About / Anthony Maiorana

A few ways of looking at a problem.

I’ve worked with molecules, manufacturing lines, and medical devices. Those experiences have made me interested in the space between a promising idea and something that works in the world.

View my CV Publications & patents

Connect the technical details.

A material’s structure matters. So do the manufacturing process, the performance requirements, and the person who will use it. I’m comfortable moving between those levels of a problem.

Work with incomplete evidence.

Scientific and regulatory decisions rarely arrive with every uncertainty resolved. My work involves evaluating what the evidence supports, identifying what is missing, and deciding which questions matter most.

Make complex work understandable.

Through The Polymerist, I write about the relationships between chemistry, industrial capability, and commercial outcomes. The aim is to give readers enough context to ask better questions of their own.

Professional work

Experience, in context.

July 2022–present
Medical devices

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Regulatory Scientific Reviewer

Lead multidisciplinary reviews of medical-device submissions, integrating scientific, clinical, engineering, software, and human-factors evidence.
Experience across 510(k), PMA, De Novo, IDE, and Pre-Submission pathways, with additional work in postmarket surveillance and human factors.
Completed a Human Factors Team Lead detail in OHT3, March–July 2026, supporting guidance implementation, reviewer training, and review consistency.

December 2019–July 2022
Materials & manufacturing

GCP Applied Technologies

Lead Scientist · Specialty Building Materials

Led a cross-functional effort identifying $6 million in cost-reduction opportunities across the roofing-underlayment portfolio.
Led the redesign of Grace Select and development of pressure-sensitive adhesives, including manufacturing trials, field trials, and intellectual-property filings.
Worked across formulation, product performance, manufacturing, and certification to move new materials toward commercial use.

October 2018–December 2019
Adhesives

Worthen Industries

Product Development Scientist

Developed and launched a one-part, water-based polyurethane heat-seal adhesive for footwear manufacturing.
Supported domestic and international manufacturing trials, product selection, and customer root-cause analysis.

June 2016–October 2018
Specialty polymers

Hexion

Product Development Scientist

Developed specialty-polymer products and contributed to patent filings, including Resonance polyols for polyurethane applications.
Worked on low-emission novolac systems and laboratory-to-pilot scale-up for customer trials.

August 2009–September 2012
Sensors & hydrogels

Senseonics

Research Scientist

Contributed to the development of an implantable continuous glucose monitor.
Developed glucose-sensitive hydrogels, fluorescent compounds, and sensor coatings, including work associated with pilot investigational studies.

Education & research

2016

PhD, Chemistry

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Structure–property relationships of biobased epoxy resins. Research with Richard A. Gross.

2009

BS, Chemistry

University of Maryland, College Park

Undergraduate research in organometallic chemistry; earlier research at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute.

Outside a job description

Room to keep learning.

The Polymerist is where I follow questions about the chemical industry. This website gives me a place to follow some of the others: how AI changes practical work, what makes a scientific discovery useful, and what I can learn by building tools myself.

I live in Washington, DC. Most people call me Tony. My scientific publications appear under Anthony Maiorana.