Chemistry Majors to Present Research at National Meeting

Four Westminster College chemistry majors received travel/presentation grants from Westminster's Drinko Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning to present their research at the American Chemical Society national meeting March 22-26 in Salt Lake City.

The research was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Peter Smith, Westminster associate professor of chemistry.

Senior William "Mike" Kochemba is a son of Brenda Kochemba-Heck and Chris Heck of Grove City and a graduate of Grove City Area High School. He will present "Synthesizing and Characterizing Lanthanide Complexes Containing Tripodal Schiff-Base Ligands."

Senior Brandi Weigand is a daughter of William and Kathleen Weigand of Allison Park and a graduate of Hampton High School. She will present "Luminescence of Lanthanide Complexes Containing Novel Macromolecular Schiff-Base Ligands."

"Mike and Brandi have been working on my ongoing project investigating the light-emitting properties of simple molecules that contain metal atoms," Smith said. "Our goal is to find good candidate compounds that could be incorporated into flexible plastic lighted displays. Mike and Brandi will present the latest results from their portions of the project."

"Mike's poster has been accepted in the very prestigious SciMix poster session," Smith added. "The 'Best of the Best' posters from the entire meeting (about 15,000 conferees) are selected by the session organizers and showcased at SciMix, so it is a huge honor. To my knowledge, Mike is the first Westminster student to have a poster selected for SciMix."

"Mike and Brandi have worked in my lab for five semesters, longer than any other students. I will be very sad to see them graduate."

Junior Gavin Buckholtz is a son of Jeffrey and Julie Buckholtz of Franklin and a graduate of Cranberry Area High School.

Sophomore Emily Landis is a daughter of Carl and Janine Landis of New Waterford, Ohio, and a graduate of Crestview High School.

Buckholtz and Landis will present "Using Microwave Heating to Promote the Heck Reaction."

"Gavin and Emily are our rising stars," Smith said. "They are investigating the effects of microwave heating on simple chemical reactions involving metal catalysts. The reactions they are studying are among the most common reactions used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries to create new compounds and drugs. We are trying to determine if microwave heating makes these reactions more efficient and, therefore, more cost-effective."

"Gavin and Emily have been in my lab for three semesters and have generated a great deal of useful data," he added. "I am constantly amazed at the amount of time they dedicate to research, on top of their course work and extra-curricular activities."

The chemistry department faculty believes that presenting at a professional meeting of scientists is so important that it is a graduation requirement.

The Drinko Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning was created to enrich undergraduate education at Westminster through advancing world-class teaching as well as by participating in collaborations that address community and regional needs including strengthening K-12 education. The Undergraduate Research Initiative provides funding for students to conduct research and to present their research at regional and national conferences.

Contact Smith at (724) 946-7299 or e-mail smithpm@westminster.edu for more information.

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