Chemformation

The Weekly Newsletter of the MIT Chemistry Department

Volume 12, Number 12
Friday, March 22, 1996

Next Issue: Friday, March 29, 1996. Chemformation is published by the Office of the Department Chairman. The deadline for the next issue is Tuesday, March 26. Please convey items of interest (or mailing list changes) to Linda Earle, Room 18-393, Department of Chemistry, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, 617/253-4080; 617/258-7500 (fax) or e-mail to lkn@mit.edu. Back issues of Chemformation can be accessed via the Chemistry Department Website.

Visit the Chemistry Department Website at http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/www/

SEMINAR CALENDAR

Professor Terrance Collins: Carnegie Mellon University; "Ligand Design for Oxidizing Complexes"; Monday, March 27, 1996; 4:00 in Room 6-120; Inorganic Chemistry Seminar; Refreshments @ 3:30 in 6-321
Professor Christian Griesinger: Universität Frankfurt; "New Methods for Structure Determination of RNA with NMR"; Thursday, March 28, 1996; 4:00 in Room 6-120; Biological Chemistry Seminar
Professor Wataru Ando: University of Tsukuba; "Strained Unsaturated Cyclocarbosilanes"; Monday, April 1, 1996; 4:00 in Room 4-163; Special Organometallic Seminar
Professor Glenn L. Millhauser: University of California, Santa Cruz; "3(10) - Helix, Alpha-Helix, and Beyond"; Tuesday, April 2, 1996; 4:00 in Room 2-105; Physical Chemistry Seminar; Refreshments @ 3:30 in 6-321
Professor Richard D. Adams: University of Southern Carolina; "The Activation and Catalytic Transformations of Thietanes by Metal Cluster Complexes"; Wednesday, April 3, 1996; 5:00 in Room 6-120; Harvard/MIT Inorganic Series; Refreshments @ 4:30 in 6-321
Captain Gerald R. Gendon and Richard L. Lamontagne: "Acquisition Pollution Prevention in the United States Air Force Weapons System"; Friday, April 5, 1996; 1:00-3:00 in Room 10-280; Seminar in Environmental Chemistry

Dow Chemical Q&A Session on Friday, March 29

Dr. Jim O'Brien, Group Leader in the Materials R&D Lab, Dow Central Research, will be in the Department on Friday, March 29 to meet with faculty and graduate students. The Question & Answer Session will be in the Norris Room (18-490) from 4 to 5 PM. Dr. O'Brien will discuss DowUs R&D strategies in the 90Us, research at the Central Research Labs, and specific needs of the Materials R&D Lab. He will also address questions such as, "expectations when going into industry?" "What is industry like?" and will discuss the new Chemistry Department Industrial Internship Program. This is an open Q&A Session; refreshments will be served.

Attention Graduate Students!

Funding is available to attend the Council on Undergraduate Research 6th National Conference June 27-29 at North Carolina Central University. The conference, Enriching Science Through Partnerships: Academics, Industry, Government, will include a series of three workshops specifically for graduate students interested in academic careers at undergraduate institutions. The workshops are as follows:

Job Hunting: A Workshop for Graduate Students Seeking Teaching/Research Positions at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions.
The Road to Tenure
Significance of the Post-doctoral Experience to an Academic Career at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution

In addition to the formal program, there will be a number of networking opportunities in which graduate students can gain a better understanding of what is happening at the primarily undergraduate institutions in terms of research and teaching. The conference will also provide an excellent opportunity for students to meet with the faculty at these institutions to identify potential employment opportunities.

If you would like to be considered for funding, please write a brief paragraph that includes the following: description of career plans, why you would like to attend this conference, and your estimated date of graduation. Send your paragraph to Melinda Cerny, Rm. 2-325, or cerny@mit.edu. The deadline for requests is Wednesday, March 27, 1996.

ACS Symposium on Chiral Catalysis - Announcement and Call for Papers !!

The ACS Division of Colloid and Surface Science and the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry announce a call for papers for the continuing symposium in catalysis: chiral catalysis, which is being studied in both homogeneous and heterogeneous phases. The next symposium will be held at the ACS Fall Meeting in Orlando, Florida on August 25-30, 1996. The symposium will be multidisciplinary event combining research presentations from the fields of inorganic, surface, polymer and organic chemistry, and from chemical engineering. It is intended that this symposium provide a timely and comprehensive review of this area of chemistry. For information, contact: Dr. B. K. Warren at Union Carbide, 3200 Kanawha Turnpike, South Charleston, WV at (304) 747-5491 or e-mail bkw@medinah.atc.ucarb.com or Professor Andrew J. Gellman, Dept. of Chem. Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA 151213 at (412) 268-7139, ag4b@andrew.cmu.edu.,

New Chemistry Department Web Site Now Online!

