The nanotechnology degree programs initiated at various institutions provided an excellent way of learning to look at the amazing opportunities that arise when various disciplines of science interact. The enrolled students were actively engaged in the subject matter and also expressed greater confidence in their ability to consider technology with…

The design and implementation of a new value-added general chemistry course, which could use the studio instructional method to incorporate the existing educational research is reviewed. These teaching methods and activities were woven into the course to provide the students with ways of learning chemical concepts and practicing scientific…

An exercise based on images that might shift the balance in favor of students who have superior visual perception and possibly those with language problems and specific learning disabilities, was reviewed. The pictorial format of learning exercise not only increased the students' performance, but also helped students with specific learning…

A simple approach for delineating the stereochemistry of the products relative to that of the reactants in reactions involving stereogenic centers is addressed. The reaction at the tetrahedral center involves the cleavage of a bond to one of the ligands in the reactant and the resulting new ligand in the product is labeled by affixing prime to the…

The experiences, which have contributed to the career choices made by women and under-representation of women on research faculties, are reviewed. It is recommended that chemistry departments take measures to improve graduate school training to make it more hospitable to women and to increase the attractiveness of careers at Research Institutes by…

The Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program instituted at doctorate-granting institutions across the U.S. provides mentoring and guidance to doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers interested in academic careers. The seminar curriculum content focuses on exposing participants to skills and knowledge for successful pursuit of faculty careers…

David W. Galenson, a professor of economics at the University of Chicago, has used quantitative tools to describe whether teaching is an art or a science. Galenson's work has indicated that scientific methods can help in improving teaching.

A team from the University of Pittsburgh's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has shown the potential for clinical use of the drag-reducing polymer (DRP) poly(N-vinylformamide), or PNVF. The high molecular weight PNVF is shown to reduce resistance to turbulent flow in a pipe and to enhance blood flow in animal models and it also…

The exocharmic reactions that can be observed microscopically are discussed. The students can discover the optimal concentration of an acidic lead nitrate solution, so that a crystal of potassium iodide, nudged to the edge of a drop, results in glinting golden hexagons of lead iodide.

Teachers should use real-life issues while teaching chemical principles, so that students can find issues worthy of engagement both in their studies and over the course of a lifetime. Difficulties and failures present excellent teaching opportunities and they give the students the intellectual space to consider the questions that might be…

Raman Spectroscopy was the main topic of the 14th Annual James L. Waters Symposium, which was held in March 2003 at Pittcon. The development of the enabling technologies that have made Raman spectroscopy a routine analysis tool in many laboratories worldwide is discussed.

The evolution of Raman instrumentation from the time of the initial report of the phenomenon in 1928 to 2006 is discussed. The first instruments were prism-based spectrographs using lenses for collimation and focusing and the 21st century instruments are also spectrographs, but they use CCD cameras. The Lippmann filter technology that appears to…

Volume phase holographic (VPH) optical elements have made a major contribution to Raman spectroscopy by providing notch filters, and VPH gratings that provide remarkable performance advantages over previous technologies. Holographic notch filters have eliminated Rayleigh scattered laser light from single monochromators, thereby contributing to the…

The impact of array detectors in the field of Raman spectroscopy and all low-light-level spectroscopic techniques is examined. The high sensitivity of array detectors has allowed Raman spectroscopy to be used to detect compounds at part per million concentrations and to perform Raman analyses at advantageous wavelengths.

The limitations of Fourier transform (FT) Raman spectroscopy, which is used to detect and analyze the scattered radiation, are discussed. FT-Raman has served to revitalize a field that was lagging and the presence of Raman instrumentation as a routine analytical tool is established for the foreseeable future.