Search

Roberto Federico-Perez Received Eastman Travel Award

May 12, 2015 by chemweb

Roberto Federico-Perez, a second year Ph.D. student in Prof. Xue’s group, received 2014 Eastman Chemical Company Travel Award. Each year, selected universities are requested to submit nominations of students and encourage them to apply. A team of scientists from Eastman then rank all of the received applications and award either travel grant or full fellowship to several applicants.

“Roberto stood out to the award committee because of the high level of contribution he has been able to make in such a short period of time.” Dr. Peter Chapman, Eastman Principal Chemist commented, “The committee tries to identify students with high potential and we felt that Roberto fit that mold.”

“I feel happy and humbled that Eastman considered me as one of the recipients for this grant,” Federico-Perez said. “It will be a great contribution for my professional development. By granting this award, Eastman will support me to attend a scientific conference or meeting, and I will have the opportunity to showcase my work and obtain feedback for it.”

Originally from Caborca, Mexico, Federico-Perez attended the University of Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico. During his undergraduate studies, he had the opportunity to study abroad at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. After defending his capstone project, which focused on the risk assessment for chemical substances used in medical facilities, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Food Science in December 2011. Federico-Perez’s interest in green chemistry and sustainability motivated him to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Development at the same institution, by working on the characterization of mercury emissions from a clinical laboratory used as a case study in Hermosillo, Mexico. Federico-Perez entered the UT chemistry Ph.D. program in August, 2013 and joined Prof. Xue’s group in December. His current project focuses on the analysis of polar species in aviation fuels by means of optical sensors.

“I plan to graduate in 2018,” Federico-Perez said. “I intend to work in industry on research and development after my graduation. I’m particularly interested in green chemistry and cleaner production, and I believe these areas have currently built a lot of momentum in industry and are great career opportunities for the near future.”

Previous recipients of Eastman Chemical Company Summer Fellowship from UT

• 2008 –  Michael Gilbert    Full Fellowship  (Dr. Frank Vogt)
• 2011 –  Rebecca Horton   Travel Grant (Dr. Frank Vogt)
• 2012 –  Christ Bennett      Travel Grant   (Dr. Jon Camden)
• 2013 –  Weiyu Wang       Full Fellowship  (Dr. Jimmy Mays)
• 2014 – Hobbie Turley       Full Fellowship  (Dr. Jon Camden)
• 2015 – Roberto Federico-Perez Travel Grant (Dr. Ben Xue)

Chemistry Graduate Student Gave Talk to SRSP Students

April 28, 2015 by chemweb

Tanei Ricks, a third year Ph.D. student in the UT Department of Chemistry and a PEER (Program for Excellence & Equity in Research) scholar, visited his alma marter, Georgia Regents University (GRU) on April 24, and gave a talk entitled “Synthesis of Derivatives of myo-Inositol to Enable Chemical Biology Studies”as part of the STEMinar Series organized for Savannah River Scholars Program (SRSP) students.

Ricks was part of the SRSP inaugural class and was also the first person to graduate from SRSP to pursue a higher degree. “It was cool to see the students there now,” Ricks said. “Some of them actually remembered me from under grad which was nice because a lot of them were just coming to GRU when I was trying to graduate.”

More than 50 students and faculty attended the seminar. Ricks was proud to serve as a good example for other SRSP scholars. “Everyone was genuinely excited about the work I was doing and had accomplished to date so it was nice to be an example of success coming from a small school and going to a big school.”

Ricks joined the Chemistry Department in 2012 and was inducted into the PEER class of 2013. “Its great being a part of PEER. I’ve gotten a great opportunity to do outreach, develop new academic programs and seminars, as well as having extra time to devote to research. Being in PEER so far has definitely helped me get acclimated to grad school as well as preparing for life after it.” Ricks said.

Department of Chemistry Held 2015 Honors Day

April 24, 2015 by chemweb

Department of Chemistry held its 2015 Honors Day on Thursday, April 23 at 3:40 in Buehler Hall 555. Vice Chancellor of Diversity, Rickey Hall, spoke at the event. More than thirty awards were presented to students, faculty and staff. Here is a complete list of awardees. Scroll down to the bottom to view more pictures.

UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS

CRC Press General Chemistry Award

Benjamin J. Nehls

C. W. Keenan Outstanding General Chemistry Student Award

Jonathan S. Farmer

Halbert and Anne Carmichael Scholarship

Christina D. Jackson

C. A. Buehler Chemistry Scholarship

Madeline S. Stark

East Tennessee Section, ACS, Award

Russell T. Smith

Hach Foundation Scholarships

Bria A.L. Bannister, Brittany A. Ramsey

Melaven-Rhenium Scholarships

Lauren A. Finney, Anna C. Fraser, Christina D. Jackson, Russell T. Smith, Madeline S. Stark

Honors Chemistry Recognition

Kelly E. Arnholt, Peymon C. Baghernejad, Natalie E. Bennett, Mikayla M. Clark, Samuel A. England,  Jeremiah R. Holt, Adam K. Hubler, Kenneth M. Mathes, Kiersten P. McIntyre, David P. Meehan, Sara A. Stein, Taylor M. Weiskittel, Jonathan B.  White

GRADUATE AWARDS

Outstanding Teaching Awards

Samuel I. Mattern-Schain, Samuel A. Rosolina

Keenan Teaching Award

Michael O. Yokosuk

Second Year Candidacy Awards

Roberto A. Federico Perez, Shelby E. Stavretis

Judson Hall Robertson Fellowship in Analytical Chemistry

Ryan B. Wallace

Graduate Fellowship for Achievement in Inorganic Chemistry

Seth C. Hunter

Jerome Eastham Fellowship in Organic Chemistry

Stephen P. Dearth

Eugene John Barber Fellowship in Physical Chemistry

Nicholas A. Strange

East Tennessee Section, ACS, Graduate Fellow

Kenneth O’Neal

Gleb Mamantov Graduate Chemistry Scholar

Weiyu Wang

Joint Institute for Advanced Materials Fellowship

Daniele Paradiso

Eastman Chemical Company Travel Award

Roberto A. Federico Perez

Winners of the Board of Visitors’ Poster Competition

Andrew J. Binder,  Weiyu Wang

STAFF AWARDS

Outstanding Service Awards

Johnny C. Jones, Rhonda E.W. Wallace

FACULTY AWARDS

New Faculty

Ampofo K. Darko, Sharani Roy

Retiring Faculty

Robert N. Compton, Alan A. Hazari

Joe Johnson Lifetime Service Award

T. Ffrancon Williams

Ffrancon Williams Endowed Faculty Award in Chemistry

Brian K. Long

Gleb Mamantov Professorship in Chemistry

David M. Jenkins

Ziegler Professor Announcement

Janice L. Musfeldt

In Memoriam

Georges A. Guiochon

SPECIAL AWARDS

Fellow of A.A.A.S. (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

John Z. Larese

National School on Neutron and X-ray Scattering

Shelby Stavretis

Synchrotron Radiation School, Sao Paulo Brazil

Kenneth O’Neal, Lena Elenchin

Posthumous Chemistry Degree

Brittany L. Skyberg

Chemistry Graduate Student Organized Fundraise for McClung Museum

March 18, 2015 by chemweb

Sam Rosolina, a fourth year chemistry graduate student in Professor Xue’s Group and the chemistry representative on the Graduate Student Senate, organized the 2015 Big Orange Adventure, a fundraising race/scavenger hunt that benefited McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture on University of Tennessee Knoxville campus. This year’s fundraising was held on Saturday, March 7th and raised a total of 820 dollars.

A total of nine stations and tasks were created across campus, such as World Puzzle Based Using Periodic Table to Solve (chemistry), Laser Table Obstacle Course (physics), and Tower of Hanoi (math). Once completing all tasks, the competing teams were allowed into McClung Museum to solve one final riddle using their knowledge of some of the exhibits.

“There were eight teams with 42 participants total.” Rosolina said. “We gave out two baskets filled with sponsor in-kind gifts. The first went to the fastest team, and the second went to best team costume. We also had some trophies that one of my committee members made from spray-painted figurines that he got at a thrift shop nearby.”

In previous years, the GSS hosted the “Love Your Libraries 5k” to benefit the UT libraries; specifically the “De-stress for Success” campaign during Finals Week. Profits from the race were donated to the library to help provide relaxing services during Finals Week. Starting 2014, the format of the race was changed to a scavenger hunt.

Professor Xue’s Research Featured at Spark!2015

March 16, 2015 by chemweb

Chemistry professor Ziling (Ben) Xue’s “Simple Optical Sensor for Biodiesel Contaminant in Jet Fuel” is being featured at Spark!2015. Xue will be presenting his technology on March 25 in the 1-6pm symposium held in Tech 2020 Atrium on 1020 Commerce Park Drive, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Spark! is a half-day symposium providing new technologies available for licensing developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee. Business leaders, entrepreneurs, and regional stakeholders are invited to learn more about these new technologies, explore commercial opportunities, and provide feedback. Xue’s research mainly looks at methods for detection of biodiesel contaminants in jet fuel that are not only rapid, sensitive but also economical and can be mass-produced.

View a complete list of 2015 featured technologies. 

