Celebrating the 60^th birthday of José Carlos Pinto

This Macromolecular Reaction Engineering special issue is dedicated to Celebrate the 60th birthday of José Carlos Pinto, or Zé, as he likes to be called by his friends and colleagues. We were honored and delighted to organize this special issue of Macromolecular Reaction Engineering with Dr. Spiegel to celebrate the importance of Zé’s contribution to developing polymer technology throughout his 35 working years. José Carlos is now a full Professor of the Chemical Engineering Program at Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Engenharia (COPPE), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and a permanent member of the Graduate Program in Chemical and Biochemical Process Engineering at the School of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Zé has worked in modeling, simulation, and control of polymerization processes since 1987, published about 500 papers in refereed journals and deposited 50 patents during the supervision of more than 150 MSc Dissertations, 100 DSc theses, and hundreds of projects with industrial partners. He is currently a member of the editorial committee of the journal Polímeros: Ciência e Tecnologia (edited by Associação Brasileira de Polímeros (ABPol)) and a member of the Editorial Board of Macromolecular Reaction Engineering (published by Wiley) and Processes (published by MDPI). He has been a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences since 2010 and the National Academy of Engineering since 2014. Finally, he has deserved about 11000 citations in published materials, according to the “Google Scholar” database (consulted on February 13th, 2023). Prof. Pinto participated in industrial and academic research projects in 20 countries and 126 different institutions, as illustrated in Figure 1, reinforcing the relevance of this research in the global polymer scenario. Zé has been a versatile researcher, as highlighted in Figure 2, presenting many keywords in his papers, totaling 726. As shown in Figure 2, his work has been focused on the general area of Chemical Engineering, with an emphasis on chemical reactors, particularly modeling, simulation, and control of polymerization systems. He has also been active in emerging technologies in polymer, motivating Brazilian researchers to work in eco-friendly polymers, biodegradable polymers, polymers for biomedical applications, polymer biodegradation and stabilization, and chemical recycling of polymer wastes. Zé dedication to the academia and to his students can be summarized in one of his sayings taken from a Djavan lyric: “if I had more soul to give, I would give it”. Zé is versatile not only in his professional career but also in his personal life. Zé has written two poetry books! Besides, he has recorded a CD with his composed songs, “Turbilhão” being one of our favorites. And during the pandemic, he created a YouTube Chanel (“Falando Com Ciência”), to discuss scientific and educational matters related to Brazilian society and education. Therefore, Zé has taught us that it is possible to amalgamate science, politics, and arts! As a matter of fact, while he writes a new paper, he also writes poems, records chemical engineering lessons and records songs. However, it is impossible to forget that his great passion is the Flamengo soccer team, as captured in Figure 3. This special issue contains papers on synthesis of polyesters, production of magnetic microparticles, thermodynamics of polymerization systems, Ziegler Natta catalysts, and new composites from polymer residues, among many other interesting studies that find many points of contact with Prof. Zé Carlos’ works. We hope the readers will appreciate this very fine selection of papers on polymer science. We thank all colleagues and former Prof. Zé Carlos' partners who accepted the invitation to collaborate with this issue and this celebration. And we thank Dr. Stefan Spiegel and Wiley-VCH for supporting the preparation and publication of this special issue of MRE. Zé, we wish you a happy 60th birthday on behalf of all the authors! Thank you for your partnership, humbleness, and simplicity. It's an honor to work with you! We wish you all the best and many Flamengo victories!!! As you say, Zé, life goes on…and we hope our lives go on together on the upcoming 60th 70th 80th…years! Let's raise a toast to Zé to celebrate his 60th birthday!!! Martina & Márcio Martina Pinto completed her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Chemical Engineering Program at COPPE – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, BRA (2017). Due to her performance in Chemical Engineering Program at COPPE/UFRJ (2011), she was invited to the Direct Doctorate by the COPPE/UFRJ Program. She carried out research activities in the area of functionalization of polymeric materials during the Sandwich Doctorate at Queen Mary University of London in 2016. Currently, she works as a Post-Doc at COPPE/UFRJ, uniting the areas of Polymerization Engineering and Biotechnology. On this unique moment, Martina would like to celebrate Ze Carlos's birthday and share her deep admiration for his outstanding career! Marcio Nele, originally from Vitória da Conquista-BA, embarked on his academic journey at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, where he earned his Bachelor's (1988) and Master's degrees (1996) in Chemical Engineering under the guidance of Heloysa Andrade. He subsequently pursued a Ph.D. (2000) at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (COPPE), working under the supervision of José Carlos Pinto, Marcos Lopes Dias, and Scott Collins. After completing his doctoral studies, Marcio undertook a Postdoctoral research position at the University of Waterloo, collaborating closely with João Soares. In 2004, he joined the research group led by Ze Carlos, commencing a rewarding research career and solidifying a longstanding friendship. On this special occasion, Marcio celebrates Ze Carlos's inspiring career on his birthday and expresses his deep gratitude to his supervisors for their invaluable guidance and mentorship throughout his journey.