On March 15 the new improved Chemistry Department Web site will be linked to the URL http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/www/. The new Web site was designed and produced by Donald Choi, Rick Danheiser, Peter Floyd, and Bruce Tidor. The new site includes plenty of graphics and photos, and incorporates the full contents of the booklet "Graduate Study and Research in Chemistry at MIT". Eight sections comprise the site:

The MIT Department of Chemistry - this section has links to faculty pages that include photos, vital info, and research summaries; also a department staff directory, and links to student and postdoc home pages. Also has links to the Course V alumni news section of Technology Review. Included here also are pages on department facilities and pages on undergraduate and graduate admissions (with a form to order application forms electronically).
News and Events - this section contains the current and back issues of Chemformation, and also seminar schedules for each of the seminar programs in the department.
The Undergraduate Program in Chemistry - includes pages on "Representative Plans of Study", UROP, descriptions of all courses, and links to the home pages of several current courses, etc.
The Graduate Program in Chemistry - this section incorporates almost all of the contents of the new version of the booklet "Graduate Study and Research in Chemistry at MIT".
Chemical Hygiene and Safety - includes all previous Chemical Research Safety Notes, the MIT Fume Hood Tutorial, a link to the MIT Industrial Hygiene Office, and links to databases of Laboratory Chemical Safety Summaries and Material Safety Data Sheets.
MIT Chemistry Outreach Program - information on the Outreach Program for High Schools.
Department Facilities and Organizations - links to the home pages of the Spec Lab, Club Chem, and department IM sports teams.
Resources and Useful Links - miscellaneous useful links to the NSF, NIH, and American Chemical Society home pages, the Barton online library catalog, etc.

Ideas for further additions to the department web site, contributions of graphics and photos, comments, and suggestions should be forwarded to Rick Danheiser (danheisr@mit.edu) and/or Bruce Tidor (tidor@mit.edu).

Positions

Trinity College: Nominations are sought by Trinity College to increase the minority representation on the faculty. They are especially interested in doctoral students or post-doctoral fellows who show promise to become excellent scholars and have a strong desire to teach chemistry and carry out research in liberal arts environment. Such individuals would be approached concerning their interest in a tenure-track appointment to the Chemistry Department. Contact: Dr. Richard V. Prigodich, Chair, Chemistry Department at Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106. Phone is (860) 297-2210 or e-mail: richard.prigodich@mail.trincoll.edu
Quantum Corporation, Shrewsbury, MA: Quantum, a high energy company develops tape and disk storage products. They currently are inviting applications for their recording heat group for a process engineer and for process controls.Qualifications for the engineering position include completion of Junior year in either Chemical Engineering, Materials Science or Mechanical Engineering and good lab skills, the process controls position seeks a minimum completion of the junior year, Master's or Doctoral candidates preferred in the following disciplines: chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science or physics.
D.P. Parker and Associates, Wellesley, MA: is assisting a diversified, multi-national company that produces specialty polymers and biologically active compounds, in finding a Ph.D. in Materials Science, Inorganic Chemistry or Solid State Chemistry with several years of a postdoctoral experience coupled with a strong knowledge of metal oxide chemistry.
Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey: Invites interested applicants to apply for the position of Analytical Research Department. The research focus of this group includes analytical method development for both trace-level analyses and bulk chemical properties in support of process development. Experience with the utilization of current, sophisticated instrumentation is essential.
Metasyn, Inc.:Opportunities exist in pharmaceutical research for research associates. Such positions include organic chemistry, process research, organic chemistry, discovery research and biochemistry/biophysics. Experience should include hands on experience with NMR, GC and HPL that is a plus.

Fellowships

ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Graduate Fellowships: The Division of Organic Chemistry plans to award 1996-97 academic year fellowships for Ph.D. students to be held during their third or fourth year of study. Sponsors of the fellowships awarded last year include: Abbott Laboratories, Aldrich Chemical Co., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Dupont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, Eli Lilly and Company; Glaxo Research Labs; Pfizer, Upjohn, Proctor and Gamble, Rohm and Haas, andSmithKline Beechman. Nominations should be submitted by the candidate's Ph.D. Advisor and consist of a resume prepared by the candidate and two letters of reference (one from the candidate's Ph.D. advisor) all in triplicate. The resume should provide personal data, education, professional experience, honors and awards, as well as a publication list. Letters of reference should comment on the academic record, productivity and career potential of the applicant. Evidence of research accomplishments will be an important factor in the selection of fellowship holders. Applicants should be US citizens or permanent resident visa holders. All application materials must be received by Dr. Steve Burke, Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706 by June 3rd. Announcement of the awards will be made by mid-July of this year.

Postdoctoral Positions

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA: Recruiting for a postdoctoral fellow for an NIH funded position at Mass General in the Charlestown Navy Yard complex. The project is a study of the events that follow uptake of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, by scavenger cells of the immune system (macrophages). Specifically, they are characterizing the chemical nature of breakdown products derived from the bacterial cell wall. This is a challenging and exciting project. The fellow must possess very strong bio-organic chemistry background. The fellow will receive joint appointments at MGH/and Harvard Medical School. E-mail address is as follows: contact: VERMEULEN@HELIX.MGH.HARVARD.EDU or call Dr. Mary Vermeulen at 617-726-5631.

Index of Chemformation Back Issues