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       Speakers


Details of the speakers will be posted as they become available.
 

Daniel Nocera
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Personalized Energy for 1 (� 6 Billion)
Abstract here

Daniel G. Nocera is the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Director of the Solar Revolutions Project and Director of the Eni Solar Frontiers Center at MIT.

His group pioneered studies of the basic mechanisms of energy conversion in biology and chemistry. He has recently accomplished a solar fuels process that captures many of the elements of photosynthesis outside of the leaf. This discovery sets the stage for a storage mechanism for the large scale, distributed, deployment of solar energy. He has been awarded the Eni Prize (2005), IAPS Award (2006), Burghausen Prize (2007), Harrison Howe Award (2008), ACS Inorganic Chemistry Award (2009) and the U.N. Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization’s Science and Technology Award (2009) for his contributions to the development of renewable energy. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He was named as Times Magazine 100 Most Influential People in the World. Nocera is a frequent guest on TV (CNN, ABC Nightline, PBS, ABS Nature’s Edge, Jim Lehrer News Hour, NOVA, CBS, CNBC, Discovery Channel, The Science Channel and Plum in the U.S. and Explora and RAI in Europe), radio (NPR, Bloomberg News, CBS, CBC, BBC, All Things Considered, Here and Now, Climate Connections, Voice of America) and is regularly featured in print (New York Times, National Geographic, Forbes, Discover, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The New Republic, U.S. News and World Report, Outside Magazine, Wired, Technology Review).

His 2006 PBS show was nominated for an Emmy Award. He sits on several advisory boards and is currently working with several artists in the U.S and abroad, actors and producers in Los Angeles and major business leaders in the U.S. to help them develop a position that contributes positively to the energy and sustainability challenge confronting this planet. In 2008, he founded Sun Catalytix, a company committed to bringing personalized energy to the non-legacy world.




Prof Akihiko Kudo
(Tokyo University of Science)
Photocatalysts for solar hydrogen production
Abstract here

 Department of Applied Chemistry Faculty of Science,

1979-1983   Tokyo University of Science       Bachelor of Science
1983-1988   Tokyo Institute of Technology     Doctor of Science

1988-1989      Post-doctoral fellow,  University of Texas at Austin
1989-1995      Research Associate,  Tokyo Institute of Technology
1995-1998      Lecturer,  Tokyo University of Science
1998-2003      Associate Professor, Tokyo University of Science
 2003-present   Professor, Tokyo University of Science
Awards:
Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists (1990)
        Award for Encouragement of Research and Development from Catalysis Society of Japan (2001)
        Award of Japanese Photochemical Association (2009)
Research interest: Photocatalyst, electrocatalyst, inorganic photochemistry
Original papers: about 160
Reviews and books: about 85



Jim McCusker (Michigan State University)
Ultrafast Excited-state processes in transition metal-based chromophores: From Fundamental Photophysics to Applications in Energy Science
Abstract here

Jim McCusker was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1965. A graduate of Bucknell University, Jim enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1987 and carried out research with Professor David N. Hendrickson on the magnetic properties of polynuclear Fe and Mn complexes as well as the ground- and excited-state properties of Fe(II) spin-crossover complexes.

Jim was awarded a two-year post-doctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health in 1992 to work with Professor Thomas J. Meyer at the University of North Carolina on the photophysical characterization of second- and third-row transition metal polypyridyl complexes. Jim began his independent academic career at the University of California at Berkeley as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the fall of 1994. The first paper out of his group was the first to identify the sub-picosecond time scale associated with excited-state evolution in [Ru(bpy)3]2+.

While at Berkeley Jim was named an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow (1998 – 2000), a Hellman Faculty Fellow of the University of California (1997 – 1998), in addition to receiving the Department of Chemistry Teaching Award in 1999. Jim moved his research group to Michigan State University in 2001 where he is currently Professor of Chemistry. The central themes of his research group continue to revolve around the ultrafast excited-state dynamics of transition metal complexes – in particular as it impacts the development of solar energy conversion strategies – as well as the interplay between zero-field spin polarization and the excited-state dynamics of molecular systems.



Cather Simpson (
University of Auckland)
A New Twist in the Tale:  Ultrafast Dynamics of Diphosphenes and Phosphaalkenes
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Dr. Cather Simpson joined The University of Auckland in 2007 to establish and direct a new multi-user ultrafast laser and microfabrication facility, the Photon Factory.  Her appointment is held jointly in Chemistry and Physics.  In addition to her research in the fast (10-6 to 10-15 second) chemical physics of photoactive molecules, she lectures in the departments of Chemistry, Physics, and English.  Before joining the Faculty of Science, she held a tenured position at Case Western Reserve University in the USA.







Hiroshi Miyasaka
(Osaka University)
Femtosecond Delocalization Dynamics of Cationic States in Photoconductive Poly(N-vinylcarbazole) Amorphous Solid.
Abstract here

Hiroshi Miyasaka received his B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1980 and his Ph.D. degree from Osaka University in 1985, under the direction of Professor N. Mataga. After working as a research associate in the laboratory of Professor Mataga at Osaka University, he joined the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at Kyoto Institute of Technology as an associate professor in 1991. In 1996, he performed research in Professor Frans C. De Schryver’s laboratory in Leuven, Belgium, as a Visiting Scientist. In 2000, he moved to Osaka University and was appointed to Professor at the Division of Frontier Materials Science, Graduate School of Engineering Science at Osaka University. His current research interests include time- and space-resolved laser spectroscopy and laser processing of functional molecular systems such as conductive polymers, electron donor-acceptor molecules, and photochromic systems in the condensed phase. He received the Award of Japanese Photochemical Association in 2002.



