Section News & Happenings

Are you a junior chemist seeking to kickstart your career? Or a mid-career chemist looking for a fresh direction? Don’t miss this opportunity to meet a Pittsburgh Award recipient over a complimentary lunch and gain priceless insights!

• What to Expect:
  • Enjoy a FREE work lunch.
  • Engage with a Pittsburgh Award recipient and connect with 1-2 peers who share your passion.
  • Receive valuable guidance for success in both industry and academia.

• To Schedule Your Lunch: Contact Dr. Haitao Liu at [email protected] with a brief self-introduction and name(s) of the adviser you’d like to meet.
• Availability: Now – end of 2023. Space is limited – first come, first served.

Download the flyer for more information.

The Pittsburgh Section of the ACS is sponsoring a job fair at the University of Pittsburgh on November 10 starting at 9:00 AM. Download the flyer here. Register as an attendee by October 31 using this link.

October 2023 Issue of The Crucible

We are pleased to provide the October 2023 Issue of The Crucible. If you have something you would like included in future issues, please email Sarah Scrivener at [email protected].

Join the Environmental Group for the monthly lecture on October 18. Download the flyer here.

Unforeseen Impacts To Water Quality During Managed Aquifer Recharge

October 18, 2023, 7:00-8:00pm (EST)

Sarah Fakhreddine, PhD, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University

How to join:

Click here to register  (recommended)

Click here to join the meeting

Meeting ID: 443 344 332 897
Passcode: Hm5KCs

Download Teams | Join on the web

Or contact [email protected]

The Healing Power of Chemistry

The Pittsburgh Local Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is sponsoring an illustrated poem contest for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Contest Deadline: Sunday, October 29, 2023 by 11:59 PM ET
Prizes: $50 1st Place and $25 2nd Place in each of 4 grade categories: K-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th and 9th-12th grades.
Contact: Evonne Baldauff, NCW Coordinator. Mail entries to 51 W. College St., Waynesburg, PA or scan and email to [email protected].

Winners of the Pittsburgh Local Section’s Illustrated Poem Contest will advance to the National Illustrated Poem Contest for a chance to be featured on the ACS website and to win prizes!

Download the flyer for more details.

Pittsburgh Local Section NCW activities for 2023

Join us for a series of events throughout the entire week. Watch for emails and check our Facebook page and website for updates! For additional information regarding any of these events, contact NCW Coordinator, Evonne Baldauff, at [email protected].

Event 1: “Gene-age Dream” Wet-lab experiments at the Carnegie Science Center.

We are collaborating with the CSC to host a series of wet chemistry labs on October 16, 18, and 19. Teachers from local schools will bring groups of 24 students to participate in a full laboratory experience that they may not get in their schools. Volunteers are needed to serve as lab assistants and will work directly with participants. Multiple daily lab sessions run from 10:15-11:15 AM and 11:30-12:30 PM. Up to 8 volunteers are needed each day. To sign up, contact Evonne Baldauff ([email protected]).

Event 2: SciTech Days: Health and Medicine demonstrations and Career Panel at the Carnegie Science Center.

A traditional exposition-style event, schools from the Pittsburgh region and surrounding communities will bring students to experience hands-on demonstrations and activities on October 20th. Volunteers are needed to host demonstration tables and serve as career panelists. Volunteer through the following form: https://forms.gle/DLFNBsiFcC3pfvvW6

Event 3: ACS Student Chapter Mini-ChemFest Events

Exclusive for undergraduate chapters, host your own ChemFest outreach event for local schools in your geographic area using the NCW 2023 theme. Funding of up to $200 is available. To sign up, contact Evonne Baldauff ([email protected]) or Marsha Grimminger ([email protected]).

Get to Know a Member – Evonne Baldauff, Ph.D.

1. What is your work and ACS (if applicable) title?

ACS Pittsburgh: Director and NCW Outreach Coordinator Pittsburgh section, Work: Professor of Chemistry / Chair, Department of Chemistry & Forensic Science and Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, & Physics / Assistant Provost for Faculty Excellence, Curriculum Development and Online Learning

2. How many years have you been in the ACS?

ACS National since 2001, 22 years / Pittsburgh Section since 2013, 10 years (thanks to Heather Juzwa for asking me to join!)

3. What is the biggest benefit of ACS Membership?

Getting involved in the Pittsburgh Local Section and the Student Communities (Undergraduate) allowed me to meet so many amazing people with whom I respect enormously and enjoy working alongside! ACS gives me the chance to serve the chemical community, promote chemistry in our geographical region, and encourage students that chemistry is a wonderful career path.

4. What did you want to be when you were a child?

For a brief time in elementary school, I thought I’d like to be a teacher. That didn’t last long. I thought about – of all things – becoming a journalist (not at all my skillset). Then in high school, my uncle encouraged me to do something in science because I was good at math. He was right!

5. What made you fall in love with Chemistry?

I really enjoyed doing the calculations in my high school chem classes!

