NEWS
Tomas Hirschfeld Awards
Laser Pioneers Receive DOE Recognition
The Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies (FACSS) is seeking nominations for the 1989 Tomas Hirschfeld Awards. The awards, which honor the "memory of one of the most creative, prolific, and energetic members" of the analytical community, recognize graduate students for their outstanding research. The awardees will present a 20-min talk on their work at FACSS 89. Nominating documents, including the title of the talk, a 250-word abstract, two letters of nomination, and any reprints, should be submitted by March 21 to Robert Michel, Program Chairman, Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, 215 Glenbrook Road, U-60, Storrs, CT 06269-3060 (203-486-3143). Further details about the awards can be obained from Stephen Brewer, Eastern Michigan University, Department of Chemistry, Ypsilanti, MI 48197 (313-487-0290) or James Cox, Miami University, Department of Chemistry, Oxford, OH 45056 (513-5292813). At the fall FACSS meeting held in Boston, 1988 award recipients James T. Cronin of the University of Delaware and Sue E. Zhu of Villanova University were honored. Brief biographies of the winners follow.
Four chemists at the Argonne National Laboratory have been awarded the Materials Sciences Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Michael Pellin, Charles Young, Wallis Calaway, and Dieter Gruen will receive a total of $40,000 for research equipment. The award recognizes research that has led to new scientific understanding and is applicable to practical problems. The research group, headed by Gruen, was recognized for their research in laser-induced fluorescence of desorbed species, multiphoton resonance ionization, and second harmonic generation from surfaces using picosecond laser techniques. The first technique uses lasers to identify and measure concentrations of atoms dislodged from material surfaces and has been applied to fusion energy research. The fusion reaction takes place in charged-particle plasma suspended in a magnetic field. Unfortunately, the plasma can knock atoms off of the surrounding walls, contaminating the plasma and shutting it down. Laser-induced fluorescence is used to measure and control the contamination. Multiphoton resonance ionization, used for ultrasensitive detection of trace impurities in semiconductor materials, has applications in the field of electronics. It has also been used to measure particles that contaminate vacuums by escaping from the chamber walls—important information for those who design advanced particle accelerators. Second harmonic generation from surfaces using picosecond laser techniques has been used to study the capability of experimental films to inhibit corrosion and other chemical reactions on material surfaces. The technique has been used to study growth processes and structures of metaloxide films formed in the atmosphere.
James T. Cronin received a B.S. degree from the University of Delaware in 1983. Before pursuing graduate studies at Delaware under the guidance of Thomas Brill, Cronin was employed by the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory. His research has included the development of rapidscan FT-IR/thermal profiling (a technique for simultaneously observing both the thermochemistry of a decomposing sample and the gases evolved from the sample at high heating rates) and a feasibility study on acoustic lévitation as an IR spectroscopy sampling technique. Cronin, who will receive a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry this month, recently began working as an FT-IR spectroscopist for E. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Co. Prior to carrying out graduate work at Villanova University under the direction of Peter Keliher, Sue E. Zhu received B.S. and M.S. degrees from Jilin University, China. While in China, she published papers on the atomization process of aluminum in furnace atomic absorption (AA) spectroscopy. Her current research interests include flame, furnace, and plasma AA and the use of computers in chemistry. She is studying the analytical use of hollow cathode lamp excited atomic fluorescence in an inductively coupled plasma. Earlier this year Zhu received a Gordon F. Kirkbright Award from the Association of British Spectroscopists.
For Your Information Odette L. Shotwell has been selected as the 1989 president of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). Shotwell, a research leader at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Northern Regional Research Center in Peoria, IL, was named a fellow of the AOAC in 1978 and was elected to the AOAC Board of Directors in 1984. In 1982 Shotwell received the AOAC Wiley Award for her exceptional service to the analytical science community. Anthony M. Trozzolo, Huisking Professor of Chemistry at the University of Notre Dame, has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Gordon Research Conferences. Trozzolo founded the Gordon Research Conference on Organic Photochemistry in 1964. He has also been a member of the council and of the selection and scheduling committee. The Laser Precision Corporation is changing the name of its Analect Instruments Division to Laser Precision Analytical. The new name represents the company's commitment to complementing the electrooptics business with related technology and overlapping markets.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 60, NO. 24, DECEMBER 15, 1988 · 1379 A
