Chemistry 16: The Professional Chemist
Fall 1999

Still and always under construction! Please check back between each class and hit reload on your browser!

Fridays 1010-1100 AM, 60 Willard

Prerequisites: None.
Visitors welcome.
Jump to: There is no more next class! | Purpose | Some WWW Sites | Grading

Faculty

Professor John P. Lowe John's photo
Office: 224 Davey Laboratory
Phone: (814) 865-9661
E-mail: jl3@psu.edu
Instant Messenger: none yet (just wait John!)
Office Hours: Monday/Wednesday 300-500 PM or by appointment
Send e-mail to Prof. Lowe

Secretary: Connie Smith, 222 Davey Lab, (814) 863-0119

Professor Paul S. Weiss
Office: 407 Davey Laboratory
Phone: (814) 865-3693
E-mail: stm@psu.edu
Instant Messenger: PSWeiss
Office Hours: By appointment and AIM.
Send e-mail to Prof. Weiss

Secretary: Connie Smith, 222 Davey Laboratory, (814) 863-0119

We have excellent guest lecturers planned as well.

Learning in Chem 16

This course is designed to help prepare chemistry majors to take advantage of opportunities provided by the Department and community of professional chemists for choosing, attaining, and furthering their career goals.

Most of the meetings of the course will be primarily informational. Questions and discussions will be encouraged. The topics to be discussed will include: research as an undergraduate, the graduate school experience, interviewing for jobs, careers in the chemical industry, and Co-ops. In addition to the two professors in charge, we will have a number of speakers from the chemical industry and from University offices that offer help and opportunities in educational and career development.

Some Sites of Interest

Research in Prof. Weiss' group.
Chemistry on the Web.
The Elements.

Lunch?

Class Topics and Readings

These topics and assignments are subject to change, and you should check back regularly. We will try to indicate changes for you.

Friday 27 August 1999 Class (Lowe)

Introduction

Friday 3 September 1999

Interviewing for a job
Ellen Houser, Assistant Director, Career Information Management, Penn State Career Center, Guest Lecturer

Friday 10 September 1999

Coop Program
Susan Knell, Guest Lecturer

Turn in first and second choice topics for talks.

Wednesday 15 September 1999 or Thursday 16 September 1999

Please go watch the 45 minute:
Safety Video

in Room 151 Davey
Wednesday 15 September 1999: 8 AM - 12 noon or 1 - 5 PM
Thursday 16 September 1999: 130 - 5 PM

Friday 17 September 1999 Class

Safety Exam and Photos

You must attend even if you have already taken the exam.
We will return suggested topics for talks and will hand out schedule (it will be posted here as well).

Friday 24 September 1999 (Weiss)

Graduate School
Special guests:
Prof. Ray Funk, who recently stepped down as Head of Graduate Admissions for our chemistry department and
Prof. Mark Maroncelli, current Head of the Graduate Counciling Committee (Chief Advisor to our graduate students).

Amy Bollinger's photo Friday 1 October 1999

Amy Bollinger, Union Carbide R&D Chemist
Life in the Corporate World

with special appearance by: Maureen Chan, Member of the American Chemical Society Board of Directors
Internships in Industry
Maureen Chan's photo
Here is the link Maureen mentioned on Undergraduate Internships in Industry sponsored by the American Chemical Society.
Turn in outlines for talks.

Friday 8 October 1999

Dr. Richard Henry: Smaller Companies

Friday 15 October 1999 (Dr. Fred Kohout -- Chemical Consultant)

Dr. Fred Kohout: Chemical Industry
Friday 22 October 1999
Talks I
Lowe Group I meeting in 201 Osmond
Karl Oyler Synthetic Lubricants
Ravi Patel Solid Phase Synthesis of Peptides
Jamie Schneck Superconductivity in Fullerenes
William Chain Chemistry of Light Sticks: Chemiluminescence


Weiss Group I (still meeting in 60 Willard)
Aimee Bross Directed Self-Assembly by Controlling Solution Exchange
Tom Pavlovsky The Oxidative Degradation of Polymers to Useful Organics
Liz Muth The Chemistry of Vision
Maureen Gramaglia Molecular Computing

