C-CRAFT ushers in new era of fluorine research

trevor.kenney — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:25:24 +0000

Advanced research experiments, state-of-the-art laboratories, guidance from a top expert in the field - these are the exclusive benefits enjoyed by chemistry students studying fluorine at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, home of the new Canadian Centre for Research in Advanced Fluorine Technologies, or C-CRAFT.

Doug Turnbull, left, and Nathan Kostiuk have taken advantage of the practical learning opportunities provided them by Dr. Michael Gerken.

Over the last several years, the U of L has evolved into one of Canada’s premier institutions for studying the chemistry and physical properties of compounds containing fluorine, a versatile and highly reactive element used in a wide range of industrial and commercial processes and products. Playing a key role in that evolution has been Dr. Michael Gerken, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry with 12 years of experience, and an internationally distinguished fluorine chemist.

By launching C-CRAFT, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will be able to serve as a hub for fluorine scientists and industry researchers worldwide to study and develop useful applications for this reactive element, which can be useful for everything from developing plastics, to performing medical imaging, to promoting cleaner oil production. It will also further enhance the department’s ability to provide high-quality, hands-on research opportunities to undergraduate and graduate chemistry students.

The new C-CRAFT institute, led by this stellar group of faculty members, creates a hub for fluorine research at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

Among the students who have enjoyed those practical learning experiences is Nathan Kostiuk, a fourth-year chemistry student who has completed multiple for-credit independent study projects with Gerken, and who also worked for two summers as his research assistant. Helping facilitate Kostiuk’s investigations into fluorine has been his extensive access to the labs’ sophisticated research equipment, which include two nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers, a Raman spectrometer and an x-ray diffractometer.

“Being able to use these machines to conduct hands-on research is a huge advantage,” Kostiuk says. “Some things you can learn in a textbook, but it’s different when you can apply what you learn in a lab. What I do in the lab enhances what I learn in the classroom, and vice versa.”

Recently, Kostiuk and a graduate student in the Gerken lab analyzed sulfur tetrafluoride, or SF₄, a chemical compound that can be useful to processes for the pharmaceutical and specialty chemical industries. Using the x-ray diffractometer, a machine for studying the structure of molecules in great detail, he was able to discern the molecule’s behaviour in solid form. It was the first time that this insight had ever been made in science, and his findings were published last June in the prestigious international scientific journal, Angewandte Chemie (German for: Applied Chemistry), published by the German Chemical Society. The accomplishment was rare, since at most universities, undergraduates have less access to leading-edge research equipment.

“I was really happy with that achievement, especially since I was just a third-year student at the time,” says Kostiuk, who is planning to pursue a master’s degree in chemistry after graduating. “Now, other researchers around the world can use it to help their own research.”

Another student who has been actively putting his classroom skills to use in the fluorine labs is Doug Turnbull, a third-year chemistry undergraduate. Turnbull came to the U of L with a budding interest in chemistry he had developed in high school, and was delighted to learn about the high-calibre expertise and facilities available in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

"I had been interested in fluorine at a superficial level, because it's the most reactive element, but at Lethbridge I was given the unique opportunity to gain a real-world idea of what fluorine chemistry is,” Turnbull says.

Turnbull has been conducting experiments involving fluorine and rhenium, another chemical element in the periodic table, to study how various reactions affect the geometry of rhenium compounds. He says Gerken’s insights and encouragement have made the lab learning exciting, and provided him with the confidence to continue exploring.

“This can be a challenging type of chemistry and the learning curve can be daunting. Michael makes it such a comfortable experience that you don’t have those worries anymore,” Turnbull says. “As far as his knowledge and communication style go, he is an outstanding supervisor.”

Wieden, Wetmore earn Compute Canada space

trevor.kenney — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:58:31 +0000

Two ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge chemistry & biochemistry researchers have been awarded over 2.6Mio (million) processor hours and storage worth more than $380,000 as a result of the Compute Canada resource allocation competition.

Drs. Hans-Joachim Wieden and Stacey Wetmore were successful in earning two of the 212 grants given out by Compute Canada to leading Canadian research projects across the country.

In all, Compute Canada Calcul Canada (CC), Canada's national platform of High Performance Computing (HPC) resources and partners,administered grants of nearly $72 million worth of state-of-the-art computing, storage and support resources.

"Our research would not be possible without theirinfrastructure," says Wetmore, whose research isprimarily focused on understanding deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage and repair processes in our bodies in order to aid the design of new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease.

"Calculations of the complicated structure and reactions of biosystems require substantial computer resources that can only be obtained through national computing consortiums."

The grants allocate nearly one billion processor hours and 10.4 petabytes of storage to the projects over the next year.

Researchers will also have direct access to more than 40 programming and technical experts who are critical to enabling the efficient use of these state-of-the-art HPC systems.

"Compute Canada's extensive network of computing resources, data storage facilities, research tools and expertise is supporting projects that feed into a thriving Canadian R&D sector and contribute important socio-economic benefits to Canada," saysBill Appelbe, CC's incoming CEO. "This year's allocations represent the diverse and leading-edge science taking place at research institutions across the country."

The projects — which range from aerospace design and climate modeling to medical imaging and nanotechnology — produce results and breakthroughs that in many cases simply wouldn't be possible without CC's resources.

Wieden's research program is focused on unraveling the design principles underlying communication processes within biomolecular machines responsible for their functional complexity. Understanding the basis of intra- and intermolecular communication will help to understand cause-and-effect relationships in a number of chronic diseases, such as cancer or cystic fibrosis.

"Without Compute Canada Calcul Canada, this research would not be possible," says Wieden. "The research approach we are using involves the intricate combination of computational and laboratory research. For our group, it would be impossible to obtain and even more important, maintain, the required computational resources."

Wetmore echoes Wieden, saying her group's work is dependent on these resources.

"Compute Canada Calcul Canada infrastructure is vital to our work since large-scale computer models of biosystems require significant computer resources in terms of the important factors of time, memory and disk space," says Wetmore.

CC's resources are granted based on scientific merit and computational need. In addition to the grants for above average computing requirements, all Canadian researchers have access to significant default allocations of computational resources and support expertise.

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C-CRAFT ushers in new era of fluorine research

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