ANNOUNCEMENTSVolume 19, Number 1
Friday, January 17, 2003
Chemformation is published by the Office of the Department Chairman. Please convey items of interest (or mailing list changes) to Laura Howe, Room 18-393, Department of Chemistry, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, 617/258-7492; 617/258-7500 (fax) or e-mail to lhowe@mit.edu. Back issues of Chemformation can be accessed at our archive.
Visit the Chemistry Department Website at http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/www/.
This newsletter is also available as a PDF file.
|
Thursday, January 23, 2003 Organic Chemistry Seminar Room 6-120 at 4:00 p.m. |
Andrew Hamilton, Yale University "Synthetic Approaches to the Disruption of Protein-Protein Interactions" |
| Monday, January 27, 2003
Biological Chemistry Seminar Room 6-120 at 4:00 p.m. |
Robert Sauer, MIT Department of Biology "tba" |
ANNOUNCEMENTSChemistry Highlights 2002 in Chemical Engineering & News (December 16, 2002) mentions several Chemistry Department faculty, including:
Chemistry-Based Medicine: Peter H. Seeberger, Louis Schofield of the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia, and coworkers found a new type of malaria vaccine -- a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-protein conjugate -- showed promising results in a mouse model of malaria [C&EN, Sept. 9, page 45].
Structural Biochemistry: Catherine L. Drennan with Stephen W. Ragsdale of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and coworkers made the discovery of the microbial enzyme carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-coenzyme A synthase, whose metal-ion components were believed to be only iron and nickel, turned out unexpectedly to contain copper as well [C&EN, Oct. 21, page 13]. Robert G. Griffin, Bruce Tidor, and Tomás Lozano-Pérez led of MIT led a group that determined the atomic-resolution 3-D structure of a biomolecule by solid-state NMR for the first time. [C&EN, Aug. 19, page 41].
Organic Chemistry: Richard R. Schrock with Amir H. Hoveyda at Boston College, and coworkers developed the first chiral olefin metathesis catalyst that's polymer-supported and recyclable. [C&EN, Feb. 18, page 13].
An awards ceremony was held on December 20, 2002 celebrating the presentation of the Fall 2002 Infinite Mile Awards in the School of Science. This term our department nominated four candidates! This term our department had four winners! We take great pride in congratulating Laura Howe, Liz McGrath, Jennifer Murphy, and Richard Wilk. Also, thanks to those who recognized the special efforts of Laura, Liz, Jennifer and Rich and took the time to write letters of support.
Our colleagues received a certificate signed by the Dean and a handsome School of Science pen, along with a monetary reward. A special tribute was given by our Department Head, Prof. Lippard, specially written for each of the awardees. All this and a champagne reception, too!
The categories that are used during the review of the nominations include Innovation and Creativity, Results, Communication and Collaboration, and Community. I may be biased but I believe our group could have been honored in all of the categories. Congratulations everyone...and remember, the Spring 2003 awards are right around the corner!
Submitted by: Darlene Slagle
Fay died December 16, 2002 in his Amherst, NY home after a lengthy illness. A musical tribute and reception for Homer Fay will be held in the spring. After graduating from MIT in 1953 with a doctorate in analytical chemistry, he was employed by the Linde Air Products division of Union Carbide Corp. During his 32 years with Union Carbide, he worked on gas separation processes, high temperature growth of crystals and applications of magnetic fluids.
Fay was granted numerous patents and in 1982 he received the Niagra Frontier Inventor of the Year Award for a machine used for detecting fluorescene under ambient light conditions.
As a dedicated trombonist, Fay played with the Amherst Symphony Orchestra and the Orchard Park Symphony Orchestra. He was also a member of the Buffalo Silver Band for which he served as president for 15 years.
Survivors include his wife of 47 years, the former Marion Kidd Schwaneflugel of Amherst; a son, Frank of Seattle; a daughter, Elizabeth Fay Daly of Charlotte, N.C; and three grandchildren.
| Did your holiday travels provide an interesting anecdote? Do you have a travel destination you'd like to recommend? Share your story thru Chemformation (send articles to Laura Howe Dept. of Chemistry, MIT, #18-393, Cambridge, MA 02139, 617/258-7492; 617/258-7500 (fax); e-mail: lhowe@mit.edu) and have a Happy New Year! |
Laboratories
The final phase (Phase 3) of the project began on January 13, 2003 with the
shutdown of all mechanical, electrical and plumbing services in Shaft 3. Beginning
the last week of November 2002 and continuing through the first week of January
2003, the Buchwald, Kemp, Lippard, Seeberger and Swager groups moved into new
labs and desk areas built as part of Phase 2. The Jamison group moved back into
the building from their temporary swing space labs in Building 2. The date for
completion of Phase 3 remains mid July 2003.
