NEWS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Jobs created by technology commercialized from the Barron Research Group*

* Not including employment of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
177

 

 
Congratulations to graduate student Kourtney Wright, who received the Chemistry Department's Stephen C. Hofmann Award! Kourtney was recognized at the Fall 2015 Awards Ceremony on Friday, August 21, 2015. This award is given for outstanding early achievement towards the PhD degree in acknowledgment of superb performance on the Qualifying Exam.
 

Scientists advance toward tunable carbon-capture materials

Two critical questions - how and how well - are addressed in a new paper in the American Chemical Society journal Energy and Fuels. SciGuru, 07/13/2015 -- Science News Desk
 

Heat buckyballs to help environment

(Nanowerk News) Rice University scientists are forging toward tunable carbon-capture materials with a new study that shows how chemical changes affect the abilities of enhanced buckyballs to confine greenhouse gases.
Nanowerk.com , July 13, 2015
 

Rice University scientists advance toward tunable carbon-capture materials

The lab of Rice chemist Andrew Barron found last year that carbon-60 molecules (aka buckyballs, discovered at Rice in the 1980s) gain the ability to sequester carbon dioxide when combined with a polymer known as polyethyleneimine (PEI).
EurekAlert, July 13, 2015 www.eurekalert.org

 

Rice Univ. scientists are forging toward tunable carbon-capture materials with a new study that shows how chemical changes affect the abilities of enhanced buckyballs to confine greenhouse gases.
R&D, rdmag.com. July 13, 2015

 

Heat buckyballs to help environment

Enrico Andreoli, left, and Andrew Barron of Rice University are studying the use of enhanced carbon-60 molecules to capture carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released as a greenhouse gas. Credit: Welsh Government
Science Daily, July 13, 2015
 

Rice Univ. scientists are forging toward tunable carbon-capture materials with a new study that shows how chemical changes affect the abilities of enhanced buckyballs to confine greenhouse gases.

MyInforms.com, July 13, 2015
 

Some angels could earn their wings by investing in startups

Andrew Barron addresses the Houston Technology Center s annual Innovation Conference and Showcase about the status of angel investing in Greater Houston on Oct. 7, 2014. Barron is a Rice University chemistry professor who holds 20 patents and has started five companies.
By Chris Tomlinson, Houston Chronicle, October 10, 4014

 

All Atlantic Canadian resource industries are in some turmoil

"An important article by Andrew Revkin in the International New York Times on Sept. 8 provides insight into both sides of the issue. The article discussed a new study in the journal Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, which analyzed a fracking byproduct called "produced water." The study, titled "Organic compounds in produced waters from shale gas wells," was written by Samuel J. Maguire-Boyle and Andrew R. Barron of Rice University in Houston."
By Pat Bates, Cape Breton Post, October 6, 2014
 

Fracking's Wastewater, Poorly Understood, Is Analyzed for First Time

A new study authored by Rice University professor Andrew Barron is one of the most comprehensive analyses of what's in produced water, a type of fracking waste that hasn't been studied extensively. The results show the water "was not quite as bad as we thought," Barron said.
By Zahra Hirji, InsideClimate News

 

Barron Group Visiting Student Perry Alagappan wins the the 2015 Stockholm Junior Water Prize for Texas

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) is the world's most prestigious youth award for a water-related science project. The prize taps into the unlimited potential of today's high school students as they seek to address current and future water challenges.
The full list of winners can be found here. Congratulations to Perry and all the students who participated in this important research.
Courtesy of the Water Environment Federation
 

New shortcut to solar cells

Rice University scientists have found a way to simplify the manufacture of solar cells by using the top electrode as the catalyst that turns plain silicon into valuable black silicon.
Solar Daily Staff Writers, Houston TX (SPX) May 15, 2015
 

Shortcut to Solar Cells

One of the roadblocks in developing a new, clean energy infrastructure lies in our ability to manufacture solar cells with ease and efficiency. Now, researchers from Rice University may have developed a way to simplify this process.
Electrochemical Society, May 14, 2015 by Amanda Staller
 
New shortcut to solar cells: Discovery employs electrodes as catalysts to make black silicon

The Rice lab of chemist Andrew Barron disclosed the research in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
phys.org, Chemistry, Materials Science, May 13, 2015
 

New Shortcut to Solar Cells

Rice University scientists have found a way to simplify the manufacture of solar cells by using the top electrode as the catalyst that turns plain silicon into valuable black silicon.
05/14/2015 by Mike Williams, Rice University
 

Removing metals from aqueous waste streams with hydroxyfullerene.
Included are a variety of main group and transition metals.
TECH BEAT, Dr. Neil Canter / Contributing Editor, May, 2015

"This application is very important because water is a precious resource and removal of metals from effluent streams generated in manufacturing plants is mandatory. "
 

BUCKYBALLS PULL TOXIC METALS FROM LIQUIDS
 RICE UNIVERSITY, Mike Williams-Rice on Futurity,org

Treated buckyballs not only remove valuable but potentially toxic metal particles from water and other liquids, but also reserve them for future use.

