Alumni Breakfast Invitation

Homecoming Alumni Breakfast 2010

Student Achievements

Chemistry Professor Includes Student in Research Study

September 19, 2006—Lorraine Pace

NEW FRONTIERS—Texas A&M University-Commerce junior chemistry major Michael Helleson of Garland recently returned from a visit, funded by the College of Arts and Sciences, to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory with Dr. Ben Jang, A&M-Commerce chemistry professor. Under Jang's supervision at Oak Ridge, Helleson had access to a $1-million transmission electron microscope (pictured) and a $3-million scanning transmission electron microscope, which they used to determine that the molecules of the catalyst they had synthesized had nano-particles that changed shape, with more defects at the atomic level. "Looking at my own sample, knowing I had synthesized it, exposed me to a whole new world," says Helleson, who met international scientists on the trip. "It really opened my eyes to all the careers that a chemistry degree holds." Jang's study is expected to improve the fundamental understanding of why plasma technology works and how it can be applied to specific catalytic processes, and should have wide applications for commercial use. The National Laboratory is managed for the United States Department of Energy and is an important facility for addressing national and global energy and environmental issues.

(A&M-Commerce photo)

Alumni Achievements

Texas A&M University-Commerce Chemistry Alumnus Visits Campus after 55 Years

September 19, 2006—Lorraine Pace COMMERCE, Texas—Kenneth Porter, Texas A&M University-Commerce alumnus from Irving, returned to campus to share his 50-year career as a chemist with students.

Porter was chief of material and process labs for Bell Helicopter Textron, retiring in 1991.

"I learned all the chemistry I ever needed at this campus," says Porter, who shared how the science advanced from wet to instrument chemistry.

"It's gotten a lot smarter and quicker."

When asked by a student why he chose to be a chemist, he replied, "I don't know. It was luck. It is a choice I never regretted. It far exceeded anything I had ever dreamed about. Chemistry took me all over the world."

Porter recalls being handed a beaker by a professor who asked him what chemical it contained. He told the professor what it was, and the professor replied, "Prove it."

It was a lesson Porter never forgot.

"The campus has changed so much with all the new buildings, it looks like new," he says. "Even the road getting here has changed."

Porter was invited to return to A&M-Commerce to share his perspective on being a chemist by Dr. Nenad Kostic, chemistry head.

Porter also advised students about what could go wrong or be misinterpreted, encouraging them to find new solutions.