Category Archives: Chemistry

Back home Lauren Jackson has cut short her WNBA season in the US to take part in a two-month training camp in preparation for the Games. Photo: Steve Christo

LAUREN JACKSON has enough Olympic silver medals to sink a ship. If the Opals want gold, something has to change.

So Jackson, who has won silver at the past three Olympics, has cut short her WNBA season to help rebuild Australia's ''chemistry'' at a two-month training camp in Canberra. The Seattle Storm star arrived in Australia late on Wednesday night to take part in a lengthy schedule aimed at forging a strong bond among players for the London Games.

The lack of understanding within the squad caused the Opals' poor showing at the 2010 world championships - where they were the defending titleholders. An abrupt quarter-final loss to hosts Czech Republic, then ranked three places below Australia, highlighted the lack of team unity and poor preparation for the championships, Jackson said.

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Dashing ... Olympians at the launch of the back to the future uniforms. Photo: Steve Christo

''Chemistry is the biggest part, from the world championships two years ago we didn't know each other, we went in blind to the world championships with all this talent but we never played together and that was evident,'' Jackson, 30 said. ''I think the government and Basketball Australia have done a great job at getting all the players back to Australia to prepare for the Olympics.''

Australian coach Carrie Graf has lobbied to stage the camp three months before the Games, including several warm-up games to prevent a similar outcome. ''We didn't have much preparation time as a team, we had basically that world championship team come together only two days before the world championship our preparation as a group was extremely limited,'' Graf said.

Jackson has spent the two years after the championships playing in the US and with club Ros Casares Valencia in Spain. While her overseas club career has limited her opportunities to gel with the Opals, she believes her absence will not be an issue because of the time the team will spend together in the build-up for London.

''Obviously I played with the girls in the world championships but we've got the next two months together, we really don't break from each other from now, and I think chemistry will be good come the Olympics.'' Jackson said. ''I feel confident with the team and talent. I'm hoping that we get the chemistry right and hoping that we have no more injuries and we go into the Olympics feeling good.''

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Opals seek right chemistry to turn silver into gold

Public release date: 2-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2012 American Chemical Society (ACS) Publications announces ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, a new peer-reviewed journal with a focus on advancing research that aims to minimize environmental harm and achieve sustainable processes. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering will provide a comprehensive and topically inclusive flagship forum exclusively dedicated to the high-quality publication of content that spans the breadth of sustainable chemistry and engineering. The journal will publish its first issue in January 2013, and in keeping with the spirit of the journal's theme and with other recent new ACS Publications journal launches, it will be available online only.

The journal will be led by Editor-in-Chief David T. Allen, Ph.D., of the University of Texas at Austin. Allen is the Gertz Regents professor and chair of Chemical Engineering and the director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources of the Cockrell School of Engineering. He recently served as the associate editor for ACS Publications' Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Allen is well-recognized as a leader in the field, having received many awards, most recently the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Sustainable Engineering Forum Award and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' Cecil Award for Contributions to Environmental Engineering.

"This journal will address the grand challenges for sustainability in the chemical enterprise and the principles of green chemistry and green engineering," Allen said. "It will provide a focal point for the work of a rapidly developing research community in the chemical sciences, focused on sustainability, complementing the work of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute."

Susan King, Ph.D., senior vice president, ACS Journals Publishing Group, says, "ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering meets the publication needs of a growing global community of scientists and engineers engaged in this endeavor, providing rapid publication, free of mandated author fees, on award-winning online and mobile delivery platforms. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering brings together disparate parts of the community into a single forum to advance knowledge and technology."

The editor invites experts in the field to contribute original peer-reviewed research letters and articles. Authors are encouraged to establish correlations between their research and the principles of green chemistry and the principles of green engineering. The journal scope will emphasize five focal areas of research:

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering complements the ACS portfolio of more than 40 peer-reviewed journals, with close connections established with sister journals, such as Environmental Science & Technology, and new opportunities for collaborations with the ACS Green Chemistry Institute.

Bob Peoples, Ph.D., director of the ACS Green Chemistry Institute, adds, "Green chemistry and sustainability has developed significantly across disciplinary boundaries in the last decade, and research dollars are being invested at a rapidly growing rate. This new journal from ACS Publications allows for coverage of the full interdisciplinary field, thus ensuring a successful future for the journal. ACS Publications has a reputation for launching successful journals at the forefront of chemistry, and this is an area that will benefit immensely from having such a prestigious journal available. Green chemistry today is the chemistry of the 21st century. We welcome this new opportunity to collaborate to advance green and sustainable chemistry."

