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University of Pennsylvania
Joint winner of Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2000
Public Lecture
NOBEL PRIZE - NEW ZEALAND - THE FUTURE
Tuesday 3 July 2001 at 7.00 pm
Auditorium, Massey University College of Education,
Centennial Drive, Hokowhitu
This is the first public lecture in Palmerston North by a New Zealand born Nobel Laureate. Although the Nobel Prize was awarded for work on 'conductive polymers', Professor MacDiarmid's talk will cover a range of scientific and societal topics.
Alan MacDiarmid was born in Masterton in 1927. After completing an M.Sc. at Victoria University College he was awarded a Fullbright Fellowship which enabled him to study for a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin. A Shell Scholarship enabled him to complete a second Ph.D. at Cambridge University before taking a position at the University of Pennsylvania in 1955. His research work has been recognised by a series of awards, culminating in the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2000.
The Nobel Prize, shared with physicist Alan Heeger (USA) and chemist Hideki Shirakawa (Japan), was for the discovery and development of conductive organic polymers. Conductive plastics can be used in anti-static substances for photographic film and in 'smart' windows that can exclude sunlight. Semi-conductive polymers have been applied in light-emitting diodes, solar cells and displays in mobile telephones. Future developments in molecular electronics will dramatically increase the speed and reduce the size of computers.
During his career Professor MacDiarmid
has maintained links with New Zealand, including staff of the
Institute of Fundamental Sciences at Massey University.
On 4 July he will be presented with the Rutherford Medal by
the Governor General, the Honorable Dame Silvia Cartwright,
at a ceremony at Government House.
Welcome
Gregor W. Yeates PhD DSc FRSNZ
President, Royal Society of New Zealand Manawatu Branch
Introduction
Paul T. Callaghan D.Phil DSc FRS
FRSNZ FNZIP FInstP
President, Academy of the Royal Society New Zealand
Lecture
Nobel Prize - New Zealand - The Future
Professor Alan MacDiarmid
MSc (NZ),PhD (Wisconsin), PhD (Cambridge),
DSc (Victoria), Nobel Laureate
Thanks
David L. Officer PhD MNZIC
Associate Professor, Institute of Fundamental Sciences,
Massey University
Presentation of prizes
Student winners of the Manawatu Chemistry Nobel Prize Quiz
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This meeting
has been arranged by the Royal Society of New Zealand
Manawatu Branch and Massey University College of
Sciences, in conjunction with the Science Centre
& Manawatu Museum, Manawatu Branch of the NZ
Institute of Chemistry, and the Manawatu Branch
of the Institution of Professional Engineers NZ.
Professor MacDiarmid's tour of New Zealand was initiated by IRL and facilitated by the Royal Society of New Zealand. |
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