NEWS
1992 Benedetti-Pichler Award Winner The American Microchemical Soci ety's Benedetti-Pichler Memorial Award will be presented at the EAS to Robert G. Michel, professor of chemistry at the University of Con necticut. Michel received his B.Sc. degree (1971) and Ph.D. (1974) from Sheffield Polytechnic, U.K. After completing fellowships at the Uni versity of Florida and the Univer sity of Strathclyde, Michel joined the faculty at the Uni versity of Connecticut in 1979. Michel was awarded the Senior Fulbright-Hays Award and a National Institutes of Health Research Ca reer Development Award. His research interests include absorption and fluorescence in plasmas, instrumenta tion, and the application of laser atomic absorption spectroscopy to trace analysis.
New York SAS Award Winner J a c k L. Koenig, professor of macromolecular science at Case Western Reserve University, will receive the New York Section for Applied Spec troscopy Medal. Koenig received his B.A. degree in chemistry and m a t h ematics from Yankton College in South Dakota (1955) and his Ph.D. in theoretical spectroscopy from the University of Nebraska (1955). After spending four years as a researcher with E. I. du Pont de Nemours, he joined the faculty at Case Western Re serve University. In 1963 Koenig built one of the first laser-excited Ra man spectrometers, laying the groundwork for develop ments in vibrational spectroscopy. His other research interests include software development, factor analysis techniques, NMR spectroscopy, and developing poly meric liquid crystals for optical applications.
Egg Soundings We all know that eggs are high in cholesterol and fat and that we should limit our intake to only four per week. Eggs can also carry the dreaded salmonella bacte ria. If not properly cooked, infected eggs can cause food poisoning; death can result for pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. Researchers Dipen Sinha of the Electronics Research Group, Roger Johnston and Kevin Grace of the Physical Chemistry/Process Technology Group, and Cheryl Lemanski of the Biochemistry and Structural Biology Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory have devel oped an acoustic resonance technique, based on an ob
ject's natural vibration frequency, to inspect chicken eggs. The egg is placed between two transducers. One transducer converts an electrical signal into sound, and the other listens for the sound and converts it back into an electrical signal. The resonance of the egg shell is affected by the conditions in the white and the yolk. Normal eggs exhibit a single resonance at ~ 830 Hz. Eggs artificially inoculated with salmonella exhibit an additional resonance at a higher frequency. The re searchers were able to detect 25% of the infected eggs and hope to improve their system to detect 100% of the diseased eggs. Currently the only way to tell if an egg is infected is to crack it open and culture the egg yolk. Researchers caution t h a t the acoustic inspection technique should be tested on naturally contaminated eggs to be sure t h a t it works in real-world conditions. Once perfected, the sys tem could provide egg farmers with an inexpensive, quick, and portable technique to add another needed measure of safety to the food supply.
For Your Information Applications for the Third A n n u a l P e r k i n Elmer I n t e r n a t i o n a l LC Technical P a p e r A w a r d are avail able. LC must be the primary technique used, the paper must have been published within the past year, and there must be reference to a commercial LC system. The first-place winner will receive $20,000 worth of Perkin Elmer equipment, and the second-place winner will r e ceive a coupon worth $5000 for items in any PE XPRESS catalog. To obtain an entry form, contact Laura Lauman, Perkin Elmer, 761 Main Ave., Norwalk, CT 06859-0250 (203-834-6523; fax 203-834-6887). Deadline is J a n u a r y 1. A new s c a n n i n g t u n n e l i n g microscope, developed by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Precision Engineering Division, can attain a resolution of 1 nm, sufficient to analyze a cluster of molecules or survey a square area 600 μηι on a side. For more information, contact Theodore Vorburger, A117 Metrology Bldg., NIST, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (301975-3493). The revised edition of the directory of the Association of Consulting Chemists and Chemical Engineers profiles more than 125 consultants and firms in areas such as superconductivity, polymer alloys, sensors, pollution control, and forensics. Contact the ACC&CE, 295 Madi son Ave., New York, NY 10017 (212-983-3160). The National Center for NMR Applications will develop t e c h n i q u e s for p r o c e s s a n d quality control p r o b lems, optimize chemical or process systems using both liquid and solid samples, and analyze individual sam ples. For more information, contact the National Center for NMR Applications, Department of Chemistry, Colo rado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523 (303-4916455; fax 303-491-1801). ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 64, NO. 14, JULY 15, 1992 · 709 A