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New American Chemical Society journal

UC Riversides Zhenda Lu and Qiao Zhang receive Silver Awards from the Materials Research Society

By Iqbal Pittalwala on May 1, 2012

Zhenda Lu (left) and Qiao Zhang are Ph.D. graduate students in the Department of Chemistry at UC Riverside. Photo credit: Yin lab, UC Riverside.

Two Ph.D. graduate students at the University of California, Riverside have won Silver Awards given out by the Materials Research Society (MRS) for their academic achievements and current materials research, which exhibit a high level of excellence and distinction.

Zhenda Lu and Qiao Zhang, who both work in the lab of Yadong Yin, an associate professor of chemistry, received the awards on April 11 during the 2012 MRS Spring Meeting in San Francisco. They were honored for their oral presentations given at the meeting the previous day.

In total, 23 graduate students, selected from 105 applications, were recognized by the society with Graduate Student Awards. Prizes consisted of $400 and a presentation plaque for the Gold Award winners and $200 and a certificate for the Silver Award winners.

Lu developed a number of general self-assembly processes for the synthesis of multi-functional nanoscale composites which show superior performance in various applications including bioseparation, catalysis and energy harvesting.

Such assembly approaches will provide the research community a highly versatile, configurable, scalable, and reproducible process for the preparation of various multifunctional nanostructures, he said.

Zhangs research was focused on the development of highly efficient titanium dioxide (TiO2)-basednanostructured materials for harvestingsolar energy. By controlling the composition, geometric configuration, doping, and interface, he was able to produce photocatalysts with significantly enhanced efficiency in solar-assisted waste water treatment and hydrogen production by splitting water.

The demand forcheap, clean, and sustainableenergy sources is ever-increasing in this energy-hungry world. Solar energy is the best candidate as it is free, clean, and long-lasting, he said. A grand challenge facing the research community is to develop materials capable of transforming solar photons efficiently, stably, and cleanly into chemical or electrical work.

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Chemistry Graduate Students Honored for Their Research

MIDLAND, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW - News) and University of Minnesota are expanding their strategic partnership by launching a pilot program to improve safety awareness and practices in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science in the universitys College of Science and Engineering. The pilot program will leverage key elements of Dows best-in-class practices to help improve university laboratory safety.

The safety partnership reinforces Dows commitment to advancing research and development at leading U.S. universities. In support of the companys goal to support breakthrough technologies and ensure a strong pipeline of scientific talent for the nations workforce, Dow announced in October 2011 it would invest $25 million per year for 10 years among 11 academic institutions, including the University of Minnesota.

At Dow, we see it as part of our mission to support universities continue the tradition of excellence in chemical engineering, chemistry, and materials science, said Dr. William F. Banholzer, Ph.D., Dows chief technology officer and executive vice president of ventures, new business development, and licensing. The safety pilot program expands the partnership with University of Minnesota and leverages our strength in laboratory safety, which is a continuing challenge for universities everywhere. The Dow safety mindset is based on driving behavior toward incident prevention, sustained by renewed employee engagement and the responsibility to provide a safe work environment to our employees.

University laboratory safety has improved steadily over the last two decades, thanks largely to the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Laboratory Safety Act in 1990. However, with a transient student population and, at times, inadequate infrastructure (especially in pre-1990 facilities) nurturing and sustaining a safety culture is a challenge, say university researchers.

"This partnership is a tremendous opportunity for us to learn how to improve the safety culture in our two departments, which is always of paramount concern as we perform research at the forefront of chemistry, materials science and engineering," said Department of Chemistry chair William Tolman. "The insights and help we glean by working closely with Dow, an industry leader in safety practices, will be invaluable in promoting safe work in our laboratories."

University administration recognizes the impact of this new partnership to improve safety and the importance of partnering with industry leaders.

Dows partnership with the University of Minnesota is a great example of how todays companies can work with universities to accomplish mutual goals while contributing to our society, said Eric W. Kaler, president of the University of Minnesota. The safety partnership with Dow will help bring a renewed culture of safety awareness to our laboratories that supports our mission of education and driving groundbreaking research.

