[1] Kornfield was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2020 for developing megasupramolecules for antimisting fuel additives and light-adjustable intraocular lenses to improve cataract surgery outcomes.

[3] She specialised in chemical engineering for her graduate studies, and earned a master's degree at Caltech before joining Stanford University for her doctoral research with Gerald Fuller.

[3] After graduating, Kornfield joined the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, where she worked as a NATO postdoctoral scholar[5] with Hans Spiess.

[3] After completing her two-year post-doctoral fellowship in Germany, Kornfield was recruited to join the chemical engineering faculty at Caltech in 1990.

[12] Kornfield went on to show that certain topological structures, including rings, wedges and branched chains, demonstrate distinct relaxation responses.

[14][15][16] The polymers attach to one another via amine and carboxylic acids groups to form mega-supramolecules, which reduce the burn time, size and temperature of ignited fuel.