Friday 29 October 1999 (Prof. Karl Mueller)

Professional Ethics

Friday 5 November 1999

Talks II
Lowe Group II meeting in 270 Willard -- Note room change
Aaron Segall CO2 under Pressure
David Richardson Homology Modeling of Proteins
Daniel Lebovic Polymer that Folds Like a Protein
Kristen Corinchock Sparingly Soluble Salts



Weiss Group II (still meeting in 60 Willard)
Mike Hay Sunscreen Function and History
Jessica Seren Twist on Vancomycin
Dante X. Peagler Fuel Cells for Vehicles
Josh Sorber Light-switchable Adhesives

Friday 12 November 1999

Talks III
Lowe Group III meeting in S5 Osmond -- Note room change
Julianne Ware Chemistry in Fingerprint Identification
Matt Lombardo Insertion Mechanisms in Polymer Chemistry
Kathie Moralis Water Contamination by Fertilizer in Run-off
Adam Molner Reactive Adhesives, Proactive Chemistry
Chris Rickard Microwave Reaction Acceleration


Weiss Group III (still meeting in 60 Willard)
Ryan Oyler Reaction Mechanism of Trityl Chlorides with Ethynylmagnesiumbromide
Eric Statz Methane Fuel Cells
Ben Ketz Using Biosensors to Detect Heavy Metal Toxins
Melanie Hauser The Mechanism of Action of Marijuana

Friday 19 November 1999

Talks IV
Lowe Group IV meeting in S5 Osmond -- Note room change
Phuc Phan Ice Core Records of Atmospheric CO2 around the Last Three Glacial Terminations
Chris Mitkowski Destruction of Ozone
Marie Achalabun Electrochemical Detection of Exocytosis
Marc Fiddler Enzyme Extraction and Purification



Weiss Group IV (still meeting in 60 Willard)
Norma V. Reyes Stereochemical Theory of Odor
John Comninos Breath Analysis as a Medical Diagnostic
Kristen Summer Chemical Warfare
Mark Frisch How Caffeine Affects the Human Body

Friday 26 November 1999

No class -- Thanksgiving Break

Friday 3 December 1999

Talks V
Lowe Group V meeting in S5 Osmond -- Note room change
Amy Weiderhold Chocolate -- Structure and Its Addictive Qualities
Kelly Mokal Thin Layer Chromatography of Morphine
David Mangold Chemistry of Cholesterol
Loren Blasko Mechanisms of Deodorizers




Weiss Group V (still meeting in 60 Willard) with Lloyd Bumm, Christine Keating, and Kevin Kelly as guest instructors
Marcia Dohne Overnutrition of Aquatic Life: The Phosphorus and Nitrogen Cycles (delayed from the previous class)
Kevin West Biocides
Kristy Longsdorf Chemiluminscence
Zachary R. Gates Tannins
Eric Blythe Garlic? Pasta? Something Italian to Eat!

Friday 10 December 1999 Class (Lowe & Others)

Panel Discussion and Wrap-Up

Grading

Class attendance 15 x 10 points/meeting = 150 points
Talk 50 points


Talk requirement

Communication of technical material is a critical skill for success in science. You will be required to give a 10 minute talk on a chemistry-related topic. You will choose a topic (subject to approval) that involves a modern scientific problem that is related to chemistry in a major way. The subject should be suitable for the interest of the students in the class, which means that it should not focus too narrowly. However, it should involve consideration of phenomena at the molecular level. Some potential sources of good ideas are as follows: Chemical and Engineering News, Chemistry in Britain, Journal of Chemical Education, Science, Science News, Scientific American, Nature.

Schedule for Talk Outlines
Sept 10 Turn in first and second choices for topic
Sept 17 We respond and assign dates for talks
Oct 1 Outline due

The class will be split into two sections for the talks. The final schedule of talks will be announced in class and on the www.

This version: 19 December 1999
psw/jpl