Successful elements of this safety pilot program could be leveraged to other departments within the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering and potentially to other universities.

"We are thrilled to partner with the Dow Chemical Company in this critically important aspect of research and education," said Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science head Frank Bates. "The consequences of this unique and innovative program will reverberate across Universities around the country."

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Dow to Share Laboratory Safety Expertise with University of Minnesota

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Righettis Frankie Platero goes for the spike on Arroyo Grandes Taylor Jenish and Andrew Midyett in Tuesday nights volleyball match. //Joshua E. Duffy/Contributor

The Arroyo Grande High School boys volleyball team is off to a hot start, thats for certain.

The Eagles improved to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in PAC 7 League play after a 3-0 victory over the defending league champion Righetti Warriors on Tuesday.

The Eagles are a young team starting on the floor this season, with two sophomores currently in the rotation.

Our team is well-rounded, and thats why we are successful, Arroyo Grande head coach Laurel Allen said. We depend on everybody to play their part.

A few of the players having an impact so far this season are sophomore Jack Empey and senior Tanner Howard.

Empey is the setter, who despite being a sophomore brings a lot of experience to the floor.

You can see his experience and confidence on that court moving the ball around, Allen said of Empey.

Howard plays the libero position and has really worked hard over the past seasons to become one of the key players on the team, Allen said.

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Chemistry helps volleyball team to hot start

For Immediate Release

Kingsport, Tenn., April 30, 2012 - Eastman Chemical Company (EMN) was one of 19 American Chemistry Council (ACC) members honored today at the annual ACC Responsible Care Conference and Expo in Washington, D.C. for implementing energy-efficiency improvements in 2011. Eastman received eight of the 67 awards presented for outstanding projects, including one of the 16 Exceptional Merit awards. This marks the 19th consecutive year Eastman has earned energy efficiency awards from ACC.

"Eastman is honored to be recognized again by ACC for our efforts in achieving energy efficiencies in our operations," said Jim Rogers, Chairman and CEO. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through improved energy efficiency is a key part of our vision of being a sustainable chemical company."

Combined, Eastman`s winning projects save over 737,000 MMBTUs and 337,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. That`s enough energy to power 16,000 homes and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from over 60,000 cars!

"These eight winning projects exhibit innovative examples of control strategy modifications, trials with new types of equipment, creative process redesign and operational changes," said Sharon Nolen, Corporate Energy Program Manager. "Each success confirms our commitment to saving energy and continuous improvement in energy management."

Eastman received an Exceptional Merit award for the restructure of its energy program to a corporate-wide program with broad participation and executive level support, and an emphasis on corporate initiatives, designated funding, ENERGY STAR resources, and employee awareness and engagement in energy conservation. The company was named a 2012 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for its enhanced energy management program and commitment to continuous improvements in energy efficiency.

Seven of Eastman`s awards were for Significant Improvement in Manufacturing. Eastman`s Longview, Texas site received an award for the following project: Fuel reduction in cracking furnaces - To reduce fuel usage in cracking furnaces without affecting plant reliability or production, better control over excess air in the furnaces was implemented. Measures taken included extensive maintenance on the burners, installation of sample points for manual readings, repair of broken draft controls and elimination of tramp air. This project resulted in annual energy savings of 213,662 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 12,392 tons.

Eastman`s Kingsport, Tennessee site received awards for these projects: Energy minimization in acetic acid refining - To reduce energy consumption by a refining system that removes impurities from acetic acid, a two-phase effort involving control strategy modifications and heat integration was implemented. This resulted in annual energy savings of 40,900 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4,300 tons.

Energy reduction through leak repair in compressed air piping network - A leak survey identified, tagged and quantified leaks from an extensive network of piping that provides compressed air to many manufacturing divisions. The amount of the leak was converted into energy used to compress the air lost to the leaks and the amount of coal burned to generate electricity to run the compressors. This project resulted in annual energy savings of 43,000 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4515 tons.

Reactor heat recovery - A partial condenser was added to recover heat from the vapor leaving a reactor to preheat the liquid feed to the reactor, providing a significant improvement in energy efficiency as well as increased capacity. This project resulted in annual energy savings of 45,280 MMBTU and an annual greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 4754 tons.

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Eastman Chemical Company Receives Energy Efficiency Awards for 19th Consecutive Year