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.

Chemistry Graduate Students Raced for the Cure

October 21, 2014 by chemweb

Chemistry graduate students participated in the Knoxville Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on October 18th in the World’s Fair Park. The team of 7 finished the 5k run and raised over a thousand dollars.

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® Series is the largest series of 5k run/fitness walks in the world. Komen Knoxville has raised millions of dolllars. 75% of revenue from this race stays in east Tennessee for breast cancer treatment and support, the other 25% funds research nationally. *

Students participated in this year’s race include Laura Casto, Maggie Lookadoo, Amanda Clune, Alex Fisch, Adam Carr, Michael Merrill and Sam Mattern-Schain. The team was formed “in honor of family and friends afflicted by breast cancer,” Mattern-Schain said. “I love Race For The Cure and believe it does a tremendous amount of good for our community. It’s a wonderful awareness event and brings a lot of joy to the community of breast cancer survivors/victims and their families. ”

*Information from KomenKnoxville website and e-newsletter.

Professor Musfeldt Chaired Gordon Research Conference

October 1, 2014 by chemweb

Janice Musfeldt, professor of chemistry, chaired the first Gordon Research Conference in multiferroics and magnetoelectrics held from August 10 to 15  in University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.

The conference featured a wide range of scientifically and technologically important topics such as the origins of various microscopic coupling mechanisms, the behavior of domain structures, the role of spin-orbit coupling, and the consequences of nanoscale confinement. Due to the highly interdisciplinary nature of the conference, invited speakers represented various scientific disciplines including chemistry, physics, materials science, and engineering. One of the attendees commented that this conference was simply “top end.”

“The scientific level and the open nature of the exchange at the talks and beyond was remarkable,” Dr. Ashot Melikyan, an editor of Physical Review B, commented. “I will certainly be applying to 2016 Gordon Conference on multiferroics. The editors of APS usually attend 2 – 4 conferences every year, and this one was one of the most informative and useful conferences i attended.”

This conference attracted more than one hundred attendees from 18 different countries. Besides scientific diversity, many attendees were also pleasantly surprised by the gender and geographic diversity. “I was very impressed with the diversity of the speakers and the participants at this meeting,” one of the attendees wrote in her feedback form. “It was wonderful to meet so many other women in the field, and also I was impressed by the number of countries represented.”

Ken O’Neal and Michael Yokosuk, graduate students in the Musfeldt’s group attended the conference. O’Neal presented a poster titled “Size- and Shape-Dependent Magnetoelectric Coupling in alpha-Fe₂O₃ Nanoparticles.” Yokosuk’s poster talk was on magnetoelectric properties of a material Ni₃TeO₆ titled “Magnetoelectric Coupling in Ni₃TeO₆​.” They both enjoyed presentations from “leading scientists in the field”, and described their experiences as “awesome.”

“I love bringing people together to discuss new science,” Musfeldt said. “In fact, I am already at work on the 2015 Tellunide workshop on spin-orbit coupling in 4- and 5d-containng materials!”

Professor Sepaniak’s Research Highlighted by NSF

September 8, 2014 by chemweb

Professor Sepaniak‘s research entitled “Pillar arrays assist with lab-on-a-chip chemistry” has been published as one of NSF highlights on NSF’s SEE Innovation website. Highlights describe outcomes of NSF-funded research. They are archival in nature and cover research results and impacts of both expired and active grants. Click to view highlight here.

Chemistry Graduate Student Chaired Seminar at GRC

August 26, 2014 by chemweb

Deborah Penchoff, a recent graduate of the chemistry Ph. D. program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, chaired the 2014 Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) on computational chemistry held at Mount Snow Resort in West Dover, Vermont, on July 19th and 20th, 2014.

Penchoff was selected during the 2012 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) to chair the inaugural GRS in her field. She worked with the GRC Chair and GRS co-chair to determine a theme for the conference, created a program, and eventually exceeded the funding target for the meeting.

“Being Chair of the Gordon Research Seminar on Computational Chemistry was an invaluable experience.” Penchoff said. “It allowed me to work closely with experts in the field, and to interact with scientists working at the frontier of the computational chemistry field. Organizing this conference gave me the opportunity to increase my knowledge in the many areas that computational chemistry currently encompasses, from development, to applications in materials, energy, and biological systems, amongst others, and furthermore provide a forum for others to network and learn.”

The Gordon Conferences have been recognized as the world’s premier scientific conferences, where leading investigators from around the globe discuss their latest work and future challenges.* The Gordon Research Seminars are a series of highly successful and unique meetings that enable young researchers to share in the Gordon Research Conferences experience.*

Penchoff grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After working for several years at IBM as a financial analyst, Penchoff joined UT chemistry department in 2008 pursuing a Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry, and graduated in 2013 with a minor in computational sciences. The research focus of her dissertation was “computational studies for optimization and design of separation agents for separation of lanthanides and actinides.” The body of research that Penchoff accomplished during her studies at UTK has lead to over a dozen presentations at ACS conferences, and Gordon Conferences, amongst others.

While a student at UTK, Penchoff received an Outstanding Teaching Award from the Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society for her work as a teaching assistant in physical chemistry, and a teaching award from the department of chemistry for her work as a teaching assistant in general chemistry.

Penchoff considered this organizing experience, especially the mentoring session, as much rewarding to herself as to the other participants. “I enjoyed designing a conference program customized to early career computational chemists.” Penchoff said. “At this early stage in our careers in which we are focused on a specific area, I consider expanding our knowledge and being exposed to other areas in the field to be of particular importance. In addition, I paid particular attention to selecting experts in computational chemistry to participate in a career panel whom would represent industry, academia, and national laboratories. The Q&A session during the mentoring session of the conference was exceptional, in particular due to the career advice we received from the panelists. It was very gratifying to observe the high level of engagement and interest between the early career attendees and the senior panelists.

*Quoted from GRC website.