Chemformation

The Weekly Newsletter of the MIT Chemistry Department

Volume 13, Number 7
Friday, February 14, 1997

Next issue: February 21st. Chemformation is published by the Office of the Department Chairman. The deadline for the next issue is Tuesday, February 18. 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 email 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/

Congratulations to New MacVicar Fellow Professor John Essigmann!

Professor John Essigmann joins an elite group of teachers and scholars at MIT, including Chemistry Professors Danheiser, Kemp and Silbey as a Margaret L.A. MacVicar Fellow. John was cited not only for his exceptional teaching but also for his innovative curriculum development - in particular, his creation (with Professor Robert Langer of Chemical Engineering) of the subject "Biotechnology and Engineering" now one of the most popular subjects at MIT.

The appointments were announced at the annual MacVicar Fellows reception and luncheon hosted by President Charles M. Vest and his wife Rebecca at the President's House on Friday, February 7th, and Provost Moses made the formal presentation. The fellowship was established by MIT in honor of the late Margaret MacVicar who was MIT's first dean of undergraduate education.

Congratulations to Professors Cummins and Fu Named Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellows!

Professors Christopher "Kit" Cummins and Gregory C. Fu have both been awarded Alfred P. Sloan fellowships. The two-year fellowships are awarded to young faculty members who have demonstrated great research potential in the physical sciences, economics, mathematics and neuroscience. The Sloan Research Fellowships were first established in 1955 to provide support and recognition to young scientists who were endeavoring to set up laboratories and establish their independent research projects with little or no outside support.

Sloan research fellows are chosen from a highly competitive field of scientists from across the country - the selection of Professor Kit Cummins and Professor Greg Fu clearly indicates the high esteem in which their past work and future potential is held by their fellow scientists.

SEMINAR CALENDAR

Professor James P. Tam

Vanderbilt University

"Biomimetic Peptide Synthesis"

Thursday, February, 20, 1997

4:00 in 2-105

Refreshments @ 3:30 in Norris Room

Seminar in Organic Chemistry

Dr. Phaedon Avouris

IBM, Yorktown Heights, NY

"Atomic and Nanometer Scale Modification of Materials Using Proximal Probes"

Thursday, February 20, 1997

5:00 p.m. in 6-120

Refreshments @ 4:30 pm in 6-233

Harvard/MIT Physical Chemistry Series

Professor Dwight Sweigart

Brown University

"Organometallic Chemistry Related to Metal-Metal Bond Formation, Carbon-Sulfur Bond Activation, and Self-Closing Redox Switches"

Wednesday, February 26, 1997

4:00 in 6-120

Refreshments @ 3:30 in Moore Room 6-321

Seminar in Inorganic Chemistry

Sir John Meurig Thomas,

Cambridge, England

"Designed Solid Inorganic Catalysts"

Thursday, February 27, 1997

5:00 in MB23

Refreshments @ 4:30 in MB23

Harvard/MIT Seminar in Physical Chemistry At Harvard

Chemistry Department Teams - Ice Hockey Schedule

A total of four teams in the MIT Intramural (IM) Ice Hockey League represent the Chemistry Department for the Spring Semester, they are as follows;

D League: Bucky Pucks (Captain Dora Paolucci), will play on March 19th at 10:00 pm (Versus the European Club)

D+ League: Ice-0 (Captain Dora Paolucci) Next game is March 3 at 8:00 p.m.

CN(no checking): Cold Fusion (Captain David Rovnyak) on February 26 at 10:00 p.m. (Versus MacGregor)

CC(checking): Toxic Waste (Captain Mike Lawlor), February 23 at 9:00 p.m. versus Bastard Sons (Next House) then on March 12th at 11:00 p.m. versus LCA

All members of the Department are invited to attend the games and cheer the chemistry teams! Games begin fifteen minutes after the hour (prior to that each team has fifteen minute warm-up) and last for ca. 45 minutes playing in 3 periods. The teams are doing quite well!

Looking for a Job in Europe?

Attend the European Career Fair on April 24-25, 1997 at the Johnson Athletic Center. Major European and American companies are seeking highly motivated and talented students in engineering, science, and management for jobs in Europe. Visit the Career Fair web page or send e-mail for more information. Your resume (two pages maximum) must be received by Friday, February 28 at the MIT European Club, Room W20-401 to be included in the company resume book.

Internship Opportunities

Dr. Lauren Blum from the Environmental Defense Fund will be giving the 5.92 Environmental Chemistry Seminar and has agreed to interview internship candidates in connection with this presentation. EDF is primarily interested in students concentrating in the are of chemical toxicology. If you would like to sign up to meet with Dr. Blum, please contact Professor Jeff Steinfeld at: jisteinf@mit.edu

ABB Corporate Research in Baden, Switzerland has research projects on Greenhouse Gas Research Activities, methods are investigated to recycle the major greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methande in the form of liquid fuels like methanol or pressurized dimethyl ether. For this purpose both novel catalysts as well as plasma catalytic reactions in dielectric-barrier discharges (silent discharges) are investigated. Please contact: Dr. Ulrich Kogelschatz, Department: Energy and Global Change, ABB Corporate Research Center, 5405 Baden, Switzerland, E-mail: ulrich.kogelschatz@chcrc.abb.ch or telephone: 41-56-486 81 67, fax 41-56-493 45 69.

Glass Blowing Services Available

Bob DiGiacomo will be coming in on Wednesdays or Thursdays to pick up any glass blowing work that you may have available. Please bring any work to room 6-031 or call Ed Udas or John Annese at 3-4505. Bob will do the work on a first-come basis.

