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Call for Palmer Award Nominations

Luke Charpentier

The Minnesota Chromatography Forum (MCF) is seeking nominations for the Palmer Award to be presented at the 2002 Spring Symposium. The Palmer Award has been given out by the MCF for the past 22 years. The award recognizes individuals for their contributions to the art and science of chromatography. The award can also be given to an individual for his or her service to the MCF or the chromatography community. Past recipients have included internationally recognized chromatographers as well as long-term MCF volunteers. For listing of the past recipients of the Palmer Award please visit the MCF web site at www.minnchrom.org. The Past President of the MCF heads the Palmer Awards committee which reads and discusses all individuals nominated for the award, and then selects a winner. The nomination form can be found on the MCF web site at www.minnchrom.org.

2002 MCF Spring Symposium Update

Peter Johnson

Abstracts are now being accepted for Poster and
Oral Presentations at the 2002 MCF Spring
Symposium

FREE LASER POINTER !!!

The presenting author of Poster and Oral Presentations at the 2002 MCF Spring Symposium will receive a complimentary MCF laser pointer.

Abstract Deadline March 31, 2002

The deadline for Abstract submission is March 31, 2002. Abstracts may be submitted on-line, by email, by FAX or by paper mail. Instructions for Abstract submission are available at the MCF website - www.minnchrom.org

Note From the Editors

The Editors of MCF Retention Times invite you to consider writing a column for a future newsletter. Some of the past articles have been in the areas of LC-ICP, LC-FTIR and Large Volume Injection Techniques in GC, You can visit the MCF website to see these articles in the archived newsletters. It can be a review of a conference you attended recently. The only requirement is that it should be related to the area of Separation Science. If you have article to publish, we have the space!!

2002 MCF Undergraduate Research Award

The MCF Undergraduate Research Award is awarded annually (this year in March!) and presented at the Spring Symposium of the Minnesota Chromatography Forum. It is designed to encourage undergraduate students to become involved in scientific research. Proposals are submitted by undergraduate students for short research projects (e.g. a 6-week project) in which chromatography or some other separation technique plays an important role. A panel of judges reviews the 'proposals and the student submitting the best proposal is awarded the sum of $3500. The winner commits to present his or her research work at the 2003 MCF Spring Symposium.

Any undergraduate student who has the support of an advisor in the designing and the implementation of the project can submit the proposal. The proposed work may be done as part of a course such as an Introduction to Research course or it may be done as a separate project. The major requirement for the proposal is that it should be written by the student and the work must be done under the guidance of a faculty member, who agrees to act as sponsor. Faculty guidance in suggesting a research problem and formulating the proposal is of course, allowed. Neither the student nor the faculty sponsor, need to be members of the Minnesota Chromatography Forum in order to qualify. The award will be presented to the student to use as a stipend and for the purchase of equipment.

The Minnesota Chromatography Forum urges you to make this grant known to students and faculty members, encouraging them to submit proposals. The proposals need not be long (a few pages) and the research itself should be simple enough to be completed in from three to eight weeks of full time laboratory research. Please forward this information to other advisors who have candidates for this award.

Proposal Submission Deadline March I, 2002. Grant Awarded March 15, 2002.

All proposals should be sent to the following address:
MCF Undergraduate Research Grant
Attn: DeWayne Townsend, Ph.D.
1200 Mendelssohn Ave, Suite 50
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55427-4360

Please contact Dr. DeWayne Townsend for further inquiries about this research grant by phone (952) 929-1996 during the daytime or via e-mail at d-town@maroon.tc.umn.edu.

Nominations Sought

Brian Leafblad

It’s that time of year again! The 2002 Spring Symposium is just around the corner, and the Symposium Committee is busy getting ready. This may sound like a cliché, but in a volunteer organization such as MCF it really is the people that make the difference. When we all come to the Spring Symposium we get to enjoy the final product, and may not realize all the work that went into preparing for it. We get to participate in a fabulous conference thanks to the efforts of people who have volunteered their time, some year after year. So, when you come to the Symposium this year, take a moment to thank the Committee for their hard work. The high quality we have come to expect is truly a reflection of the people that are doing the work.

One of the annual activities at the Symposium is the election of some of our Board members. The MCF Board is the group of people who chart the course of MCF. If you would like to get involved, now is your chance! Or, if you know of someone to recommend, nominate them!

We will be electing a 1st year Director, President-elect and Secretary-elect. If you would like to find out what people in these positions actually do, feel free to contact us. You can find out who and how at www.minnchrom.org/board_members.htm. (Or, if you would like to get involved with one of the committees, contact the chairperson.) All of the contact names and numbers can be found on the MCF website.

We will compile a list of candidates for the three positions with brief bios for you to read at the Spring Symposium, where we will decide by ballot the new leadership. Please give thoughtful consideration to whether you might volunteer or know of someone to nominate. This is your chance to have an impact of how MCF is run and what we do.

You can volunteer or forward nominations to me at brian.leafblad@ecolab.com or at (651)306-4147. If possible, please include contact information for the people you are nominating. It will be very nice to get several nominations for each of the positions. I am very optimistic that each of you will consider doing your part to the best volunteer run chromatography forum in the upper Midwest.