6. What is your favorite part of your career or job?

The phrase that best describes my motivation is “make it work.” Whether that involves developing new teaching strategies in the classroom or finding ways to interest more students in pursuing chemistry, I find the most satisfaction in my work when I can find innovative, creative, or unique strategies to get things done efficiently and effectively.

7. What is your favorite book and why?

This is a hard question; I like a lot of books. The one that first came to mind is Midnight’s Children by Salmon Rushdie. It is one of the most intricate, unique stories and writing styles I’ve encountered.

The Distinguished Service Award was established in 2007 by the Pittsburgh Section of ACS to expand and replace the predecessor Chairman’s Award of the section. Both recognize outstanding volunteer service to the section. The Award, consisting of a plaque, is presented annually at a section dinner open to the public. Members of the Pittsburgh Section, past or present, who have provided outstanding service in advancing the Pittsburgh Section are eligible for consideration. Nominations for the Pittsburgh Award are solicited from the membership of the Pittsburgh Section.

Ms. Tabitha Riggio is a sincere, dedicated volunteer. Riggio graduated from Duquesne University with a B.S. in Chemistry, a German minor, and an MBA. She is a long-standing member of the American Chemical Society, former Treasurer, and current chair of Project SEED.

Riggio spent her career at Bayer MaterialScience split between Applications/Development and Sales/Marketing. While there, she helped establish a program to bring hands-on science into classrooms (Bayer Association for Science in Community). After a hiatus to raise her children and care for her parents with dignity, she returned to the workforce at LB Foster. During her career break, Riggio worked as a Special Education Aide and volunteered extensively in her school district, for example, on the science curriculum cyclical review committee.

Since 2004, Riggio has been the Chair of Project SEED of the Pittsburgh Section of the ACS. Project SEED was founded by the ACS to provide educational opportunities to high-achieving, economically-disadvantaged high school students. Through this work, Riggio and colleagues created a flourishing program and provided laboratory experiences to 62 students of which 65% were female and 55% were minorities. Students were hosted at laboratories around the Pittsburgh region, including Duquesne University, Washington and Jefferson College, and Covestro. The program received two ChemLuminary Awards for Outstanding Project SEED Program in 2008 and 2010. Riggio has also been involved in the Pittsburgh ACS as the Treasurer in 2003 and as part of the National Chemistry Week coordinating team for many years.

Biography provided by Alysia Mandato

The Pittsburgh Award was established in 1932 by the Pittsburgh Section of ACS to recognize outstanding leadership in chemical affairs in the local and larger professional community. This Award symbolizes the honor and appreciation accorded to those who have rendered distinguished service to the field of chemistry. The Award, consisting of a plaque, is presented annually at a Section dinner open to the public. Members of the Pittsburgh Section, or in exceptional cases, nonmembers, who have done work worthy of recognition toward increasing chemical knowledge, promoting the chemical industry, benefiting humanity, or advancing the Pittsburgh Section, are eligible for consideration.

Dr. Alexander Deiters was born in Germany and studied Chemistry at the University of Münster from 1993-1998. He received his diploma degree in 1998 and his doctoral degree in 2000 for work in Professor Hoppe’s group on new cyclization reactions with enantiomerically enriched allyllithium species. In 2001 he joined Professor Martin’s lab at the University of Texas at Austin where he worked as a postdoctoral fellow on the total synthesis of indole alkaloids. In 2002 he began another postdoctorate in Professor Schultz’s lab at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla where he developed genetic code expansion methodologies for unnatural amino acids.

In 2004, Alex joined the Department of Chemistry at North Carolina State University as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009 and to Full Professor in 2012. He moved his lab to the University of Pittsburgh in September 2013, where he currently is a Professor of Chemistry. His group’s research interests are in the areas of Synthetic Biology and Chemical Biology and range from the discovery of small molecule modifiers of biological pathways, medicinal chemistry, peptides and aptamers to cell, protein, and nucleic acid engineering. He has published >190 peer-reviewed papers, written six book chapters and 14 review articles, has presented over one hundred eighty research seminars, and has consulted for several pharmaceutical companies. He has several granted patents and technologies that he co-developed have been licensed by the biotech industry.

Alex also has an exceptional track record of service to the Department and to the local community. He and members of his group have organized and conducted a wide range of outreach activities over the years. They have designed tailored informational materials and hands-on experiments. They often perform demonstrations that they developed to relate chemistry and biology to everyday activities in order to engage the general public and to inspire interest in STEM disciplines. Additionally, Alex cofounded Pitt’s iGEM undergrad team together with Drs. Jason Lohmueller and Sanjeev Shroff. The iGEM Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology, education and competition, and the development of an open, collaborative, and cooperative community. Pitt’s award-winning iGEM teams have raised awareness of synthetic biology by experimental presentations, such as a newly developed cloning game and a children’s book.

Biography provided in parts by Dr. Dennis Curran and http://www.deiterslab.org/

Honoring the recipients of the Pittsburgh Award, Distinguished Service Award, and Award for Volunteer Service

Click here to download event flyer. Register for the dinner below by October 21.