The Physical Chemistry Symposium at the ACS NORM ’13 was successfully held in the Trysting Tree Room at CH2M Hill on July 22nd, 2013. The morning session of “Novel Spectroscopic Tools” featured an array of technological-advance-oriented talks from renowned spectroscopists such as Richard Mathies from UC Berkeley and Nien-Hui Ge from UC Irvine. Postdocs and senior graduate students from OSU Chemistry and other prestigious institutions in the Pacific Northwest and neighboring California, e.g., UO, UW, PSU, and Stanford/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have given presentations covering the broad electromagnetic spectrum from infrared, visible, ultraviolet, all the way to the X-ray regime. The afternoon session of “Novel Molecular Insights” featured a variety of presentations on using spectroscopic tools, aided by advanced computations, to reveal the fascinating molecular world. The recurring theme was functional materials with an inquiry-based mechanism-driven physical chemistry approach. Being the symposium organizer, I am glad that the three keynote speakers (Profs. Richard Mathies, Nien-Hui Ge, and Philip Reid of UW) as well as the other 12 speakers delivered stimulating talks to engage a large audience using the ACS NORM and OSU platform, to appreciate the beauty and impact of modern P-Chem education and research in the Pacific Northwest and far beyond.

The following picture was a snapshot of the Q&A session after one of the talks in the P-Chem symposium. Prof. Richard Mathies was asking a question. The audience was actively participating in the discussion.