South End Offices
Faculty and administrative staff began moving from the Temporary Faculty Offices
(TFO’s) into the building 18 new South Offices and Chemistry Headquarters
suite in mid October. The TFO’s, constructed in June 2000 from individual
commercial office trailers, were dismantled in mid November and removed during
the month of December from their location adjacent to Building 18.
Note: The projected date for the building 56 passenger elevator to return to service is April 18th as most of the operational parts of the elevator have to be replaced.
Submitted by: Richard Wilk
Ara Mermerian - Fu Group
"Catalytic Intermolecular Enantioselective C-Acylation of Silylketene Acetals"Karen Villazor - Swager Group
"Chiral Supramolecular Materials from Columnar Liquid Crystals"Aimee Crombie - Danheiser Group
" Ring Expansion-Annulation Strategy for the Synthesis of Substituted Azulenes"Aaron Skaggs - Jamison Group
"Catalytic, Three-Component Assembly of Oxygen Heterocycles via Cobalt Cluster-Containing Carbonyl Ylides"* * * * Refreshments * * * *
Sejal Patel - Jamison Group
"Catalytic, Three-Component Assembly of Allylic Amines"Ryo Shintani - Fu Group
"Enantioselective Desymmetrization of Cyclic Anhydrides and Imides by Carbon Nucleophiles"Valdas Jurkauskas - Buchwald Group
"Copper-Catalyzed Conjugate Reductions"Sarah Dolman - Schrock Group
"Enantioselective Synthesis of Azacycles via Asymmetric Ring-Closing Metathesis"
ACS WOMEN CHEMISTS COMMITTEE TRAVEL AWARDS- YEAR 2003:
The Eli Lilly & Company is sponsoring a program to provide funding for
undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral women chemists to travel to scientific
meetings in 2003 to present the results of their research. Grants may be applied
only for registration, travel, and accommodations, and are restricted to travel
to meetings within the United States. Grant funds are limited, but there are
some funds set aside for undergraduates. Only U. S. citizens and permanent residents
are eligible. Applications should be limited to one per research group. Awards
will be given with preference to the following order: (1) any applicant who
will be making her first presentation (regardless of format) at a national or
major meeting, (2) graduate or postdoctoral applicants who have not presented
at a national or major meeting since leaving undergraduate school. Women who
have received a prior award under this program are ineligible. The deadline
dates for receipt of applications for 2003 meetings are as follows: September
15, 2002 - Meetings between January 1 and June 30, 2003 ; February 15, 2003
– Meetings between July 1 and December 31, 2003 . See http://membership.acs.org/w/wcc/flyer2003.pdf
MORSE TRAVEL GRANTS
for
GRADUATE STUDENTS
The Chemistry Department has recently received a grant from the Morse family to help support the travel of several graduate students to attend and present a paper at a National conference or meeting. Anyone interested in applying should send a brief letter to Professor Stephen J. Lippard, Head of the Department of Chemistry, indicating which conference or meeting he/she would like to attend and the topic of his/her presentation. An accompanying endorsement letter from the faculty advisor is also required. A budget must be submitted that lists the total costs, assuming that the Morse travel grant contributes up to $1,000 towards the total. Support from another travel grant source, fellowships, trainee program, the faculty sponsor, and/or personal funds should be identified to indicate how the total amount required to attend the meeting/conference will be met.
Requests for calendar year 2003 are now being considered.
A.A.A.S. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY FELLOWSHIPS: If you are interested
in the interaction of science, technology and government in the United States
and around the world and would like to work in Washington, DC, to learn firsthand
how the federal government operates and to help make decisions that result in
national public policy? A.A.A.S. Science and Technology Policy fellowships have
provided unique participatory public policy learning experiences for approximately
1,500 scientists and engineers in Congress and nearly a dozen executive branches
in Washington, DC. Since the first group of seven Fellows was placed in Congressional
offices in 1973, the success of the programs has grown tremendously, paving
the way for even more Fellows to serve each year in an increasing array of offices
and federal agencies. A.A.A.S. sponsors these programs to offer an opportunity
for accomplished, societally-aware scientists and engineers from a wide array
of disciplines to contribute scientific and technical information and external
perspectives to the policy-making process, while learning how government works.
