“The winners of the 2011 Cade Prize for Innovation were announced at the May 12th Cade Prize Night event, held at the new Fine Arts Building on the campus of Santa Fe College. Graduate Student Ryan Martin and Professor Stephen A. Miller received the coveted, $50,000 prize for an invention titled PolyEsterAcetals, which represent a new class of green plastics that are produced from sustainable biomass sources and are degradable back into ecological life cycles. This technology is particularly amenable to the market segment of disposable packaging and consumer products. A key feature is their tunability to degrade in a variety of environments, including seawater. The Miller Research Group invents, synthesizes, and characterizes several different classes of polymers made from biorenewable feedstocks. Florida Sustainables (floridasustainables.com) works with the UF Office of Technology and Licensing to promote these innovations and secure collaborations with businesses in the polymer manufacturing and processing industry. (photo by Doug Finger/Staff Photographer, Gainesville Sun)”