Chemistry

“Professors William R. Dolbier Jr., Kirk S. Schanze, and Kenneth B. Wagener have been named to the 2011 class of Fellows of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The ACS Fellows Program recognizes members of the ACS for their outstanding achievements and contributions to the science, the profession, and service to the Society. The full list of 2011 ACS Fellows was announced in the August 8, 2011 issue of Chemical and Engineering News and incluced 213 new members. The 2011 ACS Fellows will be honored at a special ceremony during the Fall ACS National Meeting in Denver on Monday, August 29, 2011.”

“Matthew Baker, a graduate student in the Organic Division, has been selected for participation in the upcoming Graduate Research Symposium hosted by the American Chemical Society’s Division of Organic Chemistry. Approximately 50 fourth year organic graduate students were selected from a pool of nearly 100 from across the United States to present their research at the conference, where they will also meet with leaders from academia, industry, various funding agencies, and publishers. The event will be held July 14-17, 2011 on the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.”

“Ron Castellano, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, and Jiangeng Xue, Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, have been named two of the ten recipients of a 2011 Scialog Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. The three-year award is in the amount of $250,000 and will enable the two researchers to execute their proposal titled “A Modular Supramolecular Approach to Organic Photovoltaic Materials”. The Scialog program, in its second year, focuses on funding early career scientists and building research teams to undertake groundbreaking studies in solar energy conversion. A key element of the Scialog program, which is crafted to promote both science and dialog, is that awardees are brought together in an annual conference to facilitate dialog and the building of collaborations. Castellano and Xue will travel to the next Scialog conference to be held at Biosphere 2 (near Tucson, Arizona) in October, 2011.”

“Graduate students Shreya Mukherjee, Mario Moral, and Amrita B. Mullick were awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes, respectively, in the poster presentation contest at the Florida Annual Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (FAME) in Tampa, Florida, 2011. Shreya Mukherjee is currently a 5th year graduate student in Dr. Christou’s research group. Her poster title was “Synthetic Models of the Water Oxidation Complex of Plant Photosynthesis”. Mario Moral is a 5th year graduate student in Dr. Richards’ group. His poster title was “Inhibition by Nitric Oxide Catalysis by Oxalate Decarboxylase”. Amrita B. Mullick is a 2nd year graduate student in Dr. Veige’s research group. Her poster title was “Design, Synthesis, and Enantioselective Catalytic Exploration of New Chiral Bis-NHC Ligands and their Metal Complexes”. If you see the following students in the department please stop to congratulate them on their achievements and for representing our department.”

“The winners of the 2011 Cade Prize for Innovation were announced at the May 12th Cade Prize Night event, held at the new Fine Arts Building on the campus of Santa Fe College. Graduate Student Ryan Martin and Professor Stephen A. Miller received the coveted, $50,000 prize for an invention titled PolyEsterAcetals, which represent a new class of green plastics that are produced from sustainable biomass sources and are degradable back into ecological life cycles. This technology is particularly amenable to the market segment of disposable packaging and consumer products. A key feature is their tunability to degrade in a variety of environments, including seawater. The Miller Research Group invents, synthesizes, and characterizes several different classes of polymers made from biorenewable feedstocks. Florida Sustainables (floridasustainables.com) works with the UF Office of Technology and Licensing to promote these innovations and secure collaborations with businesses in the polymer manufacturing and processing industry. (photo by Doug Finger/Staff Photographer, Gainesville Sun)”

“Mr. Robert Harker, an Engineer working for Dr. Ion Ghiviriga in Chemistry’s own Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Lab was granted a US utility patent for the following new and useful invention: “Full Spectrum Lapidary 3D Image Scanner and Method,” US Patent 7840300 B2. These technologies are available free to any UF researcher and are in keeping with the innovation goals of the university. This patent could not have been issued without the extremely helpful support of the UF Office of Technology and Licensing. The inventor would like to express special thanks to Dr. Ion Ghiviriga, Mr. Bruce Clary, Mr. David Day, and Dr. Win Phillips. This novel invention uses polishing techniques to slowly polish or abrade away stepped layers of an object to be scanned. It is 100{3c0caad52c08e46b57c1dc946e6f87c810c2d6c46589b97ffcbbf8f3a9791f0d} sample destructive. The scanned object is cast into a contrasting resin which both hardens and provides a dark, light, or colored background for high contrast photography. The layers are digitally photographed stepwise to produce a record of internal structures. 2D digital images are reassembled using computer and software methods to produce exquisitely finely detailed 3D digital models of the solid internal structures in full color beyond the reach of most researchers.”

“Soumya Sarkar, a graduate student in Prof. Adam Veige’s research group, has received the UF graduate student teaching assistant award. A university wide faculty committee responsible for selecting the award winners sends members to visit and review the classes/labs of each nominee. Soumya will receive a certificate and $500 from the graduate school. The award ceremony will take place in the University auditorium on April 22nd, 2011.”

“Graduate Student Ryan Martin and Professor Stephen A. Miller have reached the Final Four in the competition for the 2011 Cade Prize for Innovation. Their entry is titled “Polyesteracetals” and focuses on novel biorenewable and degradable polymers and copolymers that mimic or improve upon existing packaging plastics. Their entry reached the Final Four in the 2010 Cade Prize competition as well, but the new submission has undergone changes and improvements based on recent laboratory results. The final competition will occur on May 12th and the 2011 Cade Prize winner will be announced at a Gala that evening, to be held at Sante Fe College. The winner will receive a $50,000 award and one year of complimentary space at the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center (GTEC). The three runners-up will each receive a $5,000 award. Tickets for the Gala can be purchased at the Cade Museum website.”

“W. David Wei, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and member of the NSF-CCI center for Nanostructured Electronic Materials, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has received 2011 Sigma Xi Junior Faculty Research award presented by the University of Florida Chapter. The award is based on the quality of research he has completed and the likelihood of future success in research. Wei was honored with the award at the Sigma Xi annual banquet held April 7, 2011.”