 

Members of the Barron Research Group receive high metrics for recent paper on carbon capture in Scientific Reports: "Cross-Linking Amine-Rich Compounds into High Performing Selective CO2 Absorbents" More interest is shown in this item, Stoccaggio CO2 più efficiente grazie a nuova tecnica, from Greenstyle.IT.TV and this article in the International Business Times, Dec. 2, 2014.
 
A Chemist's View of Hydraulic Fracturing or 'Frac[c]ing" - Jacki Daily talks with world renowned British scientist, Dr. Andrew Barron, a professor in the Chemistry Department at Rice University, about the use of chemical additives in the frac[c]ing process, and how these can be employed safely in today's frac jobs. November 14, 2014.
 
Perry Alagappan, a Clear Lake High School student and a visiting student in the Barron Group, is selected as a National Semifinalist in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology! Find more information on the competition here - under the heading October 16, 2014.
 

Some angels could earn their wings by investing in startups
By Chris Tomlinson, October 9, 2014 | Updated: October 10, 2014 10:21pm

Andrew Barron addresses the Houston Technology Center's annual Innovation and Showcase. Barron is a Rice University chemistry professor who holds twenty patents and has started five companies.
 

A New Study Clarifies Treatment Needs for Water from Fracked Gas and Oil Wells
By Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times, September 8, 2014, 9:00 AM

"The paper, "Organic compounds in produced waters from shale gas wells," was written by Samuel J. Maguire-Boyle and Andrew R. Barron of Rice University"
 

Fracking's Wastewater, Poorly Understood, Is Analyzed for First Time
Researchers determined general chemical footprint of one liter samples, but not relative concentrations, and call for further study.
By Zahra Hirji, InsideClimate News Sep 5, 2014

This peer-reviewed study by a pair of researchers at Rice University in Houston shows that while fracking-produced water shouldn't be allowed near drinking water, it's less toxic than similar waste from coal-bed methane mining.
 

Concerns over chemical treatment of reclaimed fracking fluid - Chemistry World, 29 August 2014, Elisabeth Bowley

"Rice University scientists, Andrew Barron and Samuel Maguire-Boyle, recognised that in order to determine the best way to treat reclaimed fracking fluid; they should first identify the organic contaminants within it."
 

SOLAR CELL 'SPIKES' LET IN 99% OF SUNLIGHT, Futurity Research News

"Various strategies have cut reflectance down to about 6 percent, but the anti-reflection is limited to a specific range of light, incident angle, and wavelength, says Andrew Barron, professor of chemistry and of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice University."

RICE UNIVERSITY- Original Study, Posted by Mike Williams-Rice on June 20, 2014
 

Society for Science & the Public, in partnership with the Intel Foundation, announced Grand Awards of the Intel ISEF 2014. Student winners are ninth through twelfth graders who earned the right to compete at the Intel ISEF 2014 by winning a top prize at a local, regional, state or national science fair. May 16, 2014, Los Angeles, California.The Video of the Awards can be found here:

http://intelstudios.edgesuite.net/isef/2014/index.html - - - Perry's award is about 4 1/2 minutes into the video

High school student Perry Alagappan, a complimentary visiting student in the Barron Group and currently enrolled at Clear Lake High School in Houston, TX, wins Best of Category and First Place Award at the Intel ISEF 2014 for a renewable heavy metal filtration project, entitled "Novel Renewable Filter for Heavy Metal Removal: A Practical Application of Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes ". Perry will participate in the two week London International Youth Science Forum, to be held at Imperial College in London from July 23 - August 6, 2014.

 

"Short nanotubes target pancreatic cancer" - Rice, MD Anderson scientists refine technique for attack.