Guoqiang Yang (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Photoluminescent materials: structure, property and high pressure effect
Abstract here

Guoqiang Yang was born in 1963 and received his BS degree (1985) in chemistry from Peking University and PhD degree (1991) from the Institute of Photographic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was working in the Institute of Photographic Chemistry (1991-1993), in Kyoto University (1992-1993) as a Post-doc researcher of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Mulhouse, Universite de Haute-Alsace, France as a Visiting Professor (1995, 2001, 2003), at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a research associate (1996-1999). From 1999, he has been working in the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences as a full professor. Now he is the director associate of the institute and the director of the key laboratory of photochemistry.

His research interests include optical functional materials and the effects on the luminescent properties of materials. He has published 132 research papers and applied 6 patents.




Keith Millington
(Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization)
Studying the photodegradation of materials using chemiluminescence
Abstract here

Keith Millington was born in Birmingham in 1954. He received a BSc in chemistry from the University of Warwick in 1983 and a PhD in 1987 from the University of Southampton for his thesis on shapes of small molecules. He joined CSIRO in 1990 from the UK nuclear industry. In 1994 he developed and patented Siroflash, a UV-surface treatment for textiles used for preparing wool fabric for printing and as an anti-pilling treatment. This work led to a US Innovative Technology Award from Radtech North America in 1996. In 2003 his mechanistic work on wool photoyellowing resulted in the award of a Gold Research Medal by the Worshipful Company of Dyers in London. In 2007 he was awarded the Centenary Medal by the Society of Dyers and Colourists. His current research interests include free radical oxidation processes in polymers and proteins and chemiluminescence emission from oxidised materials.



Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
(City University of Hong Kong)
Luminescence and Biological Properties of New Cyclometallated Iridium(III) Polypyridine Complexes
Abstract here

Kenneth Lo obtained his BSc and PhD at The University of Hong Kong in 1993 and 1997, respectively.  His PhD work centered on luminescent transition metal complexes as DNA and metal-ion probes, and luminescent polynuclear coinage metal chalcogenides.  From 1997 to 1999, he worked as a Croucher Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford.  He carried out research work on genetic engineering and electrochemistry of cytochrome P450cam and putidaredoxin.  He joined the Department of Biology and Chemistry of City University of Hong Kong as Assistant Professor in 1999 and became Associate Professor B (Lecturer) in 2003 and Associate Professor A (Senior Lecturer) in 2007.  He was awarded the APA-Prize for Young Scientist by The Asian and Oceanian Photochemistry Association in 2004.  The main theme of his research work is the utilization of luminescent transition metal complexes as biomolecular and cellular probes.



George Thomas (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research)
Optical Properties of Hybrid Nanomaterials
Abstract here

 George Thomas has made significant contributions in several areas of photosciences and nanomaterials and his group is currently focusing on the studies related to light-matter interaction at the nanoscale. Some of his recent efforts include (i) understanding the interfacial properties of hybrid nanomaterials, (ii) integrating nanomaterials into higher order assemblies and (iii) using such functionalized nanomaterials as sensors, light-induced controlled release systems and nanophoshors.
    George Thomas is a native of India, received his masters degree from the University of Pune and doctoral degree in Chemistry from the University of Kerala and afterwards worked as senior scientist in the Photosciences & Photonics Section of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science & Technology (CSIR) from July 1994 to April 2010. In May 2010, he accepted an invitation from the newly established Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and joined as a Professor.  His research interests are in the areas of photochemistry and material science.
    George Thomas is a recipient of several awards and distinctions: this include the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Chemical Sciences (2006) awarded by the CSIR, the MRSI Medal (2005) of the Materials Research Society of India and the CRSI Bronze Medal (2004) of the Chemical Research Society of India. He is an elected fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences and Honorary Faculty Member of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. He is one of the associate editors of the Bulletin of Material Sciences published by the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore. He has published around seventy five peer-reviewed original research articles and four chapters in books and one of the inventors of a US patent.

Kyung Byung Yoon from Sogang University, Korea
Photovoltaic Effects of Zeolite-Encapsulated CdS and PbS Quantum Dots
Abstract here

Kyung Byung Yoon received his B.S. in 1979 from the Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University. In 1981, he obtained his M.S. from the Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Seoul. From 1981 to 1984 he was employed by Chon Engineering Co. LTD, Seoul, Korea. There he gained experience in catalyst design and the engineering of chemical process plants. In 1989, he earned his Ph.D. degree in inorganic chemistry from the Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Texas, where his research advisor was Professor Jay K. Kochi. He has been an Assistant, Associate (1993) and Full Professor (1998) in Sogang University, Seoul, Korea from 1989 to the present. He is currently serving as the Dean of the College of Natural Science and is also leading the Korea Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, Sogang University. He is currently the Director of the Scientific Affairs of FACS and holds the Councilorships for the International Zeolite Association and the Asian-Oceanian Photochemistry Association.



Chi-Kung Ni  National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Molecular mechansim on the photostability of amino acid chromophores
Abstract here

Chi-Kung Ni received his B.S. in Chemistry from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan in 1985 and his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, NY in 1993. He was a postdoctoral associate in University of California, Berkeley (1993~1995) before joining the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences (IAMS), Academia Sinica, Taiwan. He is currently a Research Fellow in IAMS and a professor in the Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan. His research includes UV photodissociation dynamics of organic molecules in molecular beam, energy transfer of highly vibrationally excited molecules studied by crossed-molecular beam, MALDI mechanism, and X ray photochemistry.




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