CINTACS Newsletter of the Cincinnati Section of the  American Chemical Society  Vol. 38, No. 2 - October 2000

CINTACS is published nine times a year (September through May) by the Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society. All changes of address should be sent to Emel Yakali at Raymond Walters College, 9555 Plainfield Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236, phone 745-5686, FAX 745-5767, or email mc.acs@uc.edu.

SUBMISSION DEADLINES

The submission deadline for the December  issue is October 17, 2000. Electronic submission is strongly preferred, except for original photos. All materials should be sent to:

Dr. Bruce Ault
Department of Chemistry
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221
Phone: 513-556-9238
FAX: 513-556-9239
E-mail: bruce.ault@uc.edu

For all of you who think “big is not best”, we have a treat for you this month at our 2000 – 2001 Kick-off October meeting. We are delighted to have Professor Marc Madou from Ohio State University give us a picture of Chemistry in miniature. To think some day, we will take an intelligent probe and analyze almost everything in the world at the “chip” level. I feel this is one of the hottest areas of chemical science today.

For the most part, the rest of our program this year is finalized. In November we will have the Oesper award banquet, honoring Dr. Mildred Cohn, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,  for her work in biological research. Associated with that meeting will be a poster session. This will give everyone in our local session an opportunity to participate in this prestigious affair. . Please contact Jeanette Krause-Bauer (jeanette.krause@uc.edu, (513) 556-9226) at the University of Cincinnati for your needs and information about the poster session.

In December we will  have a joint meeting with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the American Oil Chemist Society (AOCS) at Xavier University new CINTAS Center. We are fortunate to have Dr. P. Gary Eller from Los Alamos make a presentation on Plutonium. Just think, everything you wanted to know about Plutonium, but were afraid to ask. I think this will be an unusual and informative presentation.

Keeping with our previous traditions, Phil Christenson and Givaudan Flavors, have graciously provided their industrial site for our January meeting. On that evening, Iota Sigma Pi will join us for the meeting.  Meeting plans are on-going, but we hope, if the logistics can be worked out, to have presentations on recent work from the rain forest in Gabon and chemistry in Antarctica. Madagascar and Antarctica were at one time one land mass. This should make an interesting evening combination.  In February we will celebrate the National ACS 125th anniversary as well as our own Section’s 111th anniversary at the Phoenix downtown and on March 8th will have the Chemist of the Year award and banquet at Miami University. At the teacher and student awards evening on April 19th , we have a special treat. Professor C. Marvin Lang from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point will present a science show entitled, “The Elements of Leadership”. You know me, I asked him for some fire and brimstone. This should be a fun evening.  Finally we will finish up with Party Night in May. Many years ago when I was Social Chair for Bill Blewett (Cincinnati ACS Chair, from old Emery Company now Cognis Incorporated), I scheduled the Beverly Hills night club for party night. A couple of  weeks later it burn down. True story. I’ll try not to let that happen again. In any event, we’ll try to do something special.

Additional thoughts:

Several volunteers are needed for National Chemistry Week. Now we can do this, the easy way or the hard way. I know your names. All kidding aside, volunteering your time to this worth while activity affords all of you an opportunity to be involved with your community. What better way to promote Chemistry as an important field of endeavor and an accurate way to educate the community. Soumya Patnaik (soumya.patnaik@wpafb.af.mil) and Lisa Clapp (lisa@vnetweb.com), are the Co-Chairs National Chemistry Week. Please contact them with your interest. They need your assistance.
Again, I would like to remind you to nominate your choices for Chemist, Research Assistant, High School Teacher, Middle School Teacher and Elementary School Teacher of the Year Award. The new Awards Chair, Tim Cassady; can be contacted for specifics. (see Award Nominations Solicited).

