Plenary Speakers
Plenary Lecture 1
Monday, 17 December 2007 09:45 to 10:30 hrs Level 3, Theatre Session Chair: FAN Wai Yip
George C. SCHATZ
Morrison Professor of Chemistry
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Physical Chemistry
Northwestern University
Title: Nanoparticle Optical Properties and Biomolecule Detection: New Challenges for Theory
George C. Schatz is Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. Degrees include a B. S. (1971) at Clarkson University and Ph. D. (1976) at Caltech, both in chemistry. He was a postdoc at MIT, and has been at Northwestern since 1976. Schatz has published three books and over 450 papers. Schatz is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (2005), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002), the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Sciences (2001) and he is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Physical Chemistry. Awards include Sloan and Dreyfus Fellowships, the Fresenius Award of Phi Lambda Upsilon and the Max Planck Research Award. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the AAAS. Schatz's research is concerned with theory and computational modeling in a variety of nanoscience topics as well as in related biophysics and materials areas. His nanoscience work has specialized in studies of the optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles, nanoholes in films and other nanostructured materials of relevance to chemical and biological sensing applications. He has contributed to theories of DNA melting of nanoparticle aggregates, and he has studied the phase diagram behavior of nanoscale lipid structures including liposomes and lipoplexes. Schatz has also been involved in a wide variety of theoretical studies involving self-assembly processes, DNA and protein structures, transport in ion-channels, the deposition and patterning of molecules on surfaces, and the formation of water droplets on nanoscale structures. In addition, he has worked actively in the modeling of the mechanical properties of hard materials, including diamond films and carbon nanotubes.
Plenary Lecture 2
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 09:00 to 09:45 hrs Level 3, Theatre Session Chair: LEE Hian Kee
Franz HILLENKAMP
Professor emeritus and past director of the Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics
University of Muenster
Title: Genomic Analysis of DNA by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry
Franz Hillenkamp is Professor emeritus and past director of the Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics of the University of Muenster, Germany. He received his higher education at the Technical University of Munich where he obtained the degrees of Dipl.-Ing. in Electrical Engineering (1962) and a PhD in Physics in 1966. He also holds a degree of Master of Science in communications from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. USA (1961). From 1963 until 1976 he was scientist and later senior scientist at the Gesellschaft für Strahlen- und Umweltforschung in Munich, a German National Laboratory in the Life Sciences. From 1976 to 1986 he was Associate Professor of Medical Physics at the University of Frankfurt, Germany and then moved on to his final position and chair of Medical Physics and Biophysics at the University of Muenster, Germany. He has held visiting Professorships at a number of Universities across the world, among others he at the Harvard University Medical School, Boston, USA from 1982 -2006.
Prof. Hillenkamp is best known for his invention and development of Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-MS) together with Prof. Michael Karas. In recent years he has devoted his interest mainly to investigations of the MALDI mechanisms and MALDI applications for the analysis of nucleic acids. He is also know for his work in the field of clinical laser applications.
Prof. Hillenkamp has received a number of prestigious awards, among them the Award for Distinguished Contributions in Mass Spectrometry of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (1998), the Thompson Medal of the Int. Mass Spectrometry Society (2003), Fresenius Award of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) (2003) and the Torbern Bergman Medal of the Swedish Chemical Society (2006).
Plenary Lecture 3
Tuesday, 18 December 2007 09:45 to 10:30 hrs Level 3, Theatre Session Chair: CHIN Wee Shong
Younan XIA
Professor
University of Washington
Title: Tailoring the Optical Properties of Metal Nanocrystals through Shape-Controlled Synthesis
Dr. Younan Xia is a Professor of Chemistry and the Adjunct Faculty of Materials Science & Engineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Dr. Xia received his Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from Harvard University (with Prof. George M. Whitesides) in 1996, M.S. degree in inorganic chemistry from University of Pennsylvania (with Prof. Alan G. MacDiarmid) in 1993, and B.S. degree in chemical physics from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 1987. He came to the United States in 1991.
