CEM Corporation has announces that Amy Kallmerten, a graduate student at Northeastern University, has won the 2009 MJ Collins Award for outstanding research by a student in the field of microwave chemistry.
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CEM Corporation has announces that Amy Kallmerten, a graduate student at Northeastern University, has won the 2009 MJ Collins Award for outstanding research by a student in the field of microwave chemistry. Ms. Kallmerten and her academic sponsor, Professor Graham Jones, Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Northeastern University in Boston, will share the $10,000 cash prize, which was presented at a press conference Monday morning at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, DC.
“Ms. Kallmerten’s research and her rapid incorporation of new techniques into the academic laboratory demonstrate her steadfast curiosity and enthusiasm for science,” said Michael J. Collins, president and CEO of CEM Corporation. “She is an extremely talented chemist who has a very bright future ahead. I feel certain that she will have a great deal to contribute to the advancement of chemistry.”
Kallmerten’s research focused on using microwave synthesis to introduce radiolabels to known compounds for multi-functional imaging, a process that has to be rapid due to the short half-life of the radiolabels. She developed a one pot method for tandem Hiyama coupling – fluorination that has also been expanded to include Suzuki, Negishi, Sonogashira, and Heck couplings. She has also translated nearly every conventional project in Professor Jones’ laboratory to a microwave method and she incorporated a microwave-accelerated coupling method for the preparation KW-6002 analogues for use in Parkinson’s disease into an undergraduate laboratory project for 45 students.
Kallmerten’s academic sponsor, Professor Graham Jones, praised her command of chemistry, natural aptitude for research, and her abilities to manage projects effectively. He described her as having a “level of intellectual engagement noteworthy by any standards.”
The MJ Collins Award is named after Michael J. Collins, PhD, founder, CEO and president of CEM Corporation. Dr. Collins is a strong supporter of educational initiatives for the sciences and instituted the MJ Collins Award for Outstanding Young Innovator in Microwave Chemistry in order to encourage students in their pursuit of careers in science. For more information on the MJ Collins Award, please visit www.cem.com.