I was recently informed that another Cincinnati area chemist was honored at 220th ACS National Meeting by the Heroes of Chemistry 2000 Program of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Dr. Haile Mehansho (Procter and Gamble, Food & Beverage Technology) was honored for "novel fortification chemistry in food and beverages to correct micronutrient deficiencies in children," leading to commercialization in Star Margarine, Choco Milk, and Nutri-Delight. The Heroes of Chemistry Program was initiated by the ACS's Office of Industry Relations in 1996, and highlights the contributions of industrial chemists and chemical engineers to their companies, to the global marketplace, and to the chemical enterprise. Congratulation Haile.

I heard that the recent 220th ACS National Meeting in Washington, DC was a great success. Our councilors have prepared a report of the ACS National Council meeting in this issue of CINTACS.

And finally, I was unable to go to the 220th ACS National Meeting in Washington, DC because I was preoccupied by a cruise on the West coast of Mexico. I’m retired you know. While on that trip, I was fishing in  Mazatlan with one of my Chemist acquaintances who was present at the time I caught “the fish” in Canada (see September CINTACS). Which now brings me to the point. Since the publication of “the fish” photo, I have been verbally abused with all kinds of claims. Such as, I can’t count, I can’t tell the difference between a chemist and a civilian, my fishing strategy leaves something to be desired, etc. etc. Well, just because my Chemist acquaintance who, I might add, never fished in salt water, caught a four and half foot dolfin (durato) at Mazatlan, doesn’t change the fact that my fish was a bragging size Wall-eye and should have won the bet.

 Regards to all. Come to the October meeting and abuse me. We’ll have a good time.

Rick Fayter - Cognis Corporation - (513) 482-3156 - Rick.fayter@cognis-us.com

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About the Speaker

Dr. Madou holds an endowed chair at the Ohio State University (OSU) where he is a Professor in Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering. He also directs the Center for Industrial Sensors and Measurements (CISM) - an NSF Center. His expertise is in applying miniaturization techniques to chemical and biological sensors and sensor systems. Madou received his Ph.D. in Semiconductor Electrochemistry at the Solid-State Physics Laboratory, Rijksuniversiteit, Ghent, Belgium. He was Director and founder of the Micromachining Center at SRI International, a visiting Miller Professor at UC Berkeley and President of Teknekron Sensor Development Corporation (TSDC) before joining OSU.

Professor Madou has conducted sensor research with industrial applications such as automotive sensors e.g., on an oil degradation monitor, a planar amperometric oxygen sensor and NOx sensor as well as for environmental applications such as a trace gas analysis system based on a micro-volcano ionization source in an ion mobility chamber. His mechanical sensor research includes AFM tips, pressure sensors and accelerometers. Recently Dr. Madou began a collaboration with the NASA Ames Lab on an alternative electronic nose that combines a small smart gas sensor array (a set of chemiresistors on Flexural Plate Wave Devices) with a modified and simplified gas chromatography.

In basic research Dr. Madou is interested in applying micromaching to explore new physics and chemistry by working with micromachined devices where macro physical laws break down. He is currently testing some of his ideas in this area in gas-electrochemistry and sono-voltammetry. Beyond searching for non-linear effects through micromachining, Dr. Madou is also working on developing smart materials including an attempt to make artificial muscle by combining micromachinging in Si with actuator polymers.

He is the Editor for North-and South-America for Sensors and Actuators B and Organizer of the yearly  San Francisco BioMEMS conference. Dr. Madou has also written two books in the area of MEMS and BIO-MEMS. and is an internationally known both academically  and industrially as an expert in this field.
 

Abstract

The ability to coax a wide variety of materials into smaller and smaller devices is based on progress in a number of research areas, including micromachining, (also MEMS (Micro Electromechanical Systems)), nanomachining, biomimetics and nanochemistry as well as smart materials. These are more than nineties' buzzwords, competing for popular press and research dollars, this jargon zoo, summarized best as the Science of Miniaturization,' holds real potential for groundbreaking new discoveries and applications. In this presentation we review research strategies and explore the potential for further innovation in devices featuring nanoscale dimensions. Emphasis is on biological and chemical applications. Examples discussed are C(arbon)-MEMS, responsive  drug delivery systems using  polymeric reversible valves, a modular beyond batch' fabrication method for biosensor arrays and a compact disc (CD) based fluidic platform. The latter concerns a new fluidic platform merging fluidics with informatics.

