A link to the highlight article can be found here: http://blogs.rsc.org/py/2013/03/12/paper-of-the-week-quasi-block-copolymer-libraries-from-an-automated-parallel-synthesizer/

or via the main blog page http://blogs.rsc.org/py/

He subsequently undertook a postdoctoral position at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), QUT, where his work focussed on the synthesis and characterization of amphiphilic siloxane copolymers, including the development of a new protocol for the preparation of discrete silicone-based surfactants.

From October 2009 until recently, Dr Keddie held an OCE postdoctoral fellowship at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia (CSIRO). During this time he worked with Dr Graeme Moad, co-inventor of the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process, on the design and synthesis of “switchable” chain transfer agents.

In 2010 Dr Michelle Taylor was appointed as Lecturer in Chemistry.

Dr Taylor obtained her PhD from The University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, UK) in 2006 in synthetic inorganic chemistry working with Dr John Reglinski on the development of novel imaging agents for the detection of oxidative stress, then then moved to Australia to take up a 2 year postdoctoral research fellow position in inorganic chemistry at the University of Melbourne with Assoc. Prof. Charles Young, synthesising models for the active sites of molybdenum enzymes. Following this Dr Taylor joined Prof. Carl Schiesser’s research group in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Free Radical Chemistry and Biotechnology at the University of Melbourne in 2008 where her research focussed on the synthesis of fluorescently labelled drugs and profluorescent nitroxide, radical sensing, drug derivatives.

Appointed in 2010 were also Dr Ben Greatrex as Lecturer in Pharmacy, with research interests in chemistry.

Dr Greatrex obtained his PhD from The University of Adelaide in 2004 working with Prof. Dennis Taylor on the chemistry of organic peroxides and reactions that can be driven by the high energy peroxide bond. He then travelled to Wellington, NZ where he was employed for 3.5 years in the carbohydrate research group of Dr Richard Furneaux working on commercial drug discovery and competitive grant funded projects. These projects included the synthesis of glycodendrimers and saponins as vaccine adjuvants and the synthesis of purine analogues to treat cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. This work was patented and licensed by the companies commercialising the discoveries. Dr Greatrex then returned to Australia and was employed in the Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Laboratory for 2 years at the University of Wollongong in the field of natural products based drug discovery.

Dr Erica Smith has also been appointed as full-time Lecturer in Chemistry.

Dr Erica Smith graduated with a BSc from the University of Sydney in 1994 after completing her honours work on integral equation theories of liquid silicon and fluorine, under the supervision of Prof. Tony Haymet. She then relocated to the United Kingdom and worked for Unilever as a research chemist, completing an industry sponsored MSc on the production of hydrophobic silica gel in a ‘one-pot’ process. She then held several corporate roles within the European and Australian chemical and healthcare industries before moving to the United States to complete a PhD in theoretical and computational chemistry in 2004, again under the supervision of Prof. Tony Haymet. Returning to her interests that developed during her honours year her doctoral studies were in the field of applied statistical mechanics and molecular dynamics simulations. After completion of the PhD, Erica spent almost 4 years working in the USA at teaching university but returned to Australia to complete her postdoctoral studies with CSIRO Livestock Industries where she worked on the development and evaluation of new methods for the analysis of quantitative and molecular genetics data.

Nick  will be working in the Catalysis group of Associate Professor Trevor Brown.

Catalysis is a vital field within chemistry and will become increasingly important in a world of environmental issues such as climate change and
rapidly depleting reserves of fossil fuels. There is a paucity of information on heterogeneous basic catalysts. This project will investigate the kinetics and acid-base properties of the catalytic decomposition of 2-butanol over magnesium oxide, zirconium dioxide, vanadium pentoxide, beryllium oxide and calcium oxide using a low-pressure steady-state technique, which will also be used to investigate the
pretreatment of these catalysts at high temperatures.

Research into the surface chemistry of each of the metal oxides will also  be carried out.

Wayne Dillon is working with Dr Peter Lye in the development of functionalised optical fibres for remote metal ion sensing .

Wayne Dillon

The development of technologies with high sensitivity, short response times and selectivity is of increasing importance for applications in industrial processing and environmental monitoring. This project is an investigation into a potential technology that will allow the detection or sensing of metal ions using photonics. The chief goal of the project will be to develop an optical fibre system capable of detecting the presence, and concentration, of metal ions in solution. This will be achieved by grafting macrocyclic polyamine ligands onto the surface of silica core optical fibres. Macrocyclic polyamine ligands have been shown to have high levels of selectivity for metal ions. Additionally, the incorporation of diazo functional groups to these ligands would allow metal ion detection based on colour changes resulting from the ligand and not the metal complex.

The design and synthesis of the attaching ligands will be of particular interest, as will the determination of such values as formation constants, formation kinetics and surface coverage.

The Arabic text in the link may be translated as follows: “In one of the most important achievements of the Saudi students in Australia, Ali Alhamzah has synthesized novel scale inhibitors as polyacrylic acid for using in desalination plants; it may contribute to reduce the cost in case of its use in desalination plants . Mr. Alhamzah presented a scientific paper that is the first of its kind in the world in scale inhibitors research, its title “Apparent Inhibition of Thermal Decomposition of HCO₃^- and Hydrolysis of CO₃^2- by Poly (Acrylic Acid). The Effect of Molecular Weight and End-Group” at the scientific conference of the Pacific countries, which concluded recently. In a speech by Al-Hamzah who is sponsored by Saline Water Conversion Corporation he offered sincerely thanks and appreciation to the Saudi Government and Cultural Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Australia for supporting his study. Special thanks were directed to his supervisor, Dr. Chris Fellows who provides him with inspiration at academic and professional levels.”

“Quality of Fibre-enriched Spaghetti containing Microbial Transglutaminase”
Michael J. Sissons, Nisha Aravind and Christopher M. Fellows, Cereal Chem, 87(1), 57-64 (2010)

Nisha’s work is part of the Primary Industries Innovation Centre, a collaboration between the University of New England and the New South Wales Department of Industry and Innovation.

Second-year unit at UNE Armidale for those seeking an understanding of chemistry at the most fundamental level.  Also see the Course and Unit Catalogue at:

http://www.une.edu.au/courses/2010/units/CHEM210

CP East, AD Wallace, A Al-Hamzah, WOS Doherty, CM Fellows, “Effect of Poly(acrylic acid) Molecular Mass and End-group Functionality on Calcium Oxalate Crystal Morphology and Growth“, Journal of Applied Polymer Science 115 (2010) 2127-2135

The Applied Polymer Chemistry group presented three papers at the 11th Pacific Polymer Conference.

Dr Fellows presented a lecture entitled “Effect of Poly(acrylic acid) Molecular Mass and End-Group Functionality on Calcium Oxalate Crystallisation“ Authors  CP East, AD Wallace, A Al-Hamzah, WOS Doherty and  CM Fellows.

Mr Al-Hamzah presented a lecture entitled “Apparent Inhibition of Thermal Decomposition of Bicarbonate and Hydrolysis of Carbonate by Poly(Acrylic Acid). The Effect of Molecular Weight and End-Group Functionality.”
Authors A Al-Hamzah and CM Fellows.

Mr Prangley presented a poster entitled “The truth about surface grafting. A quantitative investigation into ATRP “surface grafting” on commercial Poly(Dimethylsiloxane) substrates.”
Authors RP Prangley, AD Wallace and CM Fellows.

An excellent and productive time was had by all!