Short, customized carbon nanotubes have the potential to deliver drugs to pancreatic cancer cells and destroy them from within, according to researchers at Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Royal Society of Chemistry's Journal of Materials Chemistry B - Abstract can be found here
Links to images: Nanoparticles Nanotube Uptake
Rice University Office of Public Affairs / News & Media Relations, Mike Williams reporting

 

"NANOTRACERS' FOLLOW CRACKS OPENED BY HYDROFRACKING, Futurity website/newsletter, posted by Mike Williams

Rice on February 24, 2014 "Ideally, we would take a very small amount of a particle that does not interact with proppant, rock, or the gunk that's been pumped downhole, inject it in one well, and collect it at the production well," says Andrew Barron. "The time it takes to go from one to the other will tell you about the connectivity underground."
 
Perry Algappan, a complimentary visiting student in the Barron Group lab, placed first in Environmental Sciences at the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston 2014 for the project titled: "Novel Renewable Filter for Heavy Metal Removal", and also won the Grand Award for Life Sciences. This qualifies Perry to compete at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles this May! Perry is currently a student at Clear Lake High School in Clear Lake, TX., and will attend Stanford University in the Fall oif 2015.
 
Barron Group member Dr. Alvin Orbaek receives the ACS GREATER HOUSTON YOUNGER CHEMIST AWARD, 10/1/2013: To provide recognition to ACS-GHS members 35 years of age or younger for meritorious contributions to the welfare and distinction of the Section, as demonstrated by contributions to education, research, Sectional service or community service. Click here for more information and click here for a photo of the Barron Group attendees

Governor Cuomo Announces New Jobs and Investment At Eastman Business Park.
Natcore Technology invests nearly $1 million into continued growth of the former Kodak Park
Click here to read full press release
"Scientists Close to Testing Tracers for Drilling Fluid", By Dave Fehling, StateImpact Texas, KUHT News
"Tracing the Culprit if Fracking Pollutes Water Supplies", "What's impossible at the moment is if you've got multiple companies in an area and it's thought there is contamination, there is no way to tell which company caused the contamination," said Andrew Barron at Rice University in Houston., Dave Fehling, NPR Radio, January 22, 2012

"Technology draws bead on hydraulic fracturing", Andrew Barron, Professor of Materials Science, is photographed in the lab at Rice University in January 2013. Barron developed research that led to the creation of a new type of ceramic proppant, a material used in hydraulic fracturing to hold the shale rock open so oil and gas can come out. Jeannie Kever, Houston Chronicle, Sunday, January 13, 2013
Celtic Alliance for Nanohealth Venture Foru, Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wednesday 26th September 2012, "The event was delivered by the four CAN project partners; Swansea University, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University and University College Dublin and in partnership with the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship."
Chris Coker, president of Oxane Materials, talks about his company's product Tuesday during the Emerging Technology Forum, "Coker's company, Oxane Materials, spun out of a lab at Rice University ...", Houston Chronicle - Chron.com, Monday, October 8, 2012

'Absolute Black' Solar Panels Absorb Almost All Sunlight, ABC News, March 29, 2012, A clean-room technician holds a black silicon solar-power wafer from Natcore Technology, Inc.
Railroad Commission of Texas Chairman adopts Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Disclosure Rule
"Texas adopts comprehensive rules on disclosing fracking of oil, gas wells" - Andrew Barron, the Charles W. Duncan Jr.-Welch Chair of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science at Rice University, is mentioned in articles about the adoption of the Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Disclosure Rule by the Texas Railroad Commission, West University Examiner, Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Shell Unleaded Racing Fuel as showcased on the television show Wheels In Motion. Filmed on-location at PRI in Orlando and featuring Professor Andrew Barron. Discover all the cutting-edge elements of horsepower and performance.