The Chemical Educators’ Discussion Group will meet at Walnut Hills High School on Wednesday evening, October 11, beginning at 6:45 PM. Our host is Jeff Lazar. The evening will include a tour of new science laboratories, demonstrations of the lab bench technology called MeasureNet, and a round table discussion concerning student preparation among high school and college instructors. It should be a lively night! Bring a colleague! Walnut is located at 3250 Victory Parkway. Detailed directions were printed in the September CINTACS. You can also e-mail Jeff at lazar@fuse.net for assistance.

Here are two websites for teachers. The first one is at www.ChemCenter.org/vc2. It is designed for high school students, providing them with activities, puzzles, and information connecting chemistry to daily life. For example, I downloaded a puzzle called “Chemistry PUNishments” which included this pun: Clue – “of medium stature”; Chemistry term – Fahrenheit. ARG! The second site provides case studies to incorporate into your lesson plans. For example, I found one called “Baffled by the Baby Bottle” by Michael Jeannot which introduces students to the safety concerns of polycarbonate baby bottles raised by Consumer Reports. It will fit into my polymer unit very nicely. You can find this study and several others at http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/ubcase.htm.

It is not too early to secure professional development dollars to attend ChemEd 2001 at York University in Toronto, Ontario from July 29 to August 2. I will bring registration cards to the October 11th meeting so that you can get on the mailing list for this fantastic conference. Chemistry teachers from around the world will be sharing hands-on experiments, demonstrations, and ingenious ways to teach chemistry. This conference is for all chemical educators from primary grades through college. Toronto is a fascinating city, and the exchange rate between the US and Canadian dollar is so sweet.

John Williams from Miami University has some questions for teachers concerning the national Olympiad examination taken by selected second year students. John has coordinated this testing for several years and is considering some improvements. (1) Should the results of the March second-year student exam be returned prior to Awards Night in April so that the students have more preparation time for the national exam? (2) Should the local section provide tutoring to prepare students for the national exam? (3) Would students perform better if the national exam started in the morning rather than early afternoon? Please e-mail your comments to John at williajp@muohio.edu.

The Cincinnati YCC will have its annual “Kickoff Meeting” on Saturday, October 28th, 2000.  Can’t decide between industry and academia?  Want to know more about alternative career choices?   Need to write your résumé, prepare for an interview or improve your communication skills?  Or, are you just looking for a way to outreach? The Cincinnati YCC has it all! The purpose of this meeting is to brainstorm new ideas for the upcoming year.  For new students, this is an excellent opportunity to come and learn what the Cincinnati YCC is all about.  For old members, we need your feedback on what you feel did and did not work in the past.  So, don’t be shy. Come and introduce yourselves and tell us what you want!!!

Where?  What time?  This event will be held at the house of Rhonda Patschke (Cincinnati YCC co-chair) at 12:00 noon.  There will be food and beverages provided.
How do I get there?  Take I-75S to Fifth Street Exit (exit is on the left).  Turn left  at the light (Central Avenue) and pass 4 more lights (6thstreet, 7th street, 9th street, and Court street).  Look for a series of condos on the left.  The last one is on the corner of Central and Chestnut and this is it.  The address is 1049 Central Avenue. Parking is in the back.
** Please RSVP if you plan on attending by calling Rhonda at 651-3583 or emailing her at rpatschke@yahoo.com.

