ACS PRF | ACS
All e-Annual Reports
47453-SE
The 40th Silicon Symposium, May-June 2007, Victoria, BC
The 40th Silicon Symposium was held on May 31 – June 2, 2007, in Victoria, Canada. PRF-SE funding ($3600) was used to offset the costs of travel to Victoria for seven foreign speakers: Dr. François Ganachaud (ENSCM Montpellier, France), Prof. Yusuke Kawakami (Japan Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, Japan), Prof. Soichiro Kyushin (Gunma University, Japan), Prof. Bogdan Marciniec (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland), Prof. Robin Perutz (University of York, UK), Dr. Sylviane Sabo-Etienne (CNRS Toulouse, France) and Dr. Patrick Steel (University of Durham, UK). Four North American invited speakers also participated in the symposium: Dr. Zakya Kafafi (Optical Science Division, US Naval Research Lab), Prof. Robert Wolkow (University of Alberta), Prof. Brian Pagenkopf (University of Western Ontario, Canada), and Prof. Jon Veinot (University of Alberta). This impressive lineup of invited speakers attracted excellent and relevant contributed talks from an international array of academic and industrial researchers, well as post-docs and students. In addition to the three plenary lectures, two parallel sessions of invited and contributed lectures and a poster session were well attended by the symposium's 94 participants, of which one third were students and postdoctoral fellows.
The symposium covered a wide array of topics related to the chemistry and applications of silicon, with particular emphasis on optical applications of silicon surfaces and organosilicon compounds, the synthesis & science of silicon-based polymers, and synthetic methods and mechanistic studies involving silsesquioxanes, siloles, silenes, and metal-mediated transformations at silicon. Particularly notable were some enthusiastic debates arising from the oral presentations. The intensity and camaraderie evident during these discussions set an excellent example for students attending the sessions. This energetic meeting of minds would not have been possible without the support of the PRF, for which we are extremely grateful.