Department Held Symposium in Honor of Prof. Guiochon

March 14, 2015 by chemweb

The Department of Chemistry hosted a symposium “Celebration of a Scientist” on Saturday, March 14 in Buehler Hall 511 from 10 to 12pm to honor the late Professor Guiochon. Guiochon is a much celebrated chemist, a chromatography pioneer, and a distinguished scientist. He passed away on October 21, 2014 at the age of 83.

Guiochon received the M.S. degree in engineering from the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France, and the Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Paris. He was a Professor of chemistry at Ecole Polytechnique until 1985 and at the University of Paris VI or Universite Pierre et Marie Curie until 1984. He then moved on to Georgetown University, Washington, DC, from 1984 to 1987, and he was appointed a UTK/ORNL Distinguished Scientist in June 1987. Before he passed away, Guoichon was a Distinguished Professor with the Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, also a Senior Scientist with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Division of Chemical and Analytical Sciences, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Family and friends flew in from all over the world and gathered inside the chemistry building today to not only celebrate Guiochon’s scientific achievements but also his life as a father, a husband, a friend, and a colleague. Six invited presentations were given by Guiochon’s students, collaborators, coworkers and his wife Lois Beaver. To access presentation materials, please contact Rachel Rui at jrui@utk.edu

Some press releases about Guiochon

• Georges Guiochon: Chromatography Pioneer Passes Away 
• WCDG – Member Events – Passing of Georges Guiochon
• Professor Georges Guiochon (1931 – 2014) passed away
• In Memoriam: Professor Georges Guiocho
• Remembering Distinguished Professor Georges Guiochon

View gallery of images from symposium.

Kovac’s ACS Talk Highlighted on C&EN

February 6, 2015 by chemweb

Jeff Kovac, professor of chemistry, is to give a talk about “Ethics of chemical weapon research” in the upcoming American Chemical Society National Conference in Denver, CO, from March 22 to 26. His talk is highlighted on C&EN web site as part of “Denver National Meeting Mania“. A C&EN must see presenter, Kovac will give the talk on Tuesday, March 24 from 3:45 to 4:15pm in Tower Court D at Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

Abstract

Throughout history the use of chemical weapons in warfare has been controversial.  The morality of chemical weapons research is similarly controversial because several potentially conflicting obligations and codes of ethics impact the decision of the individual chemist as to whether to participate in such research.  In this presentation I will discuss the complex ethical questions surrounding chemical weapons research.   All chemists are members of a national community with the obligations of citizenship, but they are also professionals subject to a code of ethics.  Of course, they are also members of the human community and consequently subject to the more or less universal common morality.   Membership in a religious community might also add moral restraints. A key question for chemists is whether the current code of ethics can provide adequate guidance in trying to deal with this complex issue.

Elder Mellon, former UT Chemistry glassblower, obituary

November 25, 2014 by chemweb

Chemistry Alumna Invited to the White House

November 18, 2014 by chemweb

Chemistry alumna, Diane Schmidt, was invited to the White House for the National Medal of Technology and the National Medal of Science presentations on Thursday, November 20. A gala will be held at the Ritz Carlton Pentagon City to celebrate the award recipients. Earlier this year, Schmidt was elected the President of American Chemical Society for the coming year of 2015.

Click to view the White House invitation.

Professor Guiochon Passed Away

October 23, 2014 by chemweb

Dear Chemistry Community:

On October 21, 2014, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Distinguished Scientist Georges Andre Guiochon passed away in the arms of his wife with his daughters holding his hands.  After a successful bout against pneumonia, Professor Guiochon succumbed to neuromuscular failure due to Post-Polio Syndrome. His work as Professor in the Department of Chemistry since 1987 focused on the theory of non-linear chromatography and its applications in gas, liquid and supercritical fluid separation science.  His UT efforts garnered awards too numerous to list but included 2 from ACS and the LCGC Lifetime Achievement Award,  while he received honorary PhD degrees from the Universities of Pardubice, 1999; Ramon Llull, Barcelona 2002; Ferrara 2003; and Science and Technology, Liaoning 2010, and was inducted into the Spanish Academy of Science in 2011.  He published 5 books and about 1100 peer-reviewed papers while performing research with over a hundred graduate students and post-docs.

written by Dr. Lois Beaver, wife of Georges

Events Planned to celebrate the life of Georges Guiochon

1)    Lois’ family—funeral mass and lunch in Buffalo, NY   Friday, Nov. 28.

2)    Private interment in France at the Guiochon Family Crypt

Gathering in honor of Georges Guiochon

2:30 pm, Saturday, December 6, 2014

La Maison des Polytechniciens

12, rue de Poitiers

75007   PARIS, FRANCE

If you wish to participate, please respond by November 30 to: souvenirgeorgesguiochon@gmail.com

Celebration of a Scientist

Saturday, March 14, 2015

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

If you wish to participate, please respond to jrui@utk.edu to reach Rachel Rui, PhD, who will provide more information when it is available.