How smart polymers are healing patients and the planet . New classes of polymers don’t come along very often, so it was kind of a big deal when Ludwik Leibler and his team at the Laboratoire Matière Molle et Chimie at ESPCI ParisTech created vitrimers. By combining the properties of two different classes of materials, they invented a self-healing polymer that can switch from a solid to a pliable state simply by a temperature change. The ramifications are profound, including the capability to heal patients and, to some extent, the planet. The impact of vitrimers on myriad applications is one of the topics that Helen Lentzakis, PhD, will discuss during a Center Stage presentation—Get Smart with Smart Materials—at Expoplast, which comes to Montréal, QC, Canada, on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.