self-sustainable. He would like to dedicate most of his time to working with old scrap because he feels that is where the most efforts are needed in order to close the loop for recycling all material systems.
“The focus on recycling materials interests me because developing and maintaining sustainable material systems is critical to the advancement of human life on this planet as materialistic demand continues increase regardless of the finiteness of natural resources,” said Sean. “Due to this, technologies and legislation must be developed and enforced so obsolete, end of life products can be processed and critical materials recovered, recycled, and re-used at the highest of recycling rates. I strive to be a large part of the effort needed to reach complete material sustainability.”