Moncton native John Dutcher is appluing his expertise in the field of polymers and plastics to help develop better products in the future.

Dutcher, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Dutcher of Moncton, is a professor of physics and recently appointed director of the center for food and soft materials and science at the University of Guelph. The center brings together physical, biological and food researchers from 16 different research groups across the university and further afield.

What particularly interests Dutcher are thin film polymers used in everything from surface coatings to adhesives to protective barriers in microelectronics. His lab has perfected a technique for making free-standing polymer films a thousand times thinner than a human hair.

Dutcher is involved mostly in fundamental resrearch, such as observing how molecules behave under different temperatures and conditions. He believes this study could yield insight into information storage to creating new kinds of surfaces and products.

Why does a car dashboard crack? The answer, says Dutcher, is that auto parts makers add plasticizing molecules in the product to give it better flexibility, but those molecules eventually evaporate, leaving the plastic brittle and susceptible to cracking. Those plasticizing molecules also emit that "new car" smell.

"We don't build better mouse traps. We do fundamental research that helps people understand how they work, which can lead to the development of better devices."

Dutcher graduated from Moncton High School in 1980 (Actually John was the valedictorian in 1978 - Webmaster) with the Governor-General's medal. He received the University Medal in Engineering Physics and the Governor General's Gold Medal from Dalhousie University in Halifax. He has been promoted to professor in less than 10 years after receiving his PhD. He currently resides in Guelph with his wife, Heather, and three children.