• Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
• Chemistry
• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

School News — 2007

Christina White's and Mark Chen's research into aliphatic C-H oxidation was selected as a top ten breakthrough of the year in science by Science Magazine. Link to the list. Martin Burke and students have discovered a more efficient way to produce new small molecules using only one coupling reaction. RSC Chemistry World article. Edmund Seebauer has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He was cited for the discovery of a new suite of physical mechanisms for controlling the behavior of point defects in semiconductors using surfaces, photostimulation and ions, with applications in transistor manufacture for integrated circuits. Jeffrey Moore, et. al. have developed a catalyst-free self healing material system that will provide a more economic and practical method of repairing composite materials used in structural applications ranging from airplane fuselages to wind-farm propeller blades. Read more... Yi Lu and collaborators have shown that the presence of specific metals determines what DNAzyme reaction mechanism is used by a lead-specific DNAzyme. Read more... Thomas Rauchfuss and Zachariah Heiden used unconventional metal hydrides in oxygen reduction as part of the chemical process of making water. Read more... Ken Suslick's work studying the Wint-O-Green effect was recently reviewed on the popular science radio show "Earth & Sky". Full mp3 broadcast. Kenneth Schweizer was awarded the Polymer Physics Prize of the American Physical Society, the highest honor in physical polymer science awarded in the United States. He was cited for his "outstanding theoretical contributions to the fundamental understanding of structure and dynamics in polymer melts, polymer blends, polymer-particle composites, and glasses". Ryan Bailey selected as a 2007 National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Awardee. Read more ... Dr. Thomas Dunning will lead the new "Blue Waters" Super Computer program, coming to UIUC in 2011. Read more ... Mary Kraft and Nathan Price are the newest additions to the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering faculty. Mary Kraft is a recent recipient of a Career Award at the Scientific Interface from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Nathan Price was selected as one of "Tomorrow's PIs" by the magazine Genome Technology.