Dr. Xia has received a number of prestigious awards that include the 2006 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (NDPA), Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award (2005), Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar (2002), David and Lucile Packard Fellow in Science and Engineering (2000), Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (2000), NSF Early Career Development Award (2000), ACS Victor K. LaMer Award (1999), and Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award (1997).
Dr. Xia is an Associate Editor of Nano Letters and sits on the Advisory Board of Nano Today (2006-), Langmuir (2005-), Chemistry of Materials (2005-), International Journal of Nanoscience (2004-), International Journal of Nanotechnology (2004-), and Advanced Functional Materials (2001-). He has also served as a Guest Editor of Advanced Materials five times and MRS Bulletin one time. He is a member of ACS, MRS, APS, and AAAS.
Plenary Lecture 4
Wednesday, 19 December 2007 09:00 to 09:45 hrs Level 3, Theatre Session Chair: ZHOU Weibiao
John FINLEY
Chief Technology Officer
A.M. Todd Co.
Title: What does it take to Bring Evidence-based Functional Foods to the Market?
John Finley is the Chief Technology Officer of A.M. Todd Co. a 135 year-old firm specializing in food flavors, ingredients, and specialty agriculture. A.M. Todd is transitioning from an commodity supplier to a provider of formulated flavors and functional foods ingredients that enhance health and wellness.
Dr Finley has had a distinguished career in the food industry as a leader an d innovator of new technologies. Dr Finley came to A.M. Todd form Kraft Foods where he developed several low calorie technologies and satiety enhancing products. Fostered by his background at Monsanto John also served as an internal consultant in biotechnology. At Monsanto he was leader of the Food Science program which was focused on delivery of intense sweeteners and reduced calorie ingredient development. He also initiated a program to produce low calorie fats in engineered plants.
At Nabisco Dr Finley assembled and led the Fundamental Science program which resulted in multiple innovations and technologies to support the Nabisco businesses. In that role he also was co-inventor and leader of the development program for Salatrim and low calorie fat.
Dr Finley has authored over 100 technical publications, edited eleven books and holds 47 patents. Currently he is an associate editor for the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Plenary Lecture 5 - The Ang Kok Peng Memorial Lecture
Wednesday, 19 December 2007 09:45 to 10:30 hrs Level 3, Theatre Session Chair: Andy HOR Tzi Sum
Ronald BRESLOW
S.L. Mitchill Professor of Chemistry and University Professor
Columbia University
Title: Teaching Exciting Chemistry
Ronald Breslow was born in Rahway, New Jersey on March 14, 1931. He received his undergraduate and graduate training at Harvard University, where he did his Ph.D. research with Professor R.B. Woodward. He then spent a year in Cambridge, England as a postdoctoral fellow with Lord Todd, and came to Columbia University in 1956 as Instructor in Chemistry. He is now the Samuel Latham Mitchill Professor of Chemistry at Columbia and one of twelve University Professors, and a former Chairman of the Department.
Professor Breslow's research interests can be described generally as involving the design and synthesis of new molecules with interesting properties, and the study of these properties. Examples include the cyclopropenyl cation, the simplest aromatic system and the first aromatic compound prepared with other than six electrons in a ring.
His work establishing the phenomenon of anti-aromaticity has involved the synthesis of novel molecules, as well as their study. Even in work on purely mechanistic questions, such as his discovery of the chemical mechanism used by thiamine (vitamin B-1) in biochemical reactions, the synthesis and study of novel molecules played an important role.
Although he continues his interest in unusual conjugated systems, his major emphasis in recent years has been on the synthesis and study of molecules that imitate enzymatic reactions. This work has included the development of remote functionalization reactions and the development of artificial enzymes.
Recently he has developed a new group of cytodifferentiating agents with potential use in cancer chemotherapy. He is the author of over 400 publications.