Chemist discovers formula for research success

University of Queensland Chemistry Department senior lecturer Dr Sean Smith has discovered the formula for outstanding research achievement.

He was recently awarded the Australian Academy of Science's 1998 Le Fevre Memorial Prize for outstanding contributions to fundamental chemical research by a scientist under the age of 37.

In 1994, he won the Rennie Memorial Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) for outstanding research contributing to the development of chemical science by an Institute member under the age of 33.

Dr Smith leads the Computational Reaction Dynamics Group developing theories to understand the atmosphere's chemical make-up.

The computer programs developed by the group helped scientists analyse atmospheric components such as nitrogen, ozone and exhaust emissions, he said.

"With these theories, we can better predict the effects of what we're putting into the atmosphere such as factory and car emissions. Without reliable chemical theories, we're flying blind," Dr Smith said.

He recently began a research collaboration with Chemistry Nobel Laureate Professor Yuan Lee from the Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences in Taiwan.

"Professor Lee's laboratory will use our theoretical hardware to support their experiments in the area of gas phase chemical reactions, " Dr Smith said.

Chemistry Department head Associate Professor John Cotton said Dr Smith had forged an outstanding international reputation in the field of theoretical chemical kinetics and reaction dynamics.

"His research has focused on solving theoretical and computational challenges in relation to complex gaseous reactions of importance to atmospheric chemistry, combustion chemistry and interstellar chemistry," Dr Cotton said.

Dr Smith joined the University in 1993 after completing postdoctoral work in the area of theoretical chemistry at the University of California Berkeley and the University of Gottingen in Germany.

He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate study at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

For more information, contact Dr Smith (telephone 07 3365 3975).