Rice's Barron wins World Technology Award for Materials

Chemist, nanotechnology entrepreneur honored for research at UN gala

Andrew Barron, the Charles W. Duncan Jr. - Welch Chair of Chemistry and professor of materials science, is the winner of the prestigious 2011 World Technology Award for Materials. The award was presented at the World Technology Summit and Awards gala at the United Nations Oct. 26, 2011.
Rice University Professor, Natcore Co-Founder Recognized for Visionary Contribution to Science and Technology, Professor Andrew R. Barron, a scientific co-founder of Natcore Technology Inc. has been named a finalist for a prestigious World Technology Award presented by the World Technology Network in association with Time magazine, Fortune, CNN, Science/AAAS, and Technology Review. Marketwatch.com, September 22, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX)
'Armchair' nanotubes may be key to a more efficient power grid, DigitalTrends.com, July 15, 2011, Researchers at Rice University are creating nanotubes with extremely efficient conductive properties that could be key in cutting down electricity loss in transmission lines.
'Armchair' nanotubes could improve power grid's efficiency, The Engineer.co.uk, July 19, 2011, US researchers have found a way to produce carbon nanotubes for creating an electrical cable with negligible energy losses over long distances.
'Amplified' nanotubes another step on the long path to a nanotech electrical grid, NextBigFuture.com, July 14, 2011, Rice University scientists have achieved a pivotal breakthrough in the development of a cable that will make an efficient electric grid of the future possible.
 
After a four-month search, Natcore Technology Inc. will establish the Natcore Research and Development Center at Eastman Business Park in Rochester, The Daily Record, April 22, 2011
Rice Discovery Greatly Improves Common Disinfectant, Nanotimes, 11_01, January, 2011, a breakthrough from the Rice University labs of Andrew Barron and Qilin Li
Natcore Increases Film-Growth Rate By Order of Magnitude, Rate of LPD growth multiplied 10 times, while new passivation discovery promises important new applications, Houston Business Journal, September 15, 2010
Clean Energy Entrepreneurs Face More Obstacles in U.S., By Keith Bradsher, New York Times, September 8, 2010, Natcore Technology finds oppportuninty in China  (PDF)
On Clean Energy, China Skirts Rules, By Keith Bradsher, New York Times, September 8, 2010, "Barely a player in the solar industry five years ago, China is on track to produce more than half the world’s solar panels this year."
Natcore Technology to Return to China to Present New Technology - Two Natcore Co-Founders, John Calhoun and Andrew R. Barron, will be keynote speakers at the Binzhou International Sustainable and Economic Development Conference, to take place in Binzhou from August 23 to 27, Houston Business Journal, Red Bank, N.J., Aug. 18, 2010
Natcore Technology Gets White House Invite After China Deal CEO of New Jersey Solar Start-Up Invited to Join White House Advisory Panel After Inking China Deal, ABC News, By Ki Mae Heussner, June 29, 2010
"Clean Energy: Why Is China Ahead of the U.S.? Solar Start-Up in New Jersey Said China Gave Them a Deal They Couldn't Refuse", by Ki Mae Heussner, ABC News, June 16, 2010.  See why Natcore Technology is signing a deal with China that will commercialize their technology overseas.
Natcore gets patent on thin film technology for cheaper solar, By Abby Gruen/The Star-Ledger, May 10, 2010, via NJ.com. The thin-film growth technology, developed at Rice University, is used to apply thin coatings to components.
N.J. photovoltaic innovator, Natcore Technology, buys Vanguard Solar, By Abby Gruen/The Star-Ledger, May 20, 2010, via NJ.com.  The acquisition by the Red Bank-based solar company completes the consolidation of three related startups, formed originally by researchers associated with Rice University and NASA.
Canaccord, a well-known brokerage/investment banking firm in Canada, mentioned Natcore Technology (NXT.V), including mention of Natcore's program at Rice University, in their widely read Morning Coffee research meeting, April 16, 2010.  Go to page 7 to view the item.
Members of the Barron Group discuss nanotechnology in "Buckyball" Celebrates 25th Birthday, While Nanotechnology Flourishes, KUHF Radio, Houston, TX, 2010
"Ionic foot baths have Achilles' heel" Chris Woolston, Los Angeles Times, January 18, 2010
Oxane Materials, Inc. is creating new jobs! , The City Wire, Fort Smith, AR, December 28, 2009
"Breakthroughs in Solar Panel Technology", with Mario Gomez of KHOU-TV, Houston, TX, November 16, 2009,   View the Quicktime version
"Rice University-born Company to Ease Solar Panel Manufacturing", InterNano, by Mike Williams, Rice University, September 23, 2009
"The first publicly traded company to spring from Rice University technology is now taking stock in some of the best brains at Rice." More about Natcore Solar here.
From NanotechWeb: "Scaling up graphene production using organic dispersion", NanotechWeb.org, August 14, 2009, Producing high yields of graphene remains a challenge but researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas, propose a new way to do just this.
Barron part of trans-Atlantic group seeking molecular key to stop HIV (pdf)
Rice University's Andrew Barron and his group, working with labs in Italy, Germany and Greece, have identified specific molecules that could block the means by which the deadly virus spreads by taking away its ability to bind with other proteins. Discovery, Weiss School of Natural Science, May 2009
"Top Down, Bottoms Up", Nature Nanotechnology | VOL 4 | JULY 2009 (pdf)
Molecular key to combat HIV "found", The Times of India, 5/25/2009 Buckyball Computer Simulations Help Team Find Molecular Key To Combating HIV, Science Daily, 5/25/2009

