Chemistry Students and Faculty Invited to Present Research at National Meeting

Seven students and two faculty members will attend American Chemical Society Meeting in New Orleans

Paul Bonvallet

Sarah Schmidtke

WOOSTER, Ohio - Undergraduate research opportunities continue to produce noteworthy results for students at The College of Wooster, including seven science majors who have been selected to present posters along with two faculty members at the 2008 American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting and Exposition, April 6-10, in New Orleans.

Paul Bonvallet and Sarah Schmidtke,, both assistant professors of chemistry at Wooster, will accompany the seven students to the ACS meeting, which is being co-sponsored with the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

Bonvallet and three of his students - Erin Fortin, a senior chemistry major from Avon Lake, Ohio; Joel Keelor, a senior chemistry major from Glendale, Ohio; and Andrew Marley, a sophomore archaeology major from Mason, Ohio - will present posters on different aspects of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), which are found in cell phone screens, MP3 players, and other portable electronic devices. "Each of us looked at polymers that emit light," said Bonvallet. "Our common goal was to develop new materials that can be used in light-emitting devices."

Schmidtke and two of her students - Rachel Lipner, a junior chemistry major from Monroeville, Pa., and Andrew Rudawsky, a junior chemistry major from Wooster - will discuss the role of solvents in sunscreen products. "We've been looking at a number of different solvent environments to determine how they affect the sunscreen molecule's absorbance properties," said Schmidtke. "We have done this through a combination of theoretical and experimental chemistry."

Also presenting at the ACS meeting in New Orleans will be Tamutenda Chidawanyika, a senior chemistry major from Mutare, Zimbabwe, and Chris Nau, a junior biochemistry and molecular biology major from Shaker Heights, Ohio. Together, they will discuss their work in isolating a heat-shock protein in corn that protects the crop during periods of high temperatures. Chidawanyika and Nau worked with Virginia Pett, professor of chemistry at Wooster, on the project.

"These meetings are always eye-opening experiences for our students," said Bonvallet. "It gives them an opportunity to meet with others who are doing similar research and to make important connections in the field of chemistry."