New NMR

After struggling with a 60-MHz instrument with a problematic magnet for many years the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry eagerly welcomes its new 90-MHz instrument.  It was purchased from Anasazi Instruments, Inc., and features a permanent magnet. 

.

This new spectrometer easily runs proton and C-13 spectra and - give it a moment - it can analyze other nuclei as well. Students will soon become adept at the DEPT procedure to distinguish carbon atoms of different degree of substitution. They will be cozy at interpreting two-dimensional spectra from COSY experiments.  Students are introduced to NMR theory and operation in the sophomore level organic chemistry course and continue using it in upper -level chemistry courses.  Perhaps the person most excited about this new instrument is Professor McMillen, who spent countless hours preparing our previous unstable machine each week before heavy use in the student labs.

Student Club Recognized in the News

The IU South Bend Biology-Chemistry Club has been extremely busy this fall. The students have taken a trip to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and celebrated Mole Day at 6:02 PM on 10/23 in the Student Activity Center. They have brought in guests to speak about medical school and sustainability, and have also arranged for the showing of American Chemical Society videos.  

Just this past week they celebrated National Chemistry Week with a science outreach program at the local River Park Public Library.  The photograph is possibly of two future scientists who attended this event.  The local Fox news station gave a short report of the club's event:  Fox news story.  Thank you students for your efforts on campus and for the community.  It is an obvious statement that isn't stated enough: Without our students, our campus is nothing.

Internships at Underwriters Laboratories

Paid internships are available at UL's drinking water analytical laboratory. Sophomore, junior, and senior chemistry and biology students are encouraged to apply.  Real world experience in an industrial setting is something that you cannot get from lectures, laboratory classes, or even academic research.  The laboratory is just about a mile northwest of IU South Bend.

t

An internship looks very impressive on a resume and will give you insight into what type of career you might pursue (or avoid) when you graduate.  Such an experience might even help you decide whether to pursue an advanced degree or go straight into the workforce.  An internship sometimes leads to a job at the company after graduation. Several of our chemistry students have joined Underwriter's Laboratories after graduation and are enjoying their work.  Click here to find more information or to apply.  Note: the summary heading in the job description states "Full Time", but if you read further the position is obviously a part-time internship.

Promoted to Glory

Professor Darrell H. Beach passed away and was "promoted to glory" on September 18. Beach received his masters degree from Harvard University and his doctorate from Laurence University, both in education.  He taught chemistry at the Culver Military Academy for 35 years where he held the Eppley Chair of Chemistry for 23 years. After retiring from the Academy in 2000, Beach joined IU South Bend as an adjunct professor to teach freshman chemistry labs for nine years.  

.

Beach published many chemistry articles including five in the Journal of Chemical Education and four in School Science and Mathematics.  He was also proclaimed as one of the top 40 contributors to Chem13 News on its 40th anniversary; you can try his 1997 quantum crossword puzzle if you like.  Beach was respected and appreciated by students and faculty alike. Perhaps the best tribute we can give him is that left by students at the country-wide teacher evaluation site known as ratemyprofessors.com:

Dr. Beach makes chemistry extremely enjoyable!  I never knew I could have fun in a subject I was not sure I would like to begin with! However he changed my mind and made it possible for me to succeed in my future undertakings! Thank you dearly Dr. Beach!!!

Dr. Beach is the most awesome professor I've ever had.  He wears the cutest little bowties, ya just want to hug him.  Plus, he's really understandable.  He works with the student if they have a problem.  Two huge thumbs up!!!!

The BEST!  Loved his lab.  Had so much fun and learned at the same time. So awesome! Take him if you get the chance! ... 

dr beach is the coolest, most hilarious prof. i've ever had.  he knows chemistry like the back of his hand.  the man cracked me up with his jokes in lab.  i even started a styrofoam cup on fire and he was really cool with it. notorious YOU ARE THE MAN

Professor Beach was a man full of character and charisma, in addition to experience and knowledge.  It was a pleasure to have him teach in our department. For more information regarding his life, please see the South Bend Tribune for his obituary.

Undergraduate Team Publishes Again

In the summer of 2011, mathematics major Doan Le and chemistry majors Tyler Krause and Abdullah Almayouf worked on two projects with Professor Matt Marmorino.  Results from the first project, an unusual application of the Temple lower bound to the ground-state energy, were published earlier this year.

The second project sought to bound properties other than the energy, such as moments of position which are used to determine the size and dipole moment of atoms and molecules.  The results of this second project have just been published in the October issue of the Journal of Mathematical Chemistry - click here for the abstract.  Congratulations to Doan, Tyler, and Abdullah!

Who's New This Fall

Organic chemistry professor Doug McMillen continues to serve as interim dean for the School of Nursing this fall and will continue through the spring. Physical chemistry professor Matt Marmorino is on sabbatical. The freshman general chemistry class has grown from less than a hundred students several years ago to 140 students this semester.  How is the department coping with its temporary lack of instructors and increase in students?  

Department Chair Gretchen Anderson has spent seemingly countless hours working out options for us. For the physical chemistry students, she has arranged something very special: a live and interactive broadcast of the physical chemistry course at Bloomington's campus.  These students also participate in the discussion sections and can attend office hours in a way very much like a video conference.  This setup is attracting a lot of attention from administrators.

Anderson has also been arranging more traditional alternatives such as finding more instructors.  Biochemists Lance Hellman and Jill Voreis have both been recruited to teach CHEM C102 (freshman organic and biochemistry).  Lance Hellman graduated with his doctorate from the University of Kentucky and currently works as a post-doc in Professor Brian M. Baker's laboratory at the University of Notre Dame.  Jill Voreis finished her graduate research under Professor Holly V. Goodson at Notre Dame and she will be receiving her doctorate shortly.  Filling in for McMillen to teach the sophomore organic chemistry class is Professor Steven Warren who comes out of retirement from Andrews University (in Berrien Springs, MI) to bring us his many years of experience. Warren earned his Ph.D. from Arizona State University.

Sabbatical for Professor Marmorino

As classes begin there is one professor who is not preparing a syllabus or marching off to meet a classroom of students.  It is a long-standing tradition that professors are periodically given rest from teaching in order to focus on their research.  Marmorino has begun his first research sabbatical and will resume teaching in the spring.

Marmorino's goals are two-fold.  The first is to continue his current research into upper and lower bounds to properties of atomic and molecular systems.  The main property of interest is the energy because differences in energy levels provide chemists with spectral lines or peaks with which to identify materials.  The second goal is to expand his research from non-relativistic treatment to incorporate relativistic effects.  This is very important because electrons, which essentially determine an atom's properties, move at speeds close to the speed of light.  Furthermore,  the spin of an electron is a natural consequence of relativistic theory.