Barron named Prince of Wales
Visiting Innovator

Rice Professor Andrew Barron has been appointed the first Prince of Wales Visiting Innovator and will bring his expertise in materials science to an ever-strengthening collaboration between Rice University and its counterparts in the United Kingdom.
Funding for Oxane Materials OxFrac Ceramic-Proppant - in this article from the Oil and Gas Investor, 12/11/2008
 
Silver Nanoparticles - click the projector icon at the left to view an mp4 video of research in 2008 in the Barron lab. 
Article: "Building the future one nanoparticle at at time" -  by Barron Group graduate student Huma Jafry in The Ismali
Editors' Choice: Volume 320, Number 5874, Issue of 18 April 2008 - CHEMISTRY: Epoxide Exfoliants, ©2008 by The American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Jayanta Chattopadhyay, Arnab Mukherjee, Christopher E. Hamilton, JungHo Kang, Soma Chakraborty, Wenhua Guo, Kevin F. Kelly, Andrew R. Barron, and W. Edward Billups*, Department of Chemistry and the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005
Article: "Reframing the Concept of Nanotechnology" (pdf) - Product applications and technology transfer issues - American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 86, No. 11
Buckyballs Ferry Drugs into Cancer Cells Safely - Scientists at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have developed...from nanotechwire.com , and this from EurekaAlert.com "Buckyballs used as 'passkey' into cancer cells"
Rice Chemists Create, Grow Nanotube Seeds - Study Proves Validity of Smalley's SWNT Amplification Concept - Nanotechnology Now article
November 8, 2007: Presentation: An Academic Perspecitve of Collaboration, Scottish Research Partnership in Engineering, Glasgow, Scotland
Barron Group graduate student Alvin Orbaek's summer job - the Space Hotel! More from Irish TV.
Cloning Carbon - nature nanotechnology | VOL 2 | JANUARY 2007 article

Andrew R. Barron, Charles W. Duncan, Jr. - Welch Chair of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science

 

Professor Barron is the Charles W. Duncan, Jr. - Welch Chair of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science at Rice University. Research in the Barron Group is currently aimed at the development of rational molecular design approach to materials synthesis, with an emphasis on the leap from synthesis to application of nano-based materials. Since 2002, the focus of research within the Barron Research Group has involved the functionalization of fullerenes and single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Areas being investigated include: biological applications and interactions, catalysis and materials applications. Functionalization of fullerenes as amino acids allows for their inclusion into polypeptides for the development of new approaches to the treatment of flagrant diseases. The development of a catalytic approach for the amplification of SWNTs may be likened to the polymerase chain reaction for DNA and is aimed at the fabrication of specific nanotube structures for energy applications.

Professor Barron created the first educational programs at Rice to span the Schools of Science, Engineering and Management, and is a co-director of the Rice Alliance for Entrepreneurship. He is also actively involved with educational programs in collaboration with the Rice section of the Society of Automotive Engineers.
 
CV (PDF)
 Citations
Research Interests
Autos and Racing

 Current Course Information

 

 

Miscellaneous Course Information:
Past Course NSCI 610/ENGI 610 - MANAGEMENT FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING - Spring 2015
Past Course CHEM 475 - PHYSICAL METHODS IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Spring 2015
Past Course NSCI 610/ENGI 610 - MANAGEMENT FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING - Fall 2014
Past Course MSNE 616 AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING: MATERIALS AND DYNAMICS - Fall 2014
Past Course NSCI 610/ENGI 610 - MANAGEMENT FOR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING - Spring 2014
Past Course

CHEM 475 - PHYSICAL METHODS IN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Spring 2014
Past Course
Past Course
Past Course

MSCI 616 - Automotive Engineering: Materials and Dynamics - Spring, 2009

Discussion of the engineering and materials technology that is involved in modern automotive design. Topics include: chassis design and construction; composite design and fabrication; aerodynamics and ground effects; suspension dynamics; performance technology. External expert speakers will provide a real-world perspective. Course will only be offered with sufficient demand. Check with the instructor.

