Philip Onffroy

Philip R. Onffroy, from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, is pursuing a PhD in chemical engineering at Stanford School of Engineering. He graduated from Bucknell University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a minor in philosophy. Philip aspires to combat plastic pollution and climate change by developing cutting-edge biodegradable polymers and recyclable batteries for long-term renewable energy storage. He previously invented a novel method for generating biodegradable corn starch–based polymer foams and developed bioplastics manufacturing guides for the U.S. Department of Energy at Argonne National Laboratory. Philip also interned at two startup companies in the biotechnology and data science sectors and co-founded a plastics recycling initiative in central Pennsylvania focusing on processing difficult-to-recycle plastic waste from the community into functional products. He captained the Bucknell men’s crew team to a 2022 conference championship. He was awarded a Goldwater scholarship and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.