Help Get Organized!

Call Ed Udas at 253-4505 or stop by room 6-026 if students, faculty or staff need help in organizing their MIT space.

Positions

• Genetics Institute, Inc., Cambridge, MA:Has an opening for a Mass Spectrometrist/Protein Chemist who has experience in the mass spectrometric analysis of peptides, proteins, and other biomoleculars to participate in high-sensitiivty protein identification projects in our Discovery Research department using mass spectrometry and protein chemistry techniques. Experience with both ESI-MS and MALDI-TOF MS. Familiarity with methods of protein chemical analysis and with methods of peptide sequencing analysis using MS is necessary. Experience with Edman sequencing is desirable but not essential. The candidate must be able to assess the utility of new techniques and interact well with other researchers in a collaborative environment. Requires a Ph.D. or Masters degree with relevant experience. Contact: Elliott Nickbarg, Ph.D., Genetics Institute, Inc., 87 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140, phone is: (617) 498-8122 or fax (617) 498-8878 or email: enickbarg@genetics.com
  
  
• Westinghouse Electric Corporation, West Mifflin, PA: Seeks an analytical chemist/spectroscopist at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, in Pittsburg, PA: The position will be responsible for working with other analytical professionals using state-of-the-art instrumentation to characterize a wide range of materials and directly contribute to the development of materials with improved performance characteristics. Seek a candidate with in depth knowledge and experience in the hands on application of electron microscopy techniques for the analysis of materials. The position requires excellent communication skills and proficiency in the use of a highly automated Electron Microprobe with both energy dispersive and wavelength dispersive systems capability for the analysis of metals, alloys and ceramics. All candidates must be U.S. Citizens and be able to obtain a US Department of Energy Security Clearance. Contact: Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, P.O. Box 79, West Mifflin, PA 151212-0079, Att: Staffing and Employee Services.
  
  
• Merck & Co, Rahway, NJ: The Analytical Researc division of Merck has several openings for B.S./M.S. level chemists at their Rahway facility. The successful candidate will have a strong academic record with an interest in analytical chemistry, 0-5 years of industrial experience and the ability to work in an interdisciplinary team environment. Experience in synthetic chemistry, chromatography and wet chemistry is desirable. Please contact: Charles W. Moeder, Senior Research Chemist, Merck and Company, P.O. Box 2000, Mail Drop R80Y-120, Rahway, NJ 07065-0900.
  
  
• Fish and Richardson P.C. Boston, MA: Please see Kitty or M.T. Kouo in headquarters for more information and to sign up by February 28 for the recruiter coming to campus in the near future. Fish and Richarson P.C. is one of the nation's largest intellectual property and technology firms. Their practice includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, trials, FCC and FDA regulation and US International Trade Commission Proceedings. Their staff includes 31 Ph.D.'s (many from MIT) who consult on cases involving complex technology, including the fields of biotechnology, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, electronics and computer hardware, enterntainment and new media, medical and radiological devices, and computer programs and programmed systems. You can also check their home page at http://www.fr.com
  
  

Postdoctoral Fellowships

• Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine, Mass. General, Boston: A postdoctoral fellowship exists at the Wellman Labs for a Ph.D. applicant in biology, biochemistry or pharmacology as well as an interest in tumor biology. The project is focused on photoimmunotherapy of cancer and requires background and/or interest in invivo experiments and cellular/molecular techniques such as Western and Northern blots and routine tissue culture methods. Send cv to Tayyaba Hasan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine, (WEL 224), Mass. General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114.
  
  
• University of Rochester, Rochester, New York: Professor Shaul Mukamel seeks candidates for two postdoctoral positions to be associated with either the Rochester Theory Center for Optical Science and Engineering or with the National Science Foundation's Center for Photoinduced Charge Transfer. Send a cv and arrange for two letters of recommendation to be sent to: him at: Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627. Telephone is (716) 275-3080 or fax: (716) 473-6889 or email: samu@db1.cc.rochester.edu
  
  

Faculty Positions

Please note, unless otherwise specified, most faculty positions require a resume, short description of research plans and to arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent directly to the specific university or college.

• University of California at Riverside, UCR/UCLA Program in BIomedical Sciences: The Division wishes to recruit a highly productive group(s) of scientists whose interests target the molecular mechanisms of human disease. Preference will be given to those investigators most committed to the use of molecular biological methods to complement the research efforts of the independent faculty in the Division. Very productive individual investigators or groups of investigators engaged in collaborative research (i.e. program projects) are encouraged to apply. Space and start-up funds are available commensurate with the productivity and resource capacity of the group. The principal investigators should submit an application including a curriculum vitae; a delineation of the members and research focus of the group; a history and the status of current funding and three letters of reference. Please indicate your email address and fax number. Craig V. Byus, Ph.D. Chairman Search Committee, Division of Biomedical Sciences, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0121. Telephone: (909) 787-4535 or fax: (909) 787-5504, e-mail: craig.byus@ucr.edu
  
  
• Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio: Seeks a full-time one year faculty position in organic chemistry to begin in August of 1997. The appointee will teach general and organic chemistry courses and supervise laboratory sections of general and organic chemistry. To insure consideration, application materials should be sent by March 4, 1997 to: Michael W. Nee, Chair, Department of Chemistry, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio 44074; telephone: (216) 775-8300 or fax (216) 775-66832 or e-mail: fnee@oberlin.edu
  
  

Index of Chemformation Back Issues