Past Course
Past Course
Past Course

MSCI 615 - Automotive Engineering, Materials and Dynamics - Spring 2005

MSCI615: One Lap of America Project Cars

Past Course

CHEM 495 Transition Metal Chemistry - Fall, 2007
 

 

 

Current Group Members

-
Derek Barbee - derek.b.barbee@rice.edu - Graduate Research Assistant
Gibran Esquenazi - gle1@rice.edugle1@rice.edu - Graduate Research Assistant
Saunab Ghosh - Saunab.Ghosh@rice.edu - Postdoctoral Research Associate
Daniel (Seung Mook) Lee - danielmooklee@gmail.com - Visiting Student Research Assistant
Pavan Raja - vr15@rice.edu - Research Scientist
Kourtney Wright - kdw1@rice.edu - Graduate Research Assistant
 
     

American Chemical Society Project SEED Program

Summer II, 2011
David Rivera
North Shore Senior High School - 2011
Summer, 2011
Carmin Munoz
Mirabeau B. Lamar High School - 2011
Summer II, 2010
Ryan Hamerly
Hightower High School - 2010
Summer II, 2010
Erika Rivera
North Shore Senior High School - 2010
Summer, 2009
Eisenhower High School - Chemistry Instructor
Summer, 2009
Arafat (Lilian) Bodunrin
Hightower High School - Student
Summer, 2009
Ryan Hamerly
Hightower High School - Student

 

Past Group Members

Post Doctoral Researchers

Graduate Students

Undergraduate Researchers

Visiting Scientists and Summer Research Assistants
 

 

Group Photos

England, 1998

Italy, 1998

Florida, 1999

New Mexico, 1999

New Orleans, 2000

Welch Foundation Luncheon, 2002

New Orleans, 2003

Barron Group receives 2005 Laboratory Safety Award!

New Orleans, 2010

 

 
Dell Butcher Hall - Rice University Campus
Home to the Barron Group laboratories - 4th Floor

spinner Research in the Barron Group

Research in the Barron Group focuses on the chemistry and materials science of aluminum and its related elements in the periodic table. Our initiatives encompass problems across the fields of traditional inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry, nanoscale science and technology, and materials science. A feature of the research in the Barron Group is the continuum from synthesis to application, especially the development of new materials and catalysts from an understanding of structure/bonding/reactivity correlation.

projectorView this video on recent research in the lab!

For an overview and highlights from the Barron Group over the last decade click here. Current projects include: Lewis acidic compounds as catalysts, activators of main group metals and solid state sensors; the applications of nanoparticles in ceramic and organic composites; the control of ceramic and cement processing; the ambient, aqueous, growth of ceramic materials.

The Barron Group has interactions with the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (of which Prof. Barron holds a joint appointment), the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Jones School of Management.

Students and post-docs obtain an interdisciplinary experience, providing them a wide range of experience with tools that are available to research scientists. Group members have their own projects (rather than being just one of an army working on a single problem!), however, each Group member's research has significant overlap with others in the group.

Several programs are available to provide Graduate students with additional skills for use in academia, industry or business. The possibility for industrial internships is provided to Graduate Students at the end of the second year. To help prepare our graduate students for careers in entrepreneurial organizations (which these days includes academia!) Prof. Barron offers, in collaboration with the Jones School of Management, a course in entrepreneurial management for science and engineering.

For current research and prior results click here

  

Community Outreach - making science accessible to area students

 

 
Our thanks for the support and contributions of these agencies and organizations.
 
 
Our thanks for the contributions of these individuals.  
 
 
Information on Conferences and Seminars

    September 7-11, 1997: 214th ACS National Meeting

    March 29 - April 2, 1998: Dallas for the Meeting. Here's our list of talks and posters. Group Photos here!

    June of 1998 - to Florence for CIMTEC '98 - the World Ceramics Congress and Forum on New Materials. A. R. Barron, Rhonda Callender,and Chris Jones were in attendance. And along the way, group members visited Oxford! This turned into the to Barron Group European Tour!! England Photos.Italy Photos are here.

    January 25, 1999: A. R. Barron and Rhonda Callender attended the American Ceramic Society's 23rd annual conference in Cocoa Beach. Side-trip photo here.

     August 21 -26, 1999: New Orleans for the ACS Meetings. Abstracts are posted here.

