Daniel Krajovic
Postdoc

Daniel was born in Pittsburgh, PA and grew up in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. He earned his B.S. in chemical engineering at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY), where he worked in Prof. Mitchell Anthamatten’s group. Over three years, he led a project to install supramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions in poly(caprolactone)-based shape-memory elastomers to achieve both excellent shape-memory performance and melt processability. After graduating in 2020, Daniel moved to Minneapolis, MN to begin his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, joining Prof. Marc Hillmyer’s group in the Department of Chemistry. With sustainability at the heart of his thesis philosophy, Daniel synthesized biomass-derivable, compostable poly(L-lactide)-based block polymers, engineering mechanical and thermal properties competitive with petroleum-derived polyolefins. Daniel joined the Smith Lab as a postdoc in 2025, where he will develop polymeric membranes for CO2 capture from flue gas streams. Outside of the lab, Daniel enjoys running, inline skating, cooking, hiking, and traveling.