An exhibit recognizing the more than 60 years worth of work by Armand Winfield, director of the UNM Training and Research Institute for Plastics, is on display in the Center for Southwest Research in Zimmerman Library this semester.
"I am very pleased to be able to show a few of my interesting and unusual projects, which include images of the world's first soft bathroom, uses of atoms for peace, low cost housing for developing countries, work at the New York World's Fair (1963) and in the 1970's, amusement parks and sets for the Metropolitan Opera," Winfield said in a UNM press release.
Winfield, who became the first scientist to have his work archived in the Center for Southwest Research, has written more than 350 articles and books, registered three patents and has six more in the application process with UNM.
The exhibit, "Plastics: The Art and Science of Armand G. Winfield," opened Friday night and was sponsored in part by UNM's School of Engineering and the Engineering Society's President's Council.
Kathlene Ferris, the exhibit's curator, said that Friday's reception went well.
"Because the topic was so broad, it attracted a lot of different people from different backgrounds," Ferris said.
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Ferris said that since their collections focus on the Southwest, many people do not realize that the center also has materials relating to science and engineering.
"For example, our collections include materials on geology, mining, energy and, of course, plastics research," Ferris said. "Armand's research and development in plastics is so broad in scope that it has been difficult to select materials to highlight in the exhibit. I hope that people come away with the understanding that his work is both imaginative and practical."
About 150 individuals joined Ferris and others to admire the exhibit's displays, including pieces of Winfield's jewelry and Crystopal, a material used for architectural design, furniture and even in a professional racecar.
Winfield works in the Mechanical Engineering Department. He started his work at UNM in July of 1993 when he donated all of his plastic company's equipment to the School of Engineering to help form the Training and Research Institute for Plastics.
Under the guidance of Winfield, the institute now has accumulated $1 million in equipment and has influenced students from the fields of engineering, art and architecture, according to his biography on the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering's Web site.
The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, will be on display until May 17.
