Students present research at undergraduate conference

Students Abdullah Almayouf and Tyler Krause were two of several chemistry and biochemistry majors who tackled research projects this past summer. This pair teamed up with mathematics major Doan Le for a computational study of the Schrodinger equation under the guidance of Professor Marmorino.

The group introduced a parameter (for optimization) into the Temple formula used to calculate lower bounds to ground-state energies of atomic and molecular systems. Last Friday, Abdullah and Tyler presented this research at the Midwestern Symposium on Undergraduate Research in Chemistry held at Michigan State University.  Just a week earlier they were notified that their work had been accepted for publication in the Journal of Mathematical Chemistry.  Congratulations Abdullah, Tyler, and Doan!

Alumnus Shahir Rizk engineers protein nanoswitches

After graduating from IU South Bend with a biology major and chemistry minor, Shahir Rizk earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2006 from the Duke University School of Medicine.  Rizk now works as a postdoctoral fellow for Professor Anthony Kossiakoff at the University of Chicago in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 

As part of our intermittent Chemistry Right Now seminar series, Rizk will discuss how he and his colleagues attempt to engineer conformational changes that allow a protein to serve as a molecular on-off switch.   His talk Engineering Nanoswitches to Control Protein Structure and Function will be presented in Northside Hall 113 at 4:00 P.M. on Monday, October 10.

A Scientific Look at Marijuana

Chemistry professor Joe Vinson from the University of Scranton will discuss the history, chemical nature, and bodily effects of this widely abused drug today at 4:00 PM in room 225 of the Student Activities Center. 

While marijuana may not be your cup of tea some patients treasure it as much as a pot of gold for its proclaimed medical powers; its beneficial aspects will be discussed in this talk.  The structure shown is for  the active ingredient of the drug: tetrahydrocannabinol.  This talk, free and open to the public, is jointly sponsored by the American Chemical Society and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Seminar on Integrated Pest Management

Today the N390 Environmental Chemistry class learned from guest speaker Dr. Bill Shane how disciplines other than chemistry can be involved in controlling pests.  Dr. Shane has a Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Minnesota and twenty years of experience working at the South Western Michigan Research and Extension Center.

At this AgBio research center of Michigan State University, Dr. Shane gives advice to growers and supervises many projects involving tree fruits such as apples, pears, and peaches.  Thanks so much for visiting our campus and sharing your work!

Student research published

Kayleigh Cassella graduated this Spring with a minor in chemistry.  She is now pursuing her Ph.D. in physics at Berkeley (University of California) with the generous support of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship.  While at IU South Bend she conducted research in biochemistry, physical chemistry, and string theory. 

The research she conducted with physical chemist Matt Marmorino has just been published in the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry (vol. 111, no. 14) as Bounds to electronic expectation values for atomic and molecular systems.  This is surely the first of many publications that will crowd her resume in the years to come.  Congratulations, Kayleigh! Good luck in graduate school.

Biology-Chemistry Club

The Biology-Chemistry club is off to a quick start this Fall semester.   Starting August 31 they will be selling tee-shirts on campus at Dorothy Weikamp Hall to raise funds.  Just a few days later they will visit the Museum of Science and Industry to view the exhibit "Body Works".  In October the club plans to reach out to the community to celebrate 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry.  Pictured above from left to right are Ashley Compton (Vice President), Denisse Hernandez (President), Barbara Cavinder (Web Master), Patrick Stevens (Secretary), and Craig Kelley (Treasurer).  Find out more on Facebook.

Alumnus is now Director of Admissions

Congratulations to Mike Renfrow who recently became Director of Admissions at IU South Bend.  Although almost every biology major earns a chemistry minor as Mike did, his personality and willingness to keep in touch made him well-known to all of the chemistry faculty.   As a student Mike was a active member of the student government and since graduating he has worked hard for our campus.  Congratulations again on your new role.