This year, the focus of the Cincinnati YCC will be on MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT.  Although there is already a lot of interest in our group, we feel that there are still a lot of people that don’t know about us.  Most of them reside within the walls of local industries.  Therefore, we would like start formalizing “liaisons” from each local chemical company to the YCC.  The job of such liaisons would simply be to help advertise our events by spreading the word and posting flyers within your company.  By getting more of the younger chemists from local industries involved, we feel that we will be able to have a wider range of topics to discuss and can start addressing the needs and concerns of those outside of academia. If interested, please email Rhonda Patschke at rpatschke@yahoo.com or Ron Horwitz at rhorwitz@ImperialAdhesives.com.   Or, attend our “Kickoff Meeting” that will be held on Saturday, October 28th.

To learn more about the Cincinnati YCC,  visit our website at www.che.uc.edu/ross/CYCC/yccnew.html

About to graduate and looking for a job?  Don’t know where to begin?  Come to YCC’s first brown bag lunch session of the year and listen to Dr. Ron Webb talk on how to conduct an effective job search over the internet.  Dr. Webb works for Procter & Gamble and, as a recruiter, is very well equipped to offer advice on how to find that first job.   He will give some perspective on how the internet has changed the way companies look for employees, and offer suggestions on how to best look for an employer. Food and drinks will be provided.

What?  "How do Employers Hire Chemists in the New Electronic Era?"

Where?  University of Cincinnati, 502 Rieveschl.

When?   Tuesday, October 10th, 2000  -  12:30pm


The Cincinnati Section of the American Chemical Society has funds available for the purpose of improving chemical education in the geographic area served by the local section (OH: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland and Warren counties; KY: Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties; IN: Dearborn and Ohio counties). The Educational Grants Committee was established to make recommendations to the Cincinnati Section Board of Directors for the disbursement of these funds.

 The committee hereby invites applications for these grants from all members (teachers, students, industrial chemists, etc.) of the chemical community in the service area of the section. Applications will be accepted and reviewed three times during the year according to the following schedule.

Review Month:  November, January, and May
Application Deadline: November 1, 2000, January 15, 2001, and May 1, 2001
Notification Date:  December 1, 2000, February 15, 2001, and May 30, 2001

Grants will be awarded for such activities as attending educational workshops, participation in summer research programs, innovative education programs, instructional equipment, etc. Proposals, which incorporate the use of funds from other agencies or corporations, including the agency, or corporation, with which the applicant is affiliated, will be given preference in the selection process. Funds will generally not be awarded for the purchase of common supplies or chemicals. However, any application, which meets the basic criteria for which the fund was created, will be given serious consideration. Grants will be, in most cases, limited to $1,500; exceptional proposals will be considered for larger amounts. No school or organization will be allowed to receive more than one (1) award per calendar year. Within one year from the time the grant is awarded, a report describing the used of the funds and the impact that the project had is expected to have on improving chemical education is to be forwarded to the committee chairperson.

For further information or an application, please contact:

Ginger Tannenbaum
1941 S. Staunton Dr.
Fairfield, OH 45014
(513) 829-3698

1.   Councilor reimbursement to three Cincinnati Section Councilors for the Spring meeting in San Francisco amounted to $1639.17.  As of 2000, each councilor can be reimbursed up to $2000 for attendance at both meetings in a calendar year.  Total councilor reimbursements are rising each year and reached $208,062.29 at SF, an average of $644.16 for each councilor filing for reimbursement.

2.   Sixteen local sections now operate Industrial Relations Committees designed to provide better linkages between industrial members and National ACS.

3.   Last year, 30 Short Course sessions (2 days each) were conducted by National ACS.  Twelve of these were on technical writing.  Considering the size of ACS, including 189 local sections, this does not represent very heavy use of an educational opportunity.

4.   Industrial Innovation Awards (like we had at CMACS2000) will be broadly rolled out to all Regional meetings in 2001.

5.   To help celebrate the 125th anniversary of the ACS, a program called “Milestones of Technology” will be held at the Fall meeting in Chicago.  Technologies that improved the lives of people around the world will be recognized.  The Cincinnati Section needs to get several nominations submitted for this important event.

