Ellan joined our group approximately 2 years ago. It started off with snowmageddon where the city got burried under 1.5m of snow (I'm not sure Vancouver winters, even with an undergrad at SFU, can prepare someone for this). This was the least Ellan would have to deal with as a few months later Covid hit us and the lab was shut down (partially and fully) for nearly 600 days. If this was not enough, he then had to move from the old science building to the new core science facility. Despite all of this, Ellan was able to publish two papers and a few more are sure to come. Best of luck in Japan Ellan!

The NSERC Discovery Grants have been announced and Dr. Katz would like to thank NSERC, the reviewers, and the evaluation group members for their hard work in reviewing these proposals. The group is excited to work on some new and exciting directions.

Getting things out during a covid lockdown has not been easy. A huge congratulations goes out to Ellan, Nathan, Victoria, Devon, and our collaborator and good friend Vlad Michaelis for their paper in Inorganic Chemistry.

Today we say goodbye to Katie Everden. She joined us from the UK as UK-Canada Globalink doctoral exchange student. Katie came in with the goal of learning as much as she could about gas adsorption. From isotherms, to BET theory, to fitting and calculating isosteric heats of adsorption, Katie put her best foot forward and even took some new samples back with her for some collaborative projects. Best of luck writing up the PhD and defending. Don't forget to keep in touch!

The group would like to welcome Katie Everden to the group. Katie is visiting us from the UK as a MITACS and UKRI Canada Globalink doctoral exchange student. Katie is visiting us from the research groups of Richard Walton and Volkan Degirmenci from the University of Warwick.

Congrats to Mason Lawrence for his manuscript on water adsorption in MOFs in J. Phys. Chem. C. A lot of thought and effort went into this one and we are looking forward to seeing how it informs other researchers. Great job Mason!!

Congratulations to Victoria Downing (MSc) for her new job as a QA/QC Scientist at Jost Wineries.

Mohsen Shayan defended his PhD today. He looked comfortable and excited about his work and we are looking forward to seeing what he accomplishes. He is currently working for Saurabh S. Chitnis at Dalhousie as a PDF. Looking forward to seeing you accomplish your dreams! Great job Mohsen

Dr. Mahsan Basafa is a chemical engineering and has joined our team to work on a Energy Research & Innovation funded project on carbon dioxide separation. We are excited to have Mahsan join the team and look forward to learning all about chemical engineering from her.

Congratulations to Victoria Downing for completing her MSc. One paper submitted and one nearly complete. A tremendous effort Victoria. Looking forward to seeing what you accomplish moving forward.

Dr. Katz is honoured to have received an Emerging Scholar Award from Memorial University. His wife, daughter, and in-laws were in the crowd to celebrate with him. Thanks to all the students that inspire me to be a better mentor and chemist every day. This could not have been done without all of you.

Years ago we started to work on a new MOF (Manuscript submitted; fingers crossed). Several amazing students (graduate and undergrad) worked on this project to take a novel topology and demonstrate some interesting capabilities. This was the basis of a grant that we submitted early in 2021 to PRNL for their Offshore Emission Reduction Fund. This grant was funded and we are excited to take our material and work towards a device to remove carbon dioxide in an offshore oil platform. Read more.

Eager to get into his project, Yousef joins our team as a Memorial University Faculty of Science Undergraduate Research Award (SURA). Welcome Yousef! looking forward to having you in the lab.

Today, Dr. Katz received a letter stating that he has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure effective September 2021. Looking back at all the researchers that are/were in the groups is truly inspiring. Their achievements and imagination is what leads to all our successes.

Craig started as a volunteer in the group, fell in love with MOFs, completed his honours with us, and is now starting as an MSc student in the group. His excitement, love of hot sauce, and his hunger for knowledge will take him far. Looking forward to seeing what you accomplish.

Devon McGrath is part of this years cohort in the Lab2Market (L2M; https://lab2market.ca/) Oceans Program. He is working towards building the necessary connections to implement MOFs in exhaust emissions. This program is enabling us to talk to the people in the field who would help develop, implement, and utilize these materials. Congrats Devon! Read more about it in the Gazzett.

Aidan Spoel, an undergrad at Memorial University doing our computational chemistry program has joined the team for his 8 month honours program. Looking forward to seeing what you do. Welcome and congrats!

Devon applied to the Lab2Market Oceans program organized by Springboard Atlantic & Ocean Startup Project (funded by Mitacs Canada) and received a spot in the fall 2020 cohort. He will be exploring the possibility of transforming some of his past, and ongoing, PhD research into a marketable product for pollutant scrubbing of ocean vessel exhaust gas. Congrats Devon!

Congrats to Ellan for receiving a Graduate Teaching Award for his outstanding teaching during his first semester at Memorial. Great job Ellan!

Congrats to Craig and Danielle for their hard work during these strange Covid-19 times. They have put worked hard to spring across the finish line with masks and social distancing. Congrats on completing this milestone.

Congratulations to Danielle, an undergraduate honours student, for getting accepted into medical school in August 2020. Well done Danielle. Looking forward to seeing where you go.

Mason and Devon took, and passed, their comprehensive exams on Nov. 7 and Nov. 19!

Devon travelled to Toronto in November to attend the SETAC North America 40th Annual Meeting and received a 2nd place Foster (Sonny) Mayer PhD Platform Presentation Award!

The start of the new academic year brings new members into the lab. We welcome Ellan Berdichevsky who came all the way from SFU (where Dr. Katz did his PhD) in rainy Vancouver B.C. who will be working on ... you guessed it ... MOFs. A big welcome to Danielle Seviour is joining the team as an Honours student. Craig Weir is back for more MOFing it up for his Honours project. The group is also excited to welcome Aidan Spoel as an undergraduate working in the lab. Welcome aboard. I am thrilled to have you here and look forward to see your amazing chemistry.

Devon was invited by the Atlantic Student Research Journal to contribute an article about himself and his PhD research. The article can be found here: The Solution To Pollution: Using Porous Materials To Clean The Air

Devon McGrath, Victoria Downing, Mason Lawrence, Mohsen Shayan, and Dr. Katz are off to Quebec city for the Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition. The team has put together some amazing talks and posters. Victoria and Mason came home with a poster prize each. Devon came home with a prize for his talk. Congrats Victoria, Devon, and Mason, and well done Mohsen on your presentation. Keep up the amazing and impressive hard work!

Craig Weir joined the group a few months ago. He is off to Science Atlantic ChemCon 2019 to present what he has been working on. Welcome aboard Craig. Looking forward to hearing all about MOFs from you.

Devon has been working tirelessly to finish his manuscript on the decontamination of nitrous acid. The manuscript was accepted in Chemical Science. Long experiment times at environmental concentrations were a real challenge. Devon fought a hard battle to get his story out there. Keep up the fight Devon!

Devon presented his work at the Science Atlantic Environment Conference. He gave an amazing talk and won the Science Atlantic Communication Award. Good job Devon!

From one winter island in the Atlantic Ocean to a summer island in the Pacific Ocean. Dr. Katz is heading to his first MOF conference in New Zealand.

Devon McGrath and Victoria Downing have been working hard to figure out why Zn₂(BDC-NH₂)₂DABCO is so hard to make. They learned a lot about the processes that occur inside the MOF and put together an amazing story. Great job Team!

Nathan joins the group to work on some new MOFs. Welcome Nathan! We are excited to have you as part of the team.

Dr. Katz is off to Japan for the 43^rd International Conference on Coordination Chemistry. Dr. Katz is extremely grateful to the CNC/IUPAC Travel Award and the sponsors for the funding and this amazing opportunity. Thank you!

Mason Lawrence has received an award to go to the ACS Summer School on Green Chemistry and Sustainable Energy. I hope your time in Colorado will be a highlight of your degree. I look forward to learning more about all you have learned.

Congratulations to Evan and Laurie for their honours work. 8 months is a short amount of time to get into a lab, start a new project, make two presentations, write a thesis (and learn LaTeX in Laurie's case). Keep up the hard work and I know you'll go far in life.

Evan has been working hard over the last few years to get into medical school. Today, he found out that he is going to continue paying money to Memorial University in the school of medicine. Congrats Evan on all your hard work. Don't forget about us when we come in with knee pain.

Dr. Katz receives the 2018 Canadian National Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (CNC-IUPAC) travel award. With this award, Dr. Katz is Japan bound for the 43^rd International Conference on Coordination Chemistry (ICCC). A big thank you goes out to the CNC-IUPAC Associates for the support of this wonderful opportunity. Thank you!

Brandon has been working hard working on a new direction in the Katz group on photo-active MOFs. His hard work has payed off in his first publication in the prestigious Journal of the American Chemical Society. Good job Brandon! Keep it up!

The research group is proud to have Mason Lawrence and Victoria Downing start their MSc degrees with us. Joining them are Laurie and Evan who are our 2017-2018 honours students. Good luck everyone and don't forget to have some fun!

Jinfeng has been working hard to finish up his MSc and move onto the next step of his education. However, that did not stop Jinfeng from putting another publication in the chamber. The work on sulfur dioxide in MOFs was published in the Canadian Journal of Chemistry as a special issue entitled "50 Years of Chemistry at SFU". Good job Jinfeng!

Mike and Brandon Travel to Toronto to give two seminars and one poster presentation about the MOF work going on in the lab. I hope you liver is ready Brandon.

Brandon Furlong has passed his comprehensive exam and is officially a PhD candidate. Congrats Brandon! Keep up the hard work.

The undergraduate student society at Memorial University have been working hard to bring the regional chemistry conference to St. John's. Starting today, students and professors from Atlantic Canada will come to St. John's to discuss chemistry and get Screeched in by Mason. A big thank you goes out to all of the students who worked so hard to get this conference organized. Good luck Mason and Victoria on your presentations. I'm sure they will be great.

Mason Lawrence and Laurie Donnelly join the research team as NSERC USRA students. Welcome to the lab Laurie. Have a great summer!

Mason Lawrence and Victoria Downing sprint across the finish line to hand in their Theses. Congratualations on the achievement. I'm very proud of ya'll.

Michael Katz has been awarded the Terra Nova Young Innovator Award (TNYIA). The funding will allow the research team to head into a new direction and explore new porous materials that would otherwise be too risky to venture towards.

Jinfeng Zhang picked up and ran with a project started by our Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) highschool student Gabby white over the summer of 2015, and after a few revisions and some hard work, the publication is online at ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. Good Job and great work Jinfeng.

Jinfeng is on his way to MOF 2016 to show off his hard work and to see what all the leaders in the field are working on. Safe Travels Jinfeng!

Welcome Devon McGrath to the M.Sc program. I hope you have lots of fun playing with MOFs.

Mason Lawrence and Victoria Downing join the team for their honours projects. Good luck and have fun.

With the summer semester coming to a close, we excitingly found out that a Teaching and Learning Framework grant, for which we are getting a bench-top NMR for the undergraduate teaching program, has been awarded.

RDC Leverage results are out and we were awarded $ 100,000 as matching funds towards a gas-adsorption analyzer initially funded by the NSERC RTI program. Thanks RDC and NSERC for the support!

Katie Young, a Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) highschool student joins us for a few weeks to try her hand at research. I hope you have fun making MOFs!

Arnuax's time with us has come to a close. He is heading back to France, but he will always be a MOFstar in our eyes.

Michaela Ryan, Mason Lawrence, and Dr. Katz go to the CSC in Halifax NS. We had a great time meeting people, presenting our work, and even having a drink or two with some friends. Michaela won won an undergraduate award for her poster. Congrats Michaela!

Michaela Ryan, Mason Lawrence, and Dr. Katz go to ChemCon 2016 at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax NS. We had a great time and Mason Lawrence won an undergraduate award for his talk. Congrats Mason!

Amanda Parsons joins the team as a Memorial University Science Undergraduate Research Award (SURA). Good luck Amanda! Don't let my white whale drag you down.

Mohsen Shayan has joined the research team. Welcome aboard Mohsen. I hope St. John'a and the rest of Canada treat you well. The whole team looks forward to working with you.

Mason Lawrence has decided that he likes working on MOFs, so he is back for the summer as an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) Students student. Welcome back Mason!

NSERC RTI results are out and we were awarded $ 150,000 towards a gas-adsorption analyzer. A special thanks goes out to NSERC, the faculty whose job it is to go through all the RTIs, and Kelly Hawboldt who has been kind enough to share with us her Micromeritics Tristar instrument.

A warm welcome to Arnaud Cuvilliez who joins us from France for a three-month internship. Welcome Arnaud and sorry about the snow in April.

Undergraduate honors students Michaela Ryan and Christian Pearce present their honours research topics to their peers. You two put your best foot forward and should be proud of your accomplishments.

Undergraduate honors student Michaