Doctoral Research Showcase features four graduate students

Four Department of Chemistry research assistants, among the top doctoral students at the university, are participating in the fourth annual Doctoral Research Showcase. The showcase, which is free and open to the public, will be conducted from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, in the Great Hall at the Coffman Union.

Department of Chemistry participants include Zhifeng Bai, Nanoshuttles Between Water and Ionic Liquids (Professor Timothy Lodge, adviser); Melissa Fierke, The Utilization of Templated Porous Electrodes in Electrochemical Applications (Professor Andreas Stein, adviser); Louis M. Pitet, Functional Materials From Nanostructured Block Polymers Prepared via Ring-opening Metathesis Polymerization (Professor Marc Hillmyer, adviser); and Van V. Vu, Novel Oxygen Activating Diiron Enzymes: Insights Into Active Site Structures and Mechanisms (Regents Professor Lawrence Que Jr., adviser).

The showcase features more than 60 of this year's top doctoral students and candidates talking about their work in more than 40 fields, ranging from engineering to English. The showcase is designed for students to develop their ability to talk about their work to non-specialists; to raise the visibility of doctoral research; to provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs and leaders to talk to the next generation of researchers and thinkers; and to encourage undergraduates to consider graduate education.

Pictured from left are Zhifeng Bai, Melissa Fierke, Van Vu, and Louis Pitet.