How does someone go from weighing sand in an Analytical Chemistry class to one day possibly saving the ocean? It’s by combining the fundamentals of science with the value of life experience and adding in an inquiring mind.

That would be the formula for Tony Brennan ’75.

Brennan is a professor of material science and engineering at the University of Florida. His research on polymetric surfaces will one day protect us from bacteria without requiring the use of antibacterial chemicals or drugs. This is big news in a time when fear of “superbugs” and MRSA is spreading.

“Whenever something manmade is introduced into a natural environment, bacteria attaches to it. Our goal is to stop that from occurring,” Brennan explained. He and his team at the University of Florida have developed a polymetric surface that inhibits bio-adhesion. In layperson’s terms: Bacteria cannot attach to it.

After completing a chemistry degree from Potsdam and receiving his master’s degree in chemistry at Rochester Institute of Technology, Brennan moved to Colorado with his wife, Kathy. He started working in the biomedical field and particularly the bio-dental business. He noticed that some doctors’ orthodontic work attracted less plaque than others. Because the chemical makeup of the veneers and cavities was the same, he hypothesized “it was the surface and how polished it was that affected the plaque buildup. That was really the beginning of my interest in surface patterns and bio-adhesion.”

After studying surfaces in nature that effectively inhibit bacterial growth, like sharkskin, Brennan decided to chemically replicate them. The result is a sharkskin-like surface called Sharklet. While the nontoxic surface does not kill bacteria, it does stop colonies from attaching to the surface and growing. The Sharklet’s first anticipated use will be on a medical device that comes with a high risk of infection.

So how does saving the ocean come into play? The Office of Naval Research was the first to invest in his research in 1999. Many marine organisms, such as algae and barnacles, feed off the bacteria that attach to ships. These organisms can be detrimental to the ocean environment when they are taken from their place of origin into new waters. The hope is that Brennan’s Sharklet will inhibit the growth of both the bacteria and the resulting harmful marine organisms. His research has been highlighted on the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.

“This surface has to be much more sophisticated because it has to inhibit all of the different types of marine organisms at once, which vary in size, whereas cells in the body are all very close in size,” Brennan explained.

This process hasn’t been an easy one. “It is called ‘research’ because you have to keep looking at it over and over again,” noted Brennan. He saw failures in the beginning and the success doesn’t come as fast as one might want.

Some of the best lessons he learned in doing scientific research came from his Analytical Chemistry class at Potsdam, where he was assigned to weigh sand over and over again. His professors taught him that “nothing is easy, and you cannot take the path of least resistance when it comes to learning science.” It is these fundamentals that are the building blocks of his research today. And it all started with a few fundamental chemistry classes here at SUNY Potsdam.

Kathy Brennan, photo.