6.   The Cincinnati Section was nominated for 2 CHEMLUMINARY Awards and The Cincinnati Younger Chemists Committee won the “Most Creative Activity” award.

7.   Thirty-one scientists/engineers were honored as “Heroes of Chemistry”  Two, Haile Mehansho (Improving nutrition of foods around the world) and M. David Francis (Dental and bone health) , both from P&G, were honored. General Colin Powell spent time with the Heroes and gave an excellent talk after-dinner on August 20.

8.   All ACS members are urged to vote for ACS President-Elect and Director-at-Large in November.  Eli Pearce and Glenn Crosby are running for the former, and Roscher, Shields, Whalen, and Shoffner for the latter.  Biographical data and statements will appear in C&E News.

9.  ACS has allocated $2 million to form an alliance with the Green Chemistry Institute.

10.   The petition to change “ Region” to “District” has passed.  This change pertains to elections for “District Directors” (formerly Regional Directors), while retaining the term “regional” for regional meetings.

11.   The petition to change the maximum size of standing committees of the Council from 12 to 24 has been postponed for consideration in San Diego this Spring.

12.   The Committee on Technician Activities has been granted a name change to “Committee on Technical Affairs”.

13.   Total attendance at this DC meeting was 13,368.  Sixty per cent of attendees registered on line.

14.   Indianapolis has been added as an approved site for National ACS Meetings; probably the first use will be in 2013.

15.   The Clearing House (NECH) had 1616 jobs posted by 155 employers.  There were 1056 job applicants on site with 2875 interviews conducted.  The balance between employers and applicants continues to improve at these meetings.

16. The Local Section Activities Committee is moving rapidly toward on-line submission of annual reports from local sections from around the country.

17. The Membership Retention Task Force awarded a series of mini-grants to local sections to encourage activity in the areas of member recruitment, retention and recognition.

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National Chemistry Week
November 5 - 11, 2000

To celebrate National Chemistry Week (NCW) 2000, volunteers nationwide will engage thousands of individuals in activities and events to help society better understand the nature and importance of chemistry.  Our local section plans on celebrating NCW with a wide range of activities, that include library and museum demonstrations and elementary school contest.  This provides us a great chance to reach the public with a positive message about chemistry and we are seeking participation from all. This year’s theme, "Kitchen Chemistry", offers many opportunities to explain the connections between chemistry and cooking.

 We have extended the library demonstrations to not only include public libraries from Hamilton County but also from the extended Tri-state area including Boone & Kenton Counties, Mason and West Chester.  30 libraries have requested for demonstrations and we are still looking for volunteers, so if you would like to help please contact the NCW Co-Chairs Soumya Patnaik & Lisa Clapp.  For library sites and demonstration times, check http://www.che.uc.edu/acs/ncw/ncw_cin.html.  A demonstrators workshop is scheduled for October 14th at 3 p.m. at Xavier.  The museum demonstrations will be organized by Frank Huss and as in the past 12 years, once again Richard Sundberg is going to co-ordinate the elementary school contest.

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Award Nominations Sought

The Awards Committee request nominations for the following award (nomination due date given in parentheses):
 
Cincinnati Chemist  of the year (11/16/00)
Cincinnati Research Assistant/Chemical Technician of the year (11/16/00)
High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year (12/7/00)
Middle School/Junior High School Science Teacher of the Year (12/7/00)
Elementary School Science Teacher of the Year (12/7/00)

Please see the September CINTACS for detailed descriptions of these awards.  Nomination forms for each award may be requested from, and return to:

Tim Cassady, Awards Committee Chair
Cognis Corporation, 4900 Este Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45232
Phone: (513) 482-2294, Fax (513) 482-2862
e-Mail: Tim.cassady@cognis-us.com

Formatted and uploaded March 16, 2001, by acs@www.che.uc.edu