Joseph (Joe) Burnett, senior lecturer of chemistry, recently shared chemistry demonstrations with sixth-graders at Hillside Elementary School in Des Moines. The students had so many questions before he even started that he had to cut them short to have time to share the demonstrations.
Chemistry News
Burnett shares enthusiasm for chemistry at Hillside Elementary
Setting a standard for security
Houk devised, demonstrated and improved an experiment called inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). From searching for nuclear weapon activity to monitoring human health, ICP-MS detects what no other instrument can. Houk’s development of ICP-MS changed standards and methods in detecting and monitoring trace elements.
ICP-MS is not the only method for detecting trace elements, but it does provide the most comprehensive picture to date. It can measure 70 or more elements down to 1 part per trillion, providing more information to be seen with fewer samples and in less time.
Finding trace amounts of elements may seem similar to the task of searching for a needle in a haystack. But, thanks to Houk, it is now done with an extremely sensitive, multielement metal detector.
Summer, 2018 Dean's High Impact Awards for Undergraduate Research
Department of Chemistry earned three Summer, 2018 Dean's High Impact Awards for Undergraduate Research. One went to Katelyn Baumler who is being mentored by Javier Vela, the second one was earned by Zachary Robole who will be guded by Brett VanVeller, and the third one went to Anthony Song who is in the lab of Jacob Petrich.
Undergraduate research is a high impact activity that will sharpen critical thinking skills and is a great credential when applying to professional or graduate school. In addition, it gives students valuable preparation that is recognized by employers. Congratulations on being selected for the highly competitive awards.
P&S Excellence Award
Congratulations to Trond Forre for receiving the P&S Excellence Award.
LAS Achievement in Interllectual Property Award
Congratulations to Wenyu Huang for receiving the LAS Achievement in Intellectual Property Award.
2018 Exemplary Faculty Mentors
to Emily Smith and William Jenks for being recognized by the Provost's Office as 2018 Exemplary Faculty Mentors!
Promotion to Senior Lecturer
Congratulations to Cristina Bonaccorsi on her promotion to Senior Lecturer!
Article picked up by Chemical & Engineering News
A recent paper by Beatrice Berzina and Prof. Robbyn Anand got picked up by C&E News.
An unexpected passion
Graduating senior Grace Lutovsky, found an unexpected passion in research. Since her junior year she has been actively researching with Levi Stanley, assistant professor in chemistry. One of their projects included working on a reaction to change the composition of a steroid, which could potentially lead to a new class of drug molecules. Now she’s headed to graduate school to pursue chemistry research and has received an honorable mention for a graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry
A formal university announcement will come out this fall, but a congratulations goes out now to Theresa Windus on being named a Distinguished Professor. This will make three Distinguished Professors for the Department of Chemistry along with Mark Gordon (1998) and Pat Thiel (2002).
A Distinguished Professor above all else must have accomplishments in research, and/or creative activities that have had a significant impact on, or improved the quality of, their discipline. In addition a Distinguished Professor must have demonstrated outstanding performance in at least one other area of faculty responsibility: (1) teaching and advising, (2) extension/professional practice, or (3) institutional service.
Congratulations (Distinguished) Professor Windus on this recognition.
Congratulations to Aaron Rossini
...for being named as recipient of the ISU Award for Early Achievement in Research.
Congratulations to Jacob Petrich
...for being named the 2018 recipient of the Regents Award for Faculty Excellence.
Congratulations to Javier Vela
...on receiving the Cassling Innovation Award for 2018-2019 from the College of LAS.
New discovery may change MRI technology
Imagine getting an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan, but instead of lying on a table that slides into the noisy tunnel of a large machine and waiting for the image to be collected, a simple hand-held device scans the area of concern. Such a scenario may one day be a reality thanks to collaborative research by Wenyu Huang.
Honorable Mention for the 2018 Zaffarano Prize
Congratulations to Kevin Clark! Clark has been selected as Honorable Mention for the 2018 Zaffarano Prize for excellent graduate research at Iowa State University. This award is given annually to recognize graduate students for superior performance in publishable research. Clark will be presented with a certificate during a ceremony at the Sigma Xi banquet in April, and a cash award.
Congrats!