Fellowships are open to A.A.A.S. members only. Applicants must have a Ph.D.
or an equivalent doctoral level degree from any physical, biological or social
sciences, any field of engineering or any relevant interdisciplinary field.
Individuals with a master's degree in engineering and at least three years of
post-degree professional experience may apply. U.S. citizenship is required.
Federal employees are not eligible. Stipends begin at $58,000. For more information,
call 202/326-6700,
e-mail science_policy@aaas.org
or visit http://fellowships.aaas.org
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: Postdoctoral Fellowships
in Computational Molecular Biology/Bioinformatics (Round Eight); Final Round.
http://www.sloan.org/programs/scitech_postdoct.shtml
Deadline: February 3, 2003.
Detailed information on all positions on file in Chemistry Headquarters
* California State University, Fresno: has a tenure-track opening for a biochemist with experience or a demonstrated interest in forensic science. More information can be found at http://www.csufresno.edu/aps/vacancy/vacancy.html
* University of Kansas , School of Pharmacy: is seeking an outstanding individual for the position of Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry.
* National Taiwan University: invites applications for one or two faculty positions in the fall of 2003. Position at all levels from assistant to full professor in all research areas will be considered depending upon the qualification. Working knowledge in Chinese and post-doctoral experience of more than one year is required. Deadline Jan. 31, 2003
* University of California at Berkeley: is recruiting tenure-track faculty at the assistant, associate, or full professor levels. All applications must be received by March 1, 2003.
* Oberlin College: invites applications for a one-year position in biochemistry. Additional information about the department can be found on the departmental web site at http://www.oberlin.edu/chem.
* East Carolina University: is seeking applicants to fill two tenure track positions at the rank of assistant professor. Preferred areas of expertise are organic chemistry and biologically related chemistry. A complete description of the positions is available at ACS JobSpectrum .
Detailed information on all positions on file in Chemistry Headquarters
* University of Utah: Two postdoc positions are available in the lab of Professor Scott Anderson, in the Chemistry Department of the University of Utah. Additional information can be obtained from www.chem.utah.edu/chemistry/faculty/anderson/anderston.html.
* Kansas State University: Two Postdoctoral Research Associates are needed for work in the area of inorganic nanosclae materials. Screening of applicants will commence February 1, 2003
* Harvard University: A postdoctoral fellowship is available immediately for studies on the origin and evolution of RubisCO (ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase). Candidates require a Ph.D. with experience in molecular biology and microbiology, and interest in microbial ecology and evolution.
* Michigan State University: One or more postdoctoral positions are currently available in the laboratory of Prof. Joan Broderick. Current research directions in the lab include iron-sulfur cluster proteins and their roles in radical catalysis; metalloenzymes involved in repair of damage, and metal ion moeostasis.
Detailed information on all positions on file in Chemistry Headquarters
Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development: is seeking highly qualified scientific leaders who are currently engaged in research and development in the physical, biological, medical or engineering sciences. More information can be found at http://www.epa.gov/ORD/htm/jobs_ord.htm
Merck: seeks a Senior Research Chemist in the biocatalysis group for their Department of Process Research at their laboratories in Rahway, NJ. Apply at www.merck. com/careers/ job number SCI000841. They also have a few openings for Research Assistants in Analytical Chemistry opening up. These positions require 0-2 years experience and a Bachelor's or Master's degree.
A San Diego recruiter has the following positions:
- Bioassay Development Scientist – San Diego, CA
- Vice President, Chemistry - CT
- Senior Quality Engineer - Sunnyvale, CA
A Connecticut Recruiter has the following positions available:
- Research Director for a Chemical/Petroleum Additives Group - CT
To place an advertisement: email Liz McGrath, emg@mit.edu
Glass Blowing Services: 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 4-064 or call Ed Udas at 3-4505. Bob will do the work on a first-come, first-served basis.
Get Organized! Call Ed Udas at 253-4505 or stop by room 4-065 if students, faculty, or staff need help in organizing their MIT space.
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Comments and questions to lhowe@mit.edu