Rachel K. Smith
Welcome! I'm a sixth year graduate student in the Chemistry department at Penn State University. I am working under the direction of Paul Weiss, where I am working on several projects including self-assembly and microcontact printing of alkanethiols, heterostructured nanoparticles, and studying the electronic properties of gold nanoparticles and clusters with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Research in the Weiss group primarily focuses on atomic-scale measurements and control in chemistry, physics, electronics, and most recently, biology.
Courses that I've taken during my first year of graduate school (1999–2000) include Materials Chemistry, Surface Chemistry, Bioinorganic Chemistry, Spectroscopic Analysis, and an introductory course to bioengineering principles (offered through the Integrative Biosciences department). Courses that I taught for both Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 include Chemistry 11 and Chemistry 15.
I completed my undergraduate work at the University of Oregon where I was enrolled in the Clark Honors College. I graduated in June 1999, receiving B.A.s in Biochemistry and Spanish. During my last two years at the UO, I worked in the lab of Jim Hutchison, where I studied the order and stability of hydrogen-bonding, alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers on gold substrates.
Links of Interest -- links to science/technology journals and more!
Personal Links:
NPR
Online (wonderful news source and more!)
The
Epicurious Home Page (for those who
cook)
The Weather Channel
(just in case you work on a floor without windows, like us)
AOL
Instant Messenger (excellent way to keep in touch with friends, family, colleagues)
Rachel K. Smith
nano.psu.edu