Dr. Robert Moon is a Materials Research Engineer with the US Forest Service- Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Moon received his B.S. degree in Metallurgy from the University of Wisconsin (1994), and his M.S. degree (1996) and PhD (2000) in Materials Engineering from Purdue University. His postdoctoral research (2000-2005) was completed within the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales, Australia. His specialty is in processing-structure-property relationships of layered, gradient, and hierarchical structured materials and composites.
In 2005, Dr. Moon joined the FPL and has focused his expertise in the processing-structure-property relationships of cellulose nanoparticles and their composites. Critical to this, is developing the fundamental understanding as to the role of hierarchical structures and interfaces on the various mechanisms that dictate the properties at the nano, meso and macro length scales. In 2007, Dr. Moon was selected by FPL to lead a collaborative research program between Purdue University and FPL that advances nanoscale science and engineering of forestry based materials, primary focus of this effort is in cellulose nanoparticles and their composites.