    October 21-23, 1999: El Paso for the Joint 55th Southwest/15th Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting of the ACS. Abstracts are posted here. Plus photos of a side trip to New Mexico!

    August 20-24, 2000: Washington, DC, for the 220th ACS National Meeting. Abstracts are posted here.

    December 6-8, 2000: The Joint Southeast-Southwest Regional Meeting of the ACS in New Orleans. Abstracts are posted here. New Orleans photos are posted here.

    April 1-5, 2001: The 221st ACS National Meeting in San Diego. Abstracts are posted here.

    October 17-20, 2001: The 57th Southwest Regional Meeting of the ACS in San Antonio, Texas. Abstracts are posted here.

    February 8, 2002: The Welch Foundation Luncheon honoring Professor Barron. Photos are posted here.

    November 3 - 6, 2002: The 58th ACS Southwest Regional Meeting, Austin, Texas. Abstracts are posted here.

    March 23- 27, 2003: The 225th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana. Abstracts are posted here. Photos are posted here.

    August 22-26, 2004: The 228th ACS National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. Abstracts are posted here.

    March 26 - 30, 2006: The 231st ACS National Meeting, Atlanta, GA.  Abstracts are posted here.

    September 10 - 14, 2006: American Chemical Society Meeting & Exposition - San Francisco, CA. Abstracts are posted here.

    August 19-23, 2007:  American Chemical Society 234th National Meeting & Exposition - Boston, MA. Abstracts are posted here.

    October 1-4, 2008:  The 64th Regional ACS Meeting - Little Rock, AR.  Abstracts are posted here.

    March 22-26, 2009: The Spring 2009 National Meeting & Exposition - Salt Lake City, UT.  Abstracts are posted here.

    March 21-25, 2010: The Spring 2010 National Meeting & Exposition - San Franciso, CA.

    November 30 - December 4, 2010: ACS Regional Meeting - 66th SWRM/62nd SERMACS - New Orleans, LA. Abstracts are posted here.

    September 8 - September 12, 2013: ACS National Meeting and Exposition - Indianapolis, IN. Abstracts are posted here.

    March 16 - 20, 2014 - ACS National Meeting, Dallas, TX. Abstracts are posted here.

    November 4 - 7. 2015 - ACS Regional Meeting, Memphis, TN. Abstracts posted here

 

Conference and Meeting Abstracts 

 

   
 
Developed to serve as a multi-institution resource for small molecule crystallographic research. We hope to serve at least sixteen universities and colleges throughout the state of Texas. Industrial collaboration is encouraged as well. Please let us know of your interest in making use of this facility.

 

 Managerial Chemistry for Executives
 
Business Implications of Chemical Processes for Executives - offered in cooperation with the Office of Executive Development, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Administration
 
Aimed at mid to upper level management without a strong chemistry background, including those involved with production, sales, marketing, accounting, and legal aspects of the petroleum, petrochemical and allied industries. Please check with the Jones Graduate School for information on future dates for this course.   

  
Industrial Internships
 
The possibility for industrial internships is provided by the Dean of Natural Sciences to Graduate Students at the end of the second year. These have often led to permanent job offers from the companies involved. Previous locations for internships of Group members include: Akzo Nobel Chemicals, Inc. (Deer Park, TX), SASOL North America (formerly Condea Vista Company, Austin, TX), and RFM Monolithics, Inc. (Dallas, TX), Dixie Chemical Co. (Pasadena, TX).
 
 Other Areas of Interest
 

Interested in Graduate Studies in Chemistry at Rice University? Find more information here.   
 
For additional information, please write or email:

 
 
 
 
Professor Andrew R. Barron
Department of Chemistry MS-60
Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston, TX 77005 USA

lovetthallA premier international research university, Rice is home to the James Baker III Institute for Public Policy and highly ranked music, architecture, natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, humanities and business schools. Its wooded 285-acre campus is located next to the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest, and the entertainment and culturally rich assets of Houston, one of few cities with a full menu of ballet, theater, opera and symphony, as well as sports.

Rice is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s best teaching and research universities. That’s not surprising, since it shares much in common with the nation’s other top universities, including applicants. Rice's wooded campus is located in the nation's fourth largest city , close to America's South Texas Coast.  

For more information, follow this link: Welcome to Rice University

 


This web site is developed and maintained by Jane McNeel (janem@rice.edu). Phone: 713-348-3286.
Comments, suggestions and/or requests for additional information are always welcome. Thank you for visiting this website.  *