CEM unveil MJ Collins Award winner

CEM has announced the winner of the 2008 MJ Collins Award for outstanding student research in the field of microwave chemistry.

Shainaz Moula Landge, a graduate student from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, collected the honour along with her sponsor, Professor Bela Torok PhD, at an awards ceremony held at the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ms Landge and Professor Torok will now share the award along with a $100,000 (£56,020) cash prize.

The student won for her research highlighting the enantioselective organocatalytic synthesis of organofluorine compounds by microwave energy at sub-ambient temperatures (minus 25 degrees C), as well as her development of a flow system for the microwave production of highly-volatile trifluoroacetaldehyde gas.

In a letter nominating Ms Landge for the award, which is named after CEM founder and chief executive officer Michael J Collins, Professor Torok described her as a "future leader in the organic synthetic applications of microwave technology".

Commenting on the award, Mr Collins said he was "especially pleased" to see it go to research in the "emerging areas" of low-temperature chemistry and flow chemistry.

CEM is a provider of microwave laboratory instruments based in Matthews, North Carolina.