Elizabeth Murphy from BioPACIFIC MIP has won the ACS PMSE Graduate Student Travel Award, supporting under-represented graduate students to present research at ACS meetings. She will present her talk, "Accelerated Discovery of Block Copolymers through Automated Chromatography," at the Fall 2023 ACS Meeting in Indianapolis on August 16.

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have developed a new method combining enzyme activities and small-molecule photochemistry, paving the way for innovative catalytic reactions. This approach enhances the synthesis of non-canonical amino acids, crucial for therapeutics, and offers a stereoselective process that improves product specificity.

Researchers from the 2D Crystal Consortium developed a method using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to synthesize high-quality tungsten diselenide for 2D semiconductors, addressing the issue of mirror twin boundaries. This advancement is crucial for enhancing semiconductor technology for next-generation electronics like AI and IoT.

Professor Heather Maynard has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, recognizing her contributions in protein-polymer conjugates and smart materials for precision medicine. A longstanding UCLA faculty member, Maynard has received numerous awards and holds significant roles in various research programs and publications in chemistry and biochemistry.

A study by Yimin Luo et al. on high-throughput microscopy for analyzing coacervates was highlighted in the Soft Matter journal. It demonstrated a new platform for simultaneous measurement of morphology and microrheology in phase-separating fluids, improving efficiency in tracking material properties during compositional changes.

Advait Holkar, a UCLA PhD student, received the ESME award for his research on protocells that enhance enzymatic catalysis. His work shows that these protocells achieve significantly faster reaction rates and improved efficiency in enzyme cascade reactions, conducted at the Living BioFoundry and supported by BioPACIFIC MIP.

Researchers at Penn State have developed a new heterostructure of two-dimensional materials that could advance quantum computing by overcoming significant barriers. This involves using topological superconductors to enhance qubit stability. Their innovative synthesis technique may facilitate scalable production for future quantum applications, marking a step toward practical topological quantum computers.

Researchers at Penn State developed a novel active pixel sensor using molybdenum disulfide, enabling sharper, energy-efficient cellphone photography and IoT sensors. This technology reduces energy costs and enhances image processing, allowing for clearer photos in low-light and adverse conditions, contributing to sustainability in photography and smart manufacturing.