SERMACS 2011 Awards Dinner at the Science Museum of Virginia
Thursday, October 27, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Sponsored by Eastman Chemical Company
Awards:
Guest Speaker: M. Samy El-Shall
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Chemistry Makes Strong International Bonds
Science always knows no boundaries but today, more than ever, research in chemistry is becoming truly international. This talk will focus on the international aspects of chemical research and education. Chemical research and education should prepare the future workforce to be agile thinkers in this global environment and, to forge collaborations and cooperation among scientists and engineers around the world. The observance of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) this year presents challenges and opportunities for our discipline and the chemical enterprise to address global issues in Energy, Health and Environment. Examples of successful international collaboration in addressing these global issues will be presented and new mechanisms to enhance international collaboration will be discussed.
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M. Samy El-Shall
Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284-2006
E-mail: mselshal@vcu.edu
M. Samy El-Shall is a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Cairo University in Egypt, and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry with Distinction from Georgetown University in 1986. He did postdoctoral research in nucleation and clusters at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1986-1989. His research interests are in the general areas of molecular clusters, nucleation, gas phase and cluster polymerization, synthesis and properties of nanostructured materials, graphene and nanocatalysis. He has published over 195 papers in the most prestigious and widely read journals of Chemistry, Chemical Physics and Nanomaterials. Dr. El-Shall was awarded several US patents (8 issued, 4 pending) on the synthesis of nanoparticles, photoluminescence of silicon nanocrystals, magnetic intermetallic nanoparticles, nanoparticle catalysts, and nanoparticle additives for fuels and lubricants. Dr. El-Shall received the Exxon Education Award in 1994 and 1995. In 1999, he was honored with the Outstanding Faculty Award of the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV), Virginia’s highest faculty honor. Dr. El-Shall received the Distinguished Research Award in 2009 from the Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS). In 2009, he was awarded the Innovative Research Award from the Society of Automotive Engineering International for his research on novel oil soluble nanoparticles to reduce friction and enhance lubrication. In 2011, Dr. El-Shall received the Virginia Commonwealth University Distinguished Scholarship Award.
Dr. El-Shall is member of the US National Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (USNC/IUPAC) since 2005. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Open Physical Chemistry Journal (2010 – ) and member of the Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Photoenergy (2007- ), the Journal of Physical Chemistry (2006 – 2009), Metals (2011 – ), the Journal of Nanotechnology Progress International (JONPI), and the Annual Review of Graphene (2011 – ).
Dr. El-Shall was the chairman of the “International Conference on Nanoparticles from the Vapor Phase Synthesis with Chemical and Biochemical Applications” in Davos, Switzerland, 2004. He also organized and chaired three US – Egypt Workshops on “Advanced Materials, 2000”, Laser Chemistry and Applications to Materials, 2004”, and “Nanostructured Materials and Nanotechnology, 2005”. He chaired the NSF Advanced Studies Institute on “Nanocatalysis for Energy and Environmental Applications” that was held in Cairo, Egypt in March 2010.
Dr. El-Shall’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA, DoD, NIST, Petroleum Research Fund, Dreyfus Foundation, Jeffress Memorial Trust, Exxon, Dow Corning, Philip Morris, and Afton Chemical.
