Mehdi Tajvidi

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

Associate Professor of Renewable Nanomaterials

Director, Laboratory of Renewable Nanomaterials (LRN)

117 Nutting Hall, School of Forest Resources

207.581.2852
email: mehdi.tajvidi@maine.edu

Cooperating Associate Professor of Advanced Structures and Composites Center and Forest Bioproducts Research Institute ; Member of Paper Surface Science Program (PSSP)

Ph.D. (Natural Resources Engineering), University of Tehran, 2003
M.Sc. (Natural Resources Engineering), University of Tehran, 1998
B.Sc. (Natural Resources Engineering), University of Tehran, 1996

Professional Memberships:

Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST)
Technological Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI)
Society of Plastic Engineers (SPE)

Mehdi Tajvidi joined the School of Forest Resources in September 2013. Mehdi started his scientific career at Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI in 2001 where he worked as a visiting scientist working on his dissertation on dynamic mechanical analysis of wood plastic composites. After completing his Ph.D. program in Natural Resources Engineering at the University of Tehran in 2003, Mehdi worked as an Assistant and later an Associate Professor at the Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, the University of Tehran for 8 years. In 2007 Mehdi received the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) award to do research at the Department of Biomaterials Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Japan where he worked as a Visiting Professor for two years. Upon moving to Canada in 2011, Mehdi worked as a Visiting Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada before Joining the School of Forest Resources in September 2013 as the Assistant Professor of Renewable Nanomaterials. Mehdi’s areas of research interest are production, characterization and performance evaluation of renewable nanomaterials and their composites. He is particularly interested in mechanical properties of nano-materials and nanocomposites, structure-property relationships, viscoelastic behavior, dynamic mechanical analysis and magnetic cellulose nanocomposites. Mehdi’s core research area at UMaine is focused on utilization of cellulose nanomaterials in high volume applications such as coatings, packaging and building products. To date, Mehdi has published over 120 papers in academic journals, presented over 60 presentations at international conferences and advised/co-advised over 50 graduate students and postdocs. As of September 1st 2019, Mehdi is the Associate Professor of Renewable Nanomaterials.