Fiona Case, is coordinator of advanced materials programs at the NSTI, she has more than 20 years' experience in materials design
(particularly soft matter and polymers), and industrial applications of nanotechnology. Her introduction to industrial polymer science was in the late 80's at Courtaulds Research in the UK where she worked as part of the team developing Tencel - an environmentally friendly solvent spun cellulose fiber. She also investigated the effects of polyacrylonitrile microstructure on carbon fiber performance using early computer modeling techniques. Courtaulds involvement as a founder member of the Biosym/Molecular Simulations Inc. (MSI) Polymer Consortium, one of the earliest materials simulation efforts, meant frequent trips to sunny San Diego, CA. In 1991 she moved to California to join Biosym. Fiona spent nine years at Biosym/MSI (now Accelrys). She carried out contract research for top US and European companies and presented more than 30 workshops on polymer science and molecular modeling. In 1999 she was hired into a central research group at Colgate Palmolive where she worked on materials design and property prediction for toothpaste, detergent, hard surface care and personal care products, and packaging and fragrance technology. She continued to be active in professional education as a lecturer for American Chemical Society (ACS) Short Courses. In 2003 she moved to beautiful Vermont where she started Case Scientific providing contract research, worked as a lecturer at the University of Vermont, and as a consultant for Culgi Inc. She also embarked on a second career as a freelance science writer for Chemistry World (Royal Society of Chemistry). Fiona started working for the Nano Science and Technology Institute in 2005. She is technical program chair for the annual Tech Connect World conferences and teaches the short course on Industrial applications of Nanotechnology. She moved back to San Diego in 2012. Fiona is a Chartered Chemist and a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the ACS, and the National Association of Science Writers.