C&EN: Biogen plans to cut 1000 jobs by 2025

Via C&EN's Laura Howes: 

Biogen has announced a new plan it calls Fit for Growth, which will reduce its net operating expenses by about $700 million. Biogen plans to cut about 1,000 jobs—11% of its total—by 2025. In a press release, CEO Christopher A. Viehbacher describes the firm’s business as being “in transition.” Viehbacher joined the company to help it refocus after the failure of the Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm.

I think I'm going to be watching for pharma and chemical manufacturer job cuts over the next 6-12 months to see if there are trends developing. That being said, this seems to be more specific to Biogen and the impacts of Aduhelm. 

Job posting: Research and Development Chemist, Chevron Oronite, Richmond, CA

Via C&EN Jobs: 

The Research and Development Chemist position is in the Chemistry Development and Fundamentals (CDF) team of Chevron Oronite Company, located at the Richmond Technology Center in California.   Oronite invents, manufactures, and sells performance-enhancing additives for lubricants and fuels, and the CDF team engages in developing next generation components and supporting fundamentals from concept to commercialization that will give Oronite, Chevron and its customers a competitive advantage in additive packages, finished lubricants and fuels.

Responsibilities for this position may include but are not limited to:

• Design and synthesis of new fuel and lubricants additives
• Develop fundamental understandings of structure-performance relationships for component performance and apply those learnings to improved component design.
• Perforn bench-scale performance testing which may include development of new methods/protocols to simulate lubrication phenomena.
• Follow processes which ensure that work is conducted in the safest and most environmentally sound manner
• Perform literature and patent searches in support of research; write comprehensive research reports; give oral presentations of work.
• Work collaboratively with other synthetic chemists, process development engineers, additive formulators, intellectual property and business functions to provide support in understanding and solving performance gaps.
• Develop and lead a research strategy to address customer performance and business needs.
• Ability to manage and work on multiple projects concurrently.
• Create intellectual property through invention disclosures, patent applications, and publications
• Provide work direction to one or more laboratory assistants and ensure safe, incident-free operations.

Required Qualifications:

• Completed PhD degree in Chemistry with experience in physical, organic or colloids chemistry; experience in small molecule synthesis preferred, or similar Master's degree with relevant research experience. 

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Job posting: analytical chemist, McCrone Associates (Westmont, IL)

From the inbox: 

McCrone Associates, Inc., a Chicago-area analytical laboratory, seeks a highly motivated, detail oriented, organic or analytical chemist with experience in investigative, non-routine microanalysis and identification of complex mixtures. This position requires project management skills, the ability to clearly communicate scientific results to clients from a variety of industries, and to use a variety of modern chemistry and microanalysis techniques, such as light microscopy, FTIR, Raman, GC/MS, HPLC/LCMS, and/or DART Accu-TOF to analyze small particulates and help our clients solve their materials analysis and contamination problems.

Requirements

The ideal candidate will have a master’s or doctorate degree (or equivalent work experience) in analytical or organic chemistry or materials science with five or more years of relevant, hands-on laboratory experience in spectroscopy and/or chromatography for materials analysis and problem solving. An expertise in the interpretation of IR spectra for mixtures is highly desired. Excellent oral and written communications skills and strong software skills with instrument operation and Microsoft Office applications are essential. McCrone Associates fosters a collaborative environment to solve analytical problems so strong teamwork and leadership skills are essential to managing project flow and efficiency; however this position doesn't involve the direct management of personnel. Experience working in cGMP and ISO 17025 regulated laboratories is desired.

Summary

• This is a full-time in person analytical laboratory position in Westmont, Illinois. Hybrid and/or remote work arrangements are not available for this laboratory based position.
• The applicant selected must be a U.S. Citizen; will be subject to a pre-employment background check and must be eligible for a government security clearance. 

Full ad here. Best wishes to all interested. Interested? Contact Laura Kubalewski, SHRM-CP (Director of Human Resources), LKubalewski@mccrone.com  

C&EN: Dow has troubles in the second quarter

Via C&EN's Alex Tullo: 

Echoing preliminary results from a handful of European chemical companies, Dow, the largest US chemical producer, has reported declines in both sales and earnings for the second quarter.

“We continued to navigate a challenging macroeconomic environment, with slow global growth in the second quarter,” Dow CEO Jim Fitterling said on a July 25 conference call with stock analysts.

Dow’s sales for the quarter declined 27% from the same period last year, and adjusted earnings dropped 68%.

Sales volumes were weak, slipping 8%. The company’s regional division that includes Europe led the decline with a 14% volume decrease. Product selling prices declined 18% due to soft demand and lower energy costs.

Dow suffered weakness across the board. Its largest business, packaging and specialty plastics, saw sales decline by 28% as ethylene and polyethylene prices dropped and sales volumes for olefins and aromatics decreased.

Dow’s industrial intermediates and infrastructure segment, which houses its polyurethane and construction chemical businesses, saw a 27% drop in sales due to weak demand from consumer durable and construction markets. Its performance chemicals and coatings segment posted a similar decline.

It's funny how it feels like folks are talking about a "soft landing" for the economy, but the weakness is showing up in the basic chemicals sector. I have no idea whether or not we'll have a recession in the next 18 months, but this seems like a leading indicator of "maybe yes." 

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 52 research/teaching positions

 The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 52 research/teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On July 26, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 66 research/teaching positions and one teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 11 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 11 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This is the link to the open thread. 

NYT: Pfizer facility in NC hit by tornado, likely impact to US medical supplies

Also in the New York Times: 

A tornado caused extensive damage to a Pfizer drug manufacturing site in Rocky Mount, N.C., on Wednesday, threatening critical supplies for hospitals across the country.

The company estimated that one-fourth of the injectable medications it supplies to U.S. hospitals were made at the Rocky Mount property, including drugs used during surgeries and other procedures to help block pain, keep patients sedated and fight infections.

Though the company has yet to disclose the extent of the storm’s impact, video footage of the site and interviews with the Nash County sheriff and with people briefed on the damage indicated that the tornado caused the worst damage at the company’s warehouse.

On Thursday, Pfizer declined to comment on the drugs affected or the proportion of its supply destroyed in the tornado, which could be considerable given that a lot of these medications required careful production and handling to ensure sterility.

It sure seems serious, but I sense that it is too soon to tell what exactly the impact will be. You can be sure that the next warehouses Pfizer builds will be significantly more secure than this... 

NYT: Benjamin Franklin, money printer

Via the New York Times: 

Now, in a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of physicists has revealed new details about the composition of the ink and paper that Franklin used, raising questions about which of his innovations were intended as defenses against counterfeiting and which were simply experiments with new printing techniques.

The study draws on more than 600 artifacts held by the University of Notre Dame, said Khachatur Manukyan, a physicist at that institution and an author of the new paper. He and his colleagues looked at 18th-century American currency using Raman spectroscopy, which uses a laser beam to identify specific substances like silicon or lead based on their vibration. They also used a variety of microscopy techniques to examine the paper on which the money was printed.

Pretty interesting work; sounds like Franklin was experimenting with graphite, among other compounds.  

Have a great weekend

Well, this was a chill week. Next week, a little tougher. Hope you had a good week, and that you have a great weekend. See you on Monday! 

UT Dallas professor teaches the chemistry of barbecue

Here's a pretty fun article about a "smoking" professor: 

Outside Ten50 BBQ in Richardson, the smell of smoked meats hung in the air on a hot day in June. Dozens were lined up during the lunch hour to order heaping trays of smoked brisket, turkey, and pork before heading inside.

A few weeks ago, UT Dallas professor Jeremiah Gassensmith brought his students to Ten50 for a tasting for a class called the History and Science of Barbecue.

Gassensmith usually keeps himself busy with an impressive day job. He runs the Gassensmith Lab at the university, where his research focuses on how virus particles interact with organic and solid-state chemistry. One of his lab’s most recent research projects involves delivering vaccines through a puff of gas...

...Gassensmith says he was determined to “appropriate” the state’s barbecue culture when he got to Texas with his wife. He bought the cheapest smoker he could find, so cheap that he had to wrap it in thermal insulation to keep the heat inside. He took advantage of what he could and used it as a way to teach himself how to smoke meat.

Chemistry and barbecue have always gone hand-in-hand, Gassensmith says, but he didn’t fully appreciate the link until after he started smoking. Unlike cooking on a stovetop, which is essentially heating food on top of something hot, barbecue involves closely monitoring thermodynamics and reactions.

“It was advanced chemistry,” he says. “It was the sort of thing that makes sophomores really upset when they have to learn it.”

Read the whole thing - it's pretty interesting.  

Postdoctoral position: nanoparticle synthesis, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

Via C&EN Jobs: 

Are you interested in collaborating with leaders in the field of nanoparticles synthesis and characterization? In this role, you will have the opportunity to research methods for controlling nanoparticle size, shape, and properties during wet chemical synthesis. In addition to traditional approaches to synthesis you may explore microfluidic synthesis, artificial intelligence guided synthesis, novel heating methods, and assembly of unique nanocomposite structures. You will have an opportunity to explore many classes of nanomaterials, but it is likely that magnetic and catalytic nanoparticles will be a focus. On any given day, you may be called on to:

• Develop new approaches to synthesize nanomaterials.
• Characterize the resultant structures using multiple techniques.
• Collaborate with a broad, interdisciplinary team at Sandia and around the world.
• Communicate results through high impact journals as well as through conference presentations.

Qualifications We Require:

• PhD, conferred within the past five years, in chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, or a related discipline.
• Significant experience in the synthesis of nanomaterials.
• Record of technical achievement as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications.

Qualifications We Desire:

• Experience with nanoparticle characterization including: Electron microscopy (TEM, STEM, EDS), small angle X-ray scattering, light scattering, and X-ray diffraction.
• Experience with microfluidic systems.
• Experience measuring catalytic properties of nanomaterials.
• Experience measuring the magnetic properties of nanomaterials.

Full ad here. Best wishes to all interested. 

Reuters: Chinese embassy in Mexico rejects accusations of fentanyl precursor manufacture

Via Reuters: 

MEXICO CITY, July 18 (Reuters) - Precursor chemicals used by Mexican cartels to make the deadly opioid fentanyl do not come from China, its embassy in Mexico said on Tuesday, rejecting U.S. officials' accusations.

The embassy said in a statement that China had measures in place to prevent the trafficking of substances used to make illegal drugs, and added the U.S. was "blindly shirking its responsibilities" by not taking domestic action.

"The root of the fentanyl crisis in the United States is within itself," the embassy said.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has been seeking cooperation with both Mexico and China in stemming the flow of fentanyl, which has fueled a health crisis and a sharp rise in overdose deaths, as well as its precursor chemicals... 

A part of the (machine-translated) statement is below: 

2. The aforementioned control measures for fentanyl-like substances are unprecedented measures in China's drug control practices. They are a concrete demonstration of China's implementation of the concept of joint governance of the world drug problem, and have been fully recognized by the international community. After China listed the entire class of fentanyl substances, it has not received any notifications from other countries about the seizure of fentanyl-like substances from China.

3.  The responsibility to prevent the flow of unscheduled chemicals into drug production rests with the importing country.

4.  As is well known, the United States is a large producer of chemical raw materials in the world. However, while China has controlled the entire category of fentanyl substances as of May 1, 2019, the United States has yet to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances. The United States is confusing right and wrong, blindly shirking its responsibilities and citing non-scheduled substances as a problem. This is extremely irresponsible behavior for the American people. The root of the fentanyl crisis in the United States is within itself, and reducing domestic supply and demand is the fundamental solution. What the United States must do is reflect on itself, strengthen domestic control of prescription drugs,

I can't help but relish the implication that fentanyl precursors are being made in the US (why else would you be noting that the US is a large producer of raw materials?) That's pretty silly as a distraction technique, but nevertheless a bold strategy. 

[Long time readers of the blog will know that I'm not exactly a supporter of the Chinese government. I sense that the Chinese chemical sector is so large and diverse that someone selling fentanyl prcursors would actually be kind of tough to track down on the supply end, but I have no idea. I am grimly amused at the Chinese government saying that the US is responsible for preventing the importing of illegal drugs, which, fair enough. More funding for the DEA, I guess.]

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 41 research/teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 41 research/teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On July 19, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 45 research/teaching positions and one teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Job posting: assistant/associate professor of physical chemistry, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL

From the inbox (for Fall 2023): 

Alabama State University, College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics invites applications for the position of Assistant/Associate Professor of Chemistry. This is a tenure track position. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate courses in physical chemistry and general chemistry, train students in specialized areas of research, and contribute to the overall success of the chemistry degree program and the department through academic citizenship, and community services as well as research endeavors.  

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Instruct, train and menor undergraduate student in physical chemistry
• Teach and develop courses relevant to department needs
• Contribute professionally to the growth, visability and competitive preparation of all graduates especially those in the program
• Establish research productivity and obtain extramural funding to sustain his/her investigations-based research agenda within expected times frames following appointment

Minimum Qualifications: An earned doctorate in Chemistry with a background in physical chemistry is required.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Job posting: Assistant Professor - Artificial Intelligence for Materials and Molecular Discovery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

From the inbox: 

The Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto invites applications for a full-time tenure stream position in the area of artificial intelligence for materials and molecular discovery. The appointment will be at the rank of Assistant Professor, with an expected start date of July 1, 2024. 

Applicants are expected to have a PhD degree in chemical or materials engineering or in applied chemistry or a related area at the time of appointment or soon after, with a demonstrated record of excellence in research and teaching. We seek candidates whose research and teaching interests complement and enhance our existing departmental strengths. Areas of interest include the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in design of molecules, proteins, and enzyme discovery. 

The successful candidate will be expected to initiate and continuously lead an outstanding, independent, innovative, externally funded research program of international calibre, and teach in the chemical engineering curriculum at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. We will prioritize candidates who demonstrate the ability to sustain and lead innovative research that will advance the global frontiers of knowledge in the field, rather than only their specialization area. Collaborative and inter-disciplinary research and collegial interaction will be important elements in success. The candidate will also be reviewed by the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence for consideration of appointment as a Faculty Member or Faculty Affiliate. Eligibility to register as a Professional Engineer in Ontario is an asset.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 11 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 11 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This is the link to the open thread. 

RIP Albert Eschenmoser

Via the Twitter account for the chemistry department at ETH Zurich: 

In deepest grief, the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry at @ETH_DCHAB at @ETH_en announces that our friend and colleague, Prof. em. Albert Eschenmoser passed away peacefully, at the age of 97, on July 14, 2023. Albert #Eschenmoser shaped organic chemistry as did few others. 1/3

A brilliant mind gave rise to masterpieces of total synthesis – #Vitamin B12 as a particular landmark in the history of #chemistry – hand in hand w the development of synthetic methods, the unraveling of fundamental mechanistic problems in biosynthesis and organic chemistry. 2/3

His knowledge and interests extended outward from chemistry and the natural sciences to literature, music, and the arts. He was a towering figure in the global success story of @ETH_en and its Department of Chemistry & Applied Biosciences @ETH_DCHAB. He will be sorely missed. 3/3

Best wishes to his family and friends.  

 

C&EN: UK chemist, survivor of thallium poisoning tells story

In this week's Chemical and Engineering News, this remarkable story of a UK chemist (article by Andy Extance):

The first sign that something was wrong was numbness in his feet. Then things got rapidly and severely worse. It was August 2012, and soon, a chemistry PhD student in the UK would be fighting for his life. The cause eventually became clear: thallium.

On Friday, Aug. 17, that PhD student was a tall, muscular man in his 20s working in the chemistry laboratories at the University of Southampton. He was unaware that his life would soon change catastrophically. This article will refer to him by the pseudonym BM to protect his privacy.

After a full day at the lab, BM headed home. It was there he first noticed something amiss. The bottoms of his feet had started to go numb. Yet, as an outgoing man with many friends, including those he’d gained as a university-level athlete, he was in demand on a Friday night. So BM went out to a local pub. He mentioned the numbness to friends but thought little of it.

That night, BM slept badly. He woke on Saturday to numbness rising above his ankles. In the shower, he was disturbed to feel the numbness rising up his legs.

This is just the beginning of the story. Read the whole thing. Best wishes to BM and well done to Andy Extance for getting this story on the record. 

Explosion on Dow Chemical plant in Louisiana on Friday

Via the Plaquemine Post South: 

An investigation is underway into the cause of explosions and a fire late Friday at Dow Chemical Louisiana complex in Plaquemine that forced a shelter-in-place and halted traffic in the vicinity for several hours.

Several explosions occurred about 9:30 p.m. at the glycol unit. The explosions were felt for miles, and as far as Baton Rouge.

Flames from an explosion Friday, July 14 at the Dow Chemical Louisiana complex forced a lockdown and closure of La. 1 for several hours. No injuries were reported in the blaze. 

In a statement released Friday night, Dow Louisiana Operations said it was “working closely with local and state agencies to respond to the incident at our Louisiana Operations site. All personnel are safe and accounted for. Air monitoring has not detected hazardous materials in the air.”

While some reports listed six explosions, it was too early to determine exactly how many erupted, according to Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi said  on Sunday. 

Have a good weekend

It wasn't a stressful week, but it had its moments for sure. I hope that you had a good week, and that you have a great weekend planned in front of you. See you on Monday. 

C&EN: CSB publishes report on 2020 Optima Belle explosion

Via C&EN, this update on the Optima Belle explosion in West Virginia in 2021 (article by Jeff Johnson): 

The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has completed two more incident investigations, cutting the number of incomplete, outstanding reports to six, one of its lowest backlogs in years. Altogether, the board has issued a dozen reports over the past year.

The new two reports present the root causes of a 2020 explosion at the Optima Chemical facility in Belle, West Virginia, and a 2019 tank farm fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) facility in Deer Park, Texas.

The Optima explosion occurred during production of a sanitizing compound on behalf of the pool chemical firm Clearon. A dryer at the facility was removing water from the compound and exploded, resulting in the death of an employee, $33 million in property damage, and a shelter-in-place order for the nearby community.

The CSB found the cause to be a runaway chemical reaction and overpressurization of the dryer. Optima did not adequately understand the potential for, or detect and mitigate, the self-accelerating reaction, the board says. Also contributing to the incident was the fact that Clearon, Optima’s customer, did not transmit sufficient process safety information to Optima. Both companies also had ineffective process safety management systems, according to the report.

If you work in chemical manufacturing, I strongly urge you to read the report. It is terrifying to note that the entire organization had the signs that they were in trouble in front of them, but they did not see the signs until they were too late and someone died. Let us know we can learn from this example, and all others in the past. 

Job posting: postdoctoral fellow, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

Via C&EN Jobs: 

Are you passionate about using computational methods to development new materials and understand relationships between atomic structure and materials performance? Our team is seeking a hardworking materials scientist with an interest in Atomistic Materials Modeling.

On any given day, you may be called on to:

• Plan, conduct, and analyze computer simulations of materials behavior at the atomistic scale to deduce materials structure, properties and performance
• Work in conjunction with experimentalists to devise novel atomistic simulation models, tools and techniques for creative solutions to materials science challenges
• Synthesize materials knowledge to propose and carry out research to understand material properties

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

Lanxess is talking about "Lehman II"?

Via Bloomberg News: 

Last week, German specialty chemical maker Lanxess AG warned recent declines in sales volumes were more severe than during the 2008/2009 recession. To bludgeon home his point, Chief Executive Officer Matthias Zachert added: “This feels like Lehman II.” Gulp.

Lanxess’s European and US chemical peers, plus a host of companies in other cyclical sectors, face similar problems as elevated customer inventories meet the most rapid interest rate hiking cycle in decades, as well as a stuttering Chinese economy.

Whether you call it the “Great Destocking,”  an “inventory recession,” or just a plain old recession, it looks increasingly like the materials and industrial world is either in, or heading for one – an impression reinforced by last week’s bleak US and European manufacturing purchasing managers’ data. 

I have no idea what the economy is going to do, but I feel like this bears watching, as the chemical industry often is a leading indicator of where the broader economy is going...  

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 24 research/teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 24 research/teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On July 12, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 36 research/teaching positions and one teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

Job posting: Assistant Professor - Artificial Intelligence for Materials and Molecular Discovery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

From the inbox: 

The Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto invites applications for a full-time tenure stream position in the area of artificial intelligence for materials and molecular discovery. The appointment will be at the rank of Assistant Professor, with an expected start date of July 1, 2024. 

Applicants are expected to have a PhD degree in chemical or materials engineering or in applied chemistry or a related area at the time of appointment or soon after, with a demonstrated record of excellence in research and teaching. We seek candidates whose research and teaching interests complement and enhance our existing departmental strengths. Areas of interest include the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in design of molecules, proteins, and enzyme discovery. 

The successful candidate will be expected to initiate and continuously lead an outstanding, independent, innovative, externally funded research program of international calibre, and teach in the chemical engineering curriculum at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. We will prioritize candidates who demonstrate the ability to sustain and lead innovative research that will advance the global frontiers of knowledge in the field, rather than only their specialization area. Collaborative and inter-disciplinary research and collegial interaction will be important elements in success. The candidate will also be reviewed by the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence for consideration of appointment as a Faculty Member or Faculty Affiliate. Eligibility to register as a Professional Engineer in Ontario is an asset.

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 8 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 8 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This is the link to the open thread. 

C&EN: ACC predicts US chemical production output will slow

Via this week's Chemical and Engineering News, this news (article by Michael McCoy) 

The performance of the US chemical industry is likely to disappoint over the next 2 years. Output will fall by 1.6% in 2023, followed by modest growth of 1.2% in 2024, according to a midyear outlook report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a trade association.

The ACC’s midyear forecast is more pessimistic than the one late last year, when the council predicted that US chemical output would decline by 1.2% in 2023. Chemical output rose by 2.2% in 2022, the group says, driven by a rebound in spending on goods after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic-driven rebound has subsided, and we expect consumer spending to continue to slow,” Martha Moore, the ACC’s chief economist, says in a press releaseaccompanying the report. “Going into the second half of the year, there is tremendous uncertainty, and the risk of recession remains high.”

The ACC expects US gross domestic product growth, which was 2.1% last year, to slow to 1.3% in 2023 and 0.7% in 2024.

It feels like hiring has continued apace, and I haven't heard too many rumors about layoffs in either the chemical or pharmaceutical sectors. I suppose we'll need to watch the third quarter results fairly closely... 

Have a good weekend

A delightfully short week for me, which was pretty great. No complaints. Got some work done too, so that's not all bad either. Here's hoping you either had a restful or a productive week. Have a great weekend (I hope I survive mine) and see you on Monday. 

 

NYT: The end of the United States chemical weapons arsenal

Via the New York Times, this bit of science in the midst of an article about the destruction of America's old chemical weapons: 

...“We had to figure it out as we went,” said Walton Levi, a chemical engineer at the Pueblo depot, who started working in the field after college in 1987 and now plans to retire once the last round is destroyed.

At Pueblo, each shell is pierced by a robot arm, and the mustard agent inside is sucked out. The shell is washed and baked to destroy any remaining traces. The mustard agent is diluted in hot water, then broken down by bacteria in a process not unlike the one used in sewage treatment plants.

It yields a residue that is mostly ordinary table salt, Mr. Levi said, but is laced with heavy metals that require handling as hazardous waste.

“Bacteria are amazing,” Mr. Levi said as he watched shells being destroyed during the last day of operations at Pueblo. “Find the right ones, and they’ll eat just about anything.”

The process is similar at the Blue Grass depot. Liquid nerve agents drained from those warheads are mixed with water and caustic soda and then heated and stirred. The resultant liquid, called hydrolysate, is trucked to a facility outside Port Arthur, Tex., where it is incinerated....

Pretty cool stuff, take a look!  

What has the AI impact been on translation?

Via Matt Yglesias' blog Slow Boring, this piece by Timothy B. Lee on the translation employment market: 

...“We’ve been ‘in danger’ of being taken over by AI for 10 years now and it still hasn’t happened,” Eybert-Guillon said. “But we keep getting told that it’s going to happen.”

There are two big reasons AI hasn’t put many human translators out of work. First, human translators still do a better job in specialized fields like law and medicine. Translation errors in these fields can be very expensive, so clients are willing to pay extra for a human-quality translation.

Second, there has been rapid growth in hybrid translation services where a computer produces a first draft and a human translator checks it for errors. These hybrid services tend to be about 40% cheaper than a conventional human translation, and customers have taken advantage of that discount to translate more documents. Translators get paid less per word, but they’re able to translate more words per hour.

But while AI software has not put human translators out of work the way pessimists might have predicted, this isn’t an entirely positive story for translators either.

“I think rates for translators have stayed largely the same for 10 or 12 years,” said Mark Hemming, a translator in the United Kingdom. “I think it is harder to get work now. I think it's harder to get well-paid work as well.”

...Barbara Leon is a freelance translator in Spain. She focuses on translating legal documents like contracts, trusts, immigration records, and divorce agreements between English and Spanish. There’s a robust market for human translation of documents like this because errors can be expensive. Moreover, some of the documents Leon produces are submitted to courts or government agencies that require sign-off by an expert human translator.

To translate a legal document accurately, Leon doesn’t just need to be an expert in the English and Spanish languages. She also needs a deep understanding of legal systems on both sides of the Atlantic. 

I think this is broadly good news for employees, but I note that a decade-long trend of wage stagnation isn't exactly good news either. (I have had some personal experience with this in translating a Chinese patent. While the Google translation will get you most of the way there, it was a character-by-character search that allowed me to get the key detail that I was interested in.)

I broadly think that "human/AI hybrid" (i.e. humans working with/through AI output) will be how quite a bit of this stuff gets handled in the future, but I'm broadly not too concerned that this will have a major impact on the American chemistry employment market for the next 10 to 20 years. Hard to say, though - my crystal ball doesn't work so great sometimes...  

Large phosphate ore deposit discovered in Norway

Via Marginal Revolution, this good news: 

A massive underground deposit of high-grade phosphate rock in Norway, pitched as the world’s largest, is big enough to satisfy world demand for fertilisers, solar panels and electric car batteries over the next 100 years, according to the company exploiting the resource.

Phosphate rock is an essential element used in the production of phosphorous for the fertiliser industry and was included in the European Commission’s March proposal for a Critical Raw Materials Act.

The Norwegian deposit is estimated to be worth 70 billion tonnes at least, which is just under the 71 billion tonnes of proven world reserves as evaluated by the US Geological Survey in 2021. 

By far the largest phosphate rock deposits in the world – around 50 billion tonnes – are situated in the Western Sahara region of Morocco. The next biggest are located in China (3.2 billion tonnes), Egypt (2.8 billion tonnes), and Algeria (2.2bn tonnes), according to US estimates.

“Now, when you find something of that magnitude in Europe, which is larger than all the other sources we know – it is significant,” said Michael Wurmser, founder of Norge Mining, the company behind the discovery.

In an emailed statement to EURACTIV, the European Commission welcomed confirmation of the massive Norwegian deposit of phosphate rock.

“The discovery is indeed great news, which would contribute to the objectives of the Commission’s proposal on the Critical Raw Material Act,” said a spokesperson for the EU executive.

Maybe we won't have to go to Saturn after all? 

Independence Day

It's Independence Day in the United States, which is a national holiday. We'll see you tomorrow! 

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 17 research/teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 17 research/teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On July 5, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 26 research/teaching positions and one teaching-focused position.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 5 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 5 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This is the link to the open thread. 

300 seconds

Every July 2, I like to read this essay by Robert Bateman in Esquire about the 1st Minnesota Infantry Regiment at Gettysburg: 

...General Hancock sees a single American regiment available. But, though it is a "regiment," this is in name only at this point. A "regiment," at the beginning of the war, would be roughly 1,000 men. Before Hancock stand 262 men in American blue. Coming towards them, little more than 250 yards away now, are two entire brigades of rebels. Most directly, half of that force -- probably about some 1,500 men from a rebel brigade -- were coming dead at them. Perhaps a thousand more, at least two entire additional regiments, were on-line with that main attack, though probably unseen by Hancock. But what does that matter? The odds were, already, beyond comprehension.

"My God! All these all the men we have here...What regiment is this?" Hancock yelled.

"First Minnesota," responded the colonel, a fellow named Colvill.

The two men remember what was said next slightly differently. Colvill recalls Hancock then said, "Charge those lines." Hancock remembered his order as, "Colonel, do you see those colors? (Pointing towards the multiple flags of the southern regiments in the two Confederate brigades.) Then take them!" I do not suppose it matters now which one remembered more accurately. The effect was the same...

Read the whole thing. I hope you enjoy, and appreciate their sacrifice. 

Job posting: Chemical Process Engineer, Bell Laboratories, Windsor, WI

Via C&EN Jobs: 

JOB SYNOPSIS: This position requires an in-depth knowledge of the processes to produce the Technical Products.  The Technical Products are small molecular weight organic molecules synthesized by traditional batch processing.  Multiple products are manufactured in fixed equipment.  The position requires a thorough understanding of the organic reactions executed as well as processing using flammable solvents and hazardous reagents and products.  Typical batch processing unit operations are utilized in the manufacturing process – reaction temperature control, controlled addition rates of reagents, extractions, distillations, crystallizations, product isolation by filtration and product drying.

JOB FUNCTION: Optimize chemical manufacturing processes with existing equipment to improve yields and reduce cycle times. Bring online new equipment to improve safety and efficiency of the existing facility and to allow rapid implementation in the new chemical facility to be built.

Full ad here. It appears to be looking for engineers, but it sounds awfully close to a classic process/manufacturing chemist to me. Best wishes to those interested. 

C&EN: Mohammed Yahia to be the new EIC of C&EN

This news (article by Krystal Vasquez): 

Mohammed Yahia has been selected as the new editor in chief of C&EN. Currently an executive editor at Springer Nature, Yahia will join the magazine in the coming weeks.

While at Nature, Yahia helped launch several print and digital publications, including Nature Middle East, which covers science news from the Arab world. Prior to that, he was the Middle East and North Africa regional coordinator for SciDev.Net and wrote for several publications, including Cancerworld, the Daily Star Egypt, and the Swiss National Science Foundation’s magazine, Horizons. He was also president of the World Federation of Science Journalists from 2017 to 2019.

“We are excited that Mohammed is joining ACS to lead the beginning of the next centennial of C&EN,” Albert G. Horvath, CEO of the American Chemical Society, says in a press release. “His experience brings the right perspective to help C&EN thrive.” C&EN is published by ACS but is editorially independent.

The line about "a difficult period" for the magazine is grimly amusing. Best wishes to Mr. Yahia, and to the reporters, editors and production staff of C&EN. We all continue to root for you. 

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 15 research/teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 15 research/teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On June 28, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 14 research/teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 4 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 4 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This is the link to the open thread. 

C&EN: Between 2021 and 2022, faculty salaries dropped 2.4% against inflation

In this week's Chemical and Engineering News, this news (article by Krystal Vasquez): 

Average salaries for full-time faculty at colleges and universities in the US increased by 4.1% between fall 2021 and fall 2022, according to a new report by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). But the pay bump was no match for inflation.

When the change in the Consumer Price Index is factored in, full-time faculty actually experienced a 2.4% drop in salary, marking the third consecutive year that academic wages have fallen.

Between 2019 and 2022, faculty salaries saw a cumulative decrease of 7.5%. Inflation-adjusted wages are also 4.2% less than they were in 2008, at the height of the Great Recession.

To explain the declines in salary, the AAUP report points to the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributed to rising inflation and heavily impacted student enrollment. The report also cites the inadequate levels of funding that states provide to institutions.

I can't say that I'm surprised, but this has got to be grim news for smaller college and university professors. 

NYT: the chemistry of mosquitoes and human skin

Via the New York Times, this fascinating story about the chemistry of mosquitoes and humans (article by Emily Anthes):  

For a bloodthirsty, global health threat, the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, has surprisingly discriminating taste. It prefers feeding on humans to other animals, is more attracted to some people than others and even then appears to have a particular predilection for feet.

“Despite being quite tiny, the African malaria mosquito has a very powerful sense of smell,” Conor McMeniman, a vector biologist at Johns Hopkins University, said. “And it also can be quite choosy.”

Scientists have spent decades trying to decode the chemistry of mosquito attraction, working to identify precisely which odors they are drawn to and why some people are mosquito magnets. To explore such questions, researchers have often released the insects into small laboratory wind tunnels stocked with used socks or sweat-coated glass beads.

But Dr. McMeniman wanted to better replicate the way that the mosquito selects its targets in the real world. “We really wanted to create a spacious sort of home away from home for the Anopheles gambiae mosquito,” he said, “where we compete multiple sources of human odor against each other to see what they like best.”

I love these biology experiments - they are so cool and so fascinating. 

Have a good weekend

Pretty good week so far; there's more work to be done, but that's all right. I hope that you had a good week, and that you have a graet weekend. We'll see you on Monday. 

Ars Technica: Shredded documents found at cisplatin manufacturing facility in India

Via Beth Mole at Ars Technica, this alarming description of the quality problems at a single cisplatin manufacturer that precipitated the current cisplatin and carboplatin shortage: 

The current shortage was triggered late last year when the Food and Drug Administration inspected a drug manufacturing facility owned by Intas Pharmaceuticals in Ahmedabad, India. Inspectors found egregious violations. Afterward, Intas voluntarily shut down the facility, which had supplied around half of the generic cisplatin and carboplatin in the US.

The stunning inspection report, released in January, leaves no doubt as to why the plant was shut down. In addition to various manufacturing violations, including laboratory and quality control problems, inspectors reported finding a truck 150 meters from the facility loaded with plastic bags full of shredded and torn documents. When the inspector dug into the documents, they realized they were quality-control documents and analytical weight slips.

In another instance, the inspection report notes that an employee, upon learning the FDA inspectors were walking through the quality-control lab, ran to the balance room and "immediately rushed and tore apart balance printouts along with Auto Titrator spectrums and threw the torn pieces into the small trash container located next to the balance. Later, he threw [redacted] acid solution inside the same trash in an attempt to destroy the evidence." The bag of torn, acid-soaked reports was later found stuffed under a staircase.

The FDA has since tried working with other manufacturers to boost production of the cancer drugs and is exploring temporarily importing drugs from China to ease the shortage. But many generic drug facilities already work at capacity, making a boost in production difficult to impossible. It's also unclear how much the imported drugs will help.

Pretty old hat stuff, to be honest. For some reason, this seems to be a pretty common thing to find with certain drug manufacturers. Seems to me that the hospitals and pharmacies in the US have cut the prices for these particular drugs a bit too low, and they need to raise the price to keep some decent manufacturers still in the game...

Job posting: Synthetic Organic/Bioorganic Chemist, Los Alamos National Laboratories, Los Alamos, NM

Via C&EN Jobs: 

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in science and engineering on behalf of national security. We are seeking a Synthetic Organic/Bioorganic Scientist to join the Biochemistry and Biotechnology Sciences Group (B-TEK) in the Bioscience Division. In this position, you will support and develop programmatic and R&D efforts on multidisciplinary projects involving the synthesis, characterization, and identification of novel chemical compounds that answer questions in multiple disciplines (e.g., biosecurity, bioenergy, biophysical chemistry, structural biology, etc.). This position will be filled at either the Scientist 2 or Scientist 3 level, depending on the skills of the selected candidate.

Responsibilities:

Develop new, mission-relevant science programs utilizing sophisticated synthetic organic/bioorganic chemistry skills and assist in the preparation of new research proposals that successfully compete for internal and external funding Troubleshoot and optimize synthetic routes for the synthesis of target compounds and communicate your results through internal reports, progress reports, formal presentations and peer reviewed publications Level 3 Scientists will be expected to contribute to and influence the Division and/or Directorate strategies and directions, provide mentoring, peer review, meeting organization and personal and team scientific goals, as well as develop and implement project management plans for moderate to large projects and serve as a role model for effective and creative technical leadership within B-TEK and the Bioscience Division

Requirements:

Ph.D. in a chemical/biochemical science from an accredited college or university 2+ years of related experience (Scientist 2); 6+ years of related experience (Scientist 3) 

Full ad here. Scientist 2: $99,200 - $164,100/Scientist 3: $119,200 - $201,100. Best wishes to those interested. 

One company, two warring factions

Via Matt Levine, this unfortunate story of a hedge fund that has a schism: 

Over the last 22 years, John Overdeck and David Siegel built Two Sigma Investments into a $60 billion quant-trading behemoth. But behind the scenes, the billionaire co-founders have clashed over the firm’s direction, succession planning and more, people familiar with the matter said.  

The relationship has deteriorated to the point where Two Sigma felt the need to disclose the friction in a March 31 securities filing. In a little-noticed section on “material risks” related to its investments strategies, the firm warned that Two Sigma’s management committee—which includes only Overdeck and Siegel—is having difficulty making key decisions, a disclosure that lawyers, investors and others say is virtually unprecedented in the investment world. …

The executives, who have offices about 30 feet from each other, split their duties. Overdeck has managed the investment researchers, or modelers, usually favoring a hands-off approach. Siegel oversees the firm’s engineers while appearing at industry conferences, often to speak about the future of artificial intelligence, which he studied decades ago at MIT. Each executive has groups of loyalists within the firm.

“It’s two tribes,” said a person close to the firm. …

In recent years, Overdeck and Siegel have rarely appeared together at firm events. They frequently snipe at each other in meetings, attendees said. Decisions get delayed and projects killed because employees assume they won’t be able to get both founders to agree, the people said. 

One person familiar with Overdeck and Siegel described their relationship as evolving over the years “from irritation to Cold War to hot war.”

I don't think I've ever worked in an environment where two senior managers have been in a state of cold war (or hot war, for that matter.) I can't imagine it's very fun, although I am sure that there have been Hot or Cold Wars in my graduate school department or earlier in my industrial career. 

Here's hoping that you're not in the middle of a Work Cold War (or a hot one.) 

Seqens site being demolished in Newburyport

The latest update from the PCI Synthesis site in Newburyport, MA, via The Daily News (article by Jim Sullivan): 

NEWBURYPORT — Demolition of the damaged Seqens/PCI Synthesis pharmaceutical factory has begun, a month and a half after an early morning blast at its Opportunity Way site killed one man and injured four others.

Jack O’Keefe, 62, was killed in the early morning hours of May 4 when an explosion sent a massive vat through the roof of an addition. The company was soon hit with a cease-and-desist order from the city and Mayor Sean Reardon has indicated that he cannot see Seqens/PCI Synthesis operating in Newburyport ever again.

On Thursday, work trucks were seen coming and going at the site, but little demolition seemed to be taking place. However, a spokesperson for Seqens/PCI Synthesis said in an email the strategic demolition of the affected area began a day earlier.

Building Commissioner Greg Earls explained that a contractor began shoring up the building’s addition to make it as safe as possible before it is taken apart.

“They are propping up what could be a defective structure before they begin dismantling it,” he said.

Earls added Norwood-based GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. submitted a full demolition/shoring review with the city, which shows Needham-based JDC Demolition Inc. doing the work.

“The structurally compromised parts will be shored and the obviously affected parts will be removed,” he said. “It’s very systematic and will take weeks.”

The Seqens/PCI Synthesis spokesperson also confirmed demolition should take several weeks to complete and Earls reiterated safety remains of the utmost importance for both the company and the city.

Still no word on what the site was doing that caused so many safety incidents. 

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 14 research/teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 14 research/teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On June 21, 2022, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 10 research/teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List: 2 positions

The Chemical Engineering Faculty Jobs List has 2 positions. Find an error or have a question? Find an error? Contact @Heatherlec620 or @G_sribala. 

This will be the starting open thread for chemical engineering faculty searches. 

NYT: there's phosphorus on one of Saturn's moons

Via the New York Times: 

Enceladus — the sixth-largest of Saturn’s 146 moons — has a liquid ocean with a rocky floor under its bright, white and frosty surface. Ice volcanoes spew frozen grains of material into space, generating one of the many rings circling the planet.

Now, a team of researchers has discovered that those icy grains contain phosphates. They found them using data from Cassini, a joint NASA-European orbiter that concluded its study of Saturn, its rings and moons in 2017. It is the first time phosphorus has been found in an ocean beyond Earth. The results, which add to the prospect that Enceladus is home to extraterrestrial life, were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

“We weren’t expecting this. We didn’t look for it,” said Frank Postberg, a planetary scientist at the Free University of Berlin who led the study. He described the realization that they had found phosphates (chemicals containing the element phosphorus) as a “tantalizing moment.”

Well, when the planet runs out of phosphorus, I guess that we can go to Enceladus?  

Have a good weekend

Well, the big things that needed to get done got done. I hope that you had a good week, and that you have a great weekend. I'm looking forward to this weekend, and we'll see you on Monday. 

Plant urban legends

In the comments at In the Pipeline (about a sad story of a Boston-area biotech where a single lab scientist was cooking the results for important assays), this story (which the commenter notes is apocryphal): 

I took an industrial job out of grad school. An old-timer told me about a plant where the foreman of the night shift got better yields than anyone else. Nobody understood why. So they hired a private eye to work as a janitor and keep an eye on what the foreman was doing. Turned out he was peeing into the reactor.

I have heard much this same story, but it was that the operator or the janitor was spitting their chewing tobacco into the reactor...

Job posting: Basic Energy Sciences Program, DOE, Germantown, MD

Via C&EN Jobs: 

The Department of Energy (DOE), Basic Energy Sciences Program has announced a job opportunity for a Physical Scientist GS-1301-14/15 position to serve as a Program Manager for the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and newly established Office of Science diversity initiatives: Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) and Funding for Accelerated, Inclusive Research (FAIR).  This position is within the new Collaborative Research Division under the Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Program in the Office of Science (SC) located in Germantown, Maryland.  The recruitment will use the Open Continuous Direct Hire Announcement CY-23-OCDH-1301-11824095-DH which is posted on USAJOBS: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/703639200.

This announcement will be used to collect applications from candidates for this permanent position. Management will request a list of applications to the Direct Hire Announcement on July 7th, 2023; applications submitted after that date may not be considered for this position. You must submit your application, including a resume and any other required documents identified in the announcement, through USAJOBS to be considered for this position. When applying, please indicate your interest in positions in Germantown, Maryland.  In addition to the required documents, you are strongly encouraged to submit an optional cover letter indicating interest in the BES EPSCoR/RENEW/FAIR Program Manager position, describing how your experience demonstrates that you meet the requirements for a GS-14 or GS-15 position, and demonstrating that you possess the scientific knowledge and training required to successfully perform the duties of this position.

Salary is $132,368 - $183,500 per year. Best wishes to those interested.  

Are you the ill pooper? (Probably not)

Via Marginal Revolution, the most fascinating story you'll read about virology and... sewage you'll read today: 

Marc Johnson, a virologist at the University of Missouri and one of the authors of a recent paper on cryptic lineages in wastewater, believes he has evidence for a single infected individual who likely lives in Columbus, Ohio but works in the nearby town, Washington Court House. In other words, they poop mostly at home but sometimes at work.

Twitter (Marc Johnson): First, the signal is almost always present in the Columbus Southerly sewershed, but not always at Washington Court House. I assume this means the person lives in Columbus and travels to WCH, presumably for work. Second, the signal is increasing with time. Washington Court House had its highest SARS-CoV-2 wastewater levels ever in May, and the most recent sequencing indicates that this is entirely the cryptic lineage.

This is grimly fascinating: 

I do not know of any persistent infections that shed this much virus without killing the patient. (Correct me if I’m wrong).  The closest would probably be HCV, an infection that often ends in liver cancer. 8/

My point is that this patient is not well, even if they don’t know it, but they could probably be helped if they were identified. 9/ 

Well, here's hoping that Professor Johnson either finds the ill pooper, or that he's wrong about this person. 

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 11 research/teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 11 research/teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On June 14, 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 8 research/teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? Here's the first open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

CSB: Maintenance error caused two deaths in 2021 at LyondellBasell

In this week's C&EN, a summary of the latest CSB report (article by Jeff Johnson): 

A seemingly simple maintenance error resulted in the deaths of two workers, injuries to 30 others, and $40 million in property damage at a Texas chemical manufacturer, according to an investigation and report by the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

The accident took place in July 2021 at the LyondellBasell Industries complex in La Porte, near Houston, in the acetic acid production unit. The facility is the third-largest acetic acid producer in the US. The CSB’s report found that the inadvertent removal of pressure-retaining components of a valve caused the release of nearly 75,000 kg of an acetic acid mixture. The incident killed two contract workers, severely injured a third, and sent some 29 others to hospital.

“Even a simple task can turn deadly if it is not performed properly,” CSB Chairperson Steve Owens says in a press release. The incident involved a common plug-valve system, and CSB found similar serious incidents in which these valves were taken apart when removing connected equipment.

The CSB report urged improvements in signage and worker training and even a manufacturer design change to avoid such accidents in the future. The CSB is an independent federal body that investigates the cause of chemically related accidents; its final report for LyondellBasell was released May 25.

The incident began when a small leak was found upstream from the acetic acid reactor. The company shut down the reactor to fix the leak and perform other maintenance. During the maintenance process, contract workers attempted to disassemble the plug valve, and they partially removed pressure-retaining bolt nuts and a valve cover.

They then pried a stuck coupler from the plug valve, which inadvertently removed the valve cover and plug, releasing a pressurized mixture of acetic acid and other chemicals at a temperature of 115 °C. Three workers were badly burned and inhaled the chemical mixture; two died.

I think most of us don't think that acetic acid is particularly harmful - this is a good reminder that even seemingly innocuous compounds have their hazards. 

Have a good weekend

Well, the thing that needed to get done this week is... mostly done, so I'm chalking this one up as a win. I hope that all is well with you, and I hope that you have a great weekend. See you on Monday. 

FDA official gives an unusually clear explanation of cancer drug shortages

There's apparently a cisplatin and carboplatin shortage, and The Cancer Letter has a great interview with Dr. Richard Pazdur, who is the head of their oncology center of excellence: 

“The current cisplatin shortage followed an inspection and subsequent identification of quality issues at a single company’s manufacturing facility,” Pazdur said. “The company shut down the production line, leading to the current shortage. As a result of the cisplatin shortage, a ripple effect was observed leading to an increased demand for carboplatin and the manufacturing challenges in meeting an increased carboplatin demand. 

“To restore supply of cisplatin, FDA has continued to offer assistance to all five manufacturers on anything they can do to increase supply. In addition, we are exploring temporary importation to help meet patients’ needs during the shortage. FDA has also requested that manufacturers submit data to support additional expiration dating for lots already in distribution that are approaching their labeled expiration.”

Pazdur said FDA’s ability to manage shortages is limited.

“Based on current laws, FDA cannot require a manufacturer to report an increase in demand that may lead to a drug shortage,” Pazdur said. “Appropriately, we cannot require a company to manufacture a drug.

“We cannot require a company to make greater quantities of the drug—specifically, to step-up production. We cannot require a distributor to report on the quantities that are distributed and specific purchasers who may be given priority.

“In addition, FDA cannot require that essential drugs, such as cancer therapeutics, have diversified supply chains such that there is not overreliance on a single facility or country for an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) or key starting materials. However, even when there is more than one manufacturer for a drug, most facilities are operating near capacity and are unable to rapidly fill the void if a manufacturer ceases production due to a manufacturing quality issue,” Pazdur said.

It really feels like there is a problem with generic drugs, the needed volume and their difficulties with manufacturing quality. Clearly, there's not much that the FDA can currently do, but I wonder if there is a place for Congress to provide some kind of incentive to generics manufacturers to keep their quality high for these essential high-volume drugs... 

Job posting: Medicinal/Organic/Analytical Chemists, Cyclenium Pharma, Montréal, Quebec

Via C&EN Jobs: 

Research Scientist (Organic or Medicinal Chemistry)

Responsibilities

• Design and execute synthesis and characterization of small molecule macrocycles, intermediates and building blocks to support internal and collaborative drug discovery and development efforts
• Assist in the design of molecules and conduct appropriate synthetic follow-up studies to optimize bioactivity obtained in support of internal and collaborative programs...

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Organic or Medicinal Chemistry with a concentration in organic synthesis, including experience with multi-step organic synthesis, with industry experience preferred, or M.S. in Chemistry with significant relevant experience
• Parallel synthesis and/or solid phase synthetic experience are considered a plus

Full ad here. Best wishes to those interested. 

ACS Careers: don't forget to back up your data!

Also in this week's C&EN, ACS Careers gives us a good reminder: 

Anyone who has ever lost an important document to a software or hardware failure understands the importance of having up-to-date backups of important material. But just as it is with data and documents, it’s important to have backups of business processes and activities. A good rule is to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

Data and documents. Ideally, your organization regularly backs up important data and documents. If you don’t already know, check with your information technology department to find out exactly which files are backed up and how often. If necessary (and allowed), supplement that system with a backup program of your own. For example, do you keep current copies of important documents off-line, in case you need them when you don’t have access to the network or internet?

Good reminder - hope that you take a moment and double check that your important data is being backed up.  

C&EN: tough days in the German chemical industry

In this week's C&EN, a very thorough article on the German chemical industry after the natural gas crisis (article by Vanessa Zainzinger):

...But the natural gas crisis that has bruised European competitiveness in chemical manufacturing hit Germany disproportionately hard. With a sharp decline in production, disrupted supply chains, and enormous energy costs, firms are considering the possibility that Germany’s days as a chemical industry stronghold are over...

The crisis has been a death sentence for some energy-intensive production lines in Germany. Trinseo closed its styrene facility in Böhlen, and Olin announced that it intends to shut down methylene chloride and chloroform production in Stade by the third quarter.

In Ludwigshafen, BASF permanently closed two of its ammonia plants “because they are no longer competitive,” a spokesperson says. The industry giant is also idling other units there, including downstream nitrogen fertilizer facilities, a caprolactam plant, and capacity for soda ash.

BASF had $3.4 billion in additional costs in 2022 as a result of the energy price hike. “In April 2022, if gas supplies had fallen to less than 50% of 2021 levels, we would have been forced to idle the entire [Ludwigshafen] site,” CEO Martin Brudermüller said in his speech at BASF’s annual press conference in April.

The firm coped by curbing energy-intensive production and cutting thousands of jobs, as well as switching some of its power plants to oil. “Today, we would be able to operate our largest site even if we received only around 30% of the natural gas volumes,” Brudermüller said. “And as of this fall, in extreme cases, we could make do with only around 10%.”

It's hard to imagine that Germany (especially BASF!) will see permanent structural change from this crisis, but it is quite clear that it will be a while before things revert back to pre-2022 normal. Here's hoping things get better. 

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List: 6 research/teaching positions

The 2024 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List (curated by Andrew Spaeth and myself) has 6 research/teaching positions. 

Want to help out? Here's a Google Form to enter positions.

To see trending, go to Andrew Spaeth's visualization of previous years' list.

On June 7, 2023, the 2023 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List had 4 research/teaching positions.

Want to talk anonymously? Have an update on the status of a job search? This will be the first open thread. 

Don't forget to click on "load more" below the comment box for the full thread. 

C&EN's new editor-in-chief has been selected

In this week's editorial by interim editor-in-chief Michael McCoy: 

Sometime next month, a new editor in chief will take the helm at C&EN, and I will return to my old job as executive editor for our business and policy coverage.

I can’t disclose much more, but I can say that the new editor will work in C&EN offices on the sixth floor of the American Chemical Society’s Hach building in Washington, DC...

Best wishes to them, and best wishes to the entire C&EN team. I hope this is the start of something very good. 

C&EN: Budget deal is bad news for NSF, DOE and NIST

In this week's C&EN (article by Britt E. Erickson): 

Scientific research in the US faces an uphill battle for new funding under an agreement reached between President Joe Biden and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the speaker of the House of Representatives, to raise the US debt limit. The deal prevents the US government from defaulting on its loans until Jan. 1, 2025, but it dampens prospects that federal agencies will get increases in the next 2 years to support science and technology initiatives.

The House voted in favor of the deal on May 31, sending the legislation to the Senate, where it is expected to pass before the June 5 deadline to increase the government’s borrowing ability.

The deal essentially freezes nondefense discretionary spending, which includes funding for scientific R&D, at current levels for fiscal 2024 and allows a 1% increase for fiscal 2025. But when inflation is factored in, budgets will actually decrease. Any increases for science would have to be offset by cuts to other domestic programs.

Congress will also have to pass appropriations bills on time. The fiscal year starts Oct. 1. If the process is not completed by Jan. 1, an across-the-board cut of 1% will be made. 

The deal is particularly bad news for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Congress authorized, but has yet to appropriate, big funding increases—​$170 billion over 5 years—​for those agencies under the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act in 2022. The legislation aims to boost the global competitiveness of US research and promote domestic manufacturing.

The CHIPS and Science Act provided more than $50 billion to beef up semiconductor research and manufacturing in the US to reduce dependence on computer chips made in countries that are a national security concern. Congress appropriated that money, but not the $170 billion for R&D at federal agencies.

The NSF had hoped to see its budget rise 19% in fiscal 2024 to $11.3 billion, in line with the president’s proposal released in March. The agency’s current budget is about $9.5 billion. The NSF was counting on an increase to support its new Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, which aims to translate research results into technologies and products.

The DOE’s Office of Science hoped for a 9% increase for 2024 to help fund projects on quantum information, clean energy, and climate science. NIST was looking for extra money to support advanced manufacturing, public-private manufacturing partnerships, and growing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce.

I guess this deal beats default, but it sure would be nice if we could get stable funding for the scientific agencies. 

Have a good weekend

Decent week - won some, lost some. Hoping that I have a quiet Friday, and a great weekend. Here's hoping that you have a good week, and that you have a great weekend. See you on Monday. 

 

Best SR-71 anecdote you'll read today

From the New York Times: 

Major Shul piloted the Blackbird for 2,000 hours over four years. He was armed with a personal camera that he used to capture the photographs that illustrate “Sled Driver” and another book.

The Lockheed Martin SR-71 soared so high into the mid-stratosphere that its crew was outfitted in spacesuits, and it flew so swiftly that it could outpace missiles.

“We were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding our fellow aviators of this fact,” Major Shul wrote.

He often recalled a radio exchange with air traffic controllers monitoring the ground speed of planes within their jurisdiction as his aircraft screamed 13 miles above Southern California: “I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its ground speed. ‘90 knots,’ Center replied. Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same. ‘120 knots,’ Center answered.

“We weren’t the only ones proud of our ground speed that day,” Major Shul recalled, “as almost instantly an F-18 transmitted, ‘Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests ground speed readout.’ There was a slight pause, then the response, ‘620 knots on the ground, Dusty.’”

Major Shul and his crew member couldn’t resist asking, too: “‘Center, Aspen 20, you got a ground speed readout for us?’ There was a longer than normal pause ‘Aspen, I show 1,942 knots’” — or 2,234 m.p.h.

“No further inquiries were heard on that frequency,” Major Shul wrote.

 There's always a faster plane, except for if you're the Blackbird. RIP Brian Shul. 

Job posting: oil chemist, USDA, Peoria, IL

Via C&EN Jobs: 

Research Chemist

GS-1320-12/13

Salary Range of $82,830 - $128,043 per year

Announcement Open: May 23, 2023 through June 21, 2023

The incumbent is a Research Chemist in the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Bio-Oils Research (BOR) Unit in Peoria, Illinois. The overall mission of BOR is to conduct basic and applied research on chemical, physical, and biochemical modification of new crop oils, gums, proteins, and other plant components to develop new industrial and value-added commercial products. The incumbent is responsible for conducting basic and applied research to develop new commercial technologies, processes, and biobased products for various markets including lubricant additives; lubricant base oils; and chemical additives. Incumbent will develop a stakeholder base to advocate for enhancing ARS research programs and to enable commercialization of new biobased products.

U.S. Citizenship is required. For further information and complete application instructions, go to the USAJobs Web site: https://www.usajobs.gov/ and refer to announcement number

ARS-D23MWA-11958155-HCL. Applications must be received by the closing date of June 21, 2023.

Contacts:    Application procedure: Heather Lee at Heather.Lee@usda.gov or 301-504-1410

Scientific information: Dr. Steven Cermak at Steven.Cermak@usda.gov or 309-681-6233

USDA/ARS is an equal opportunity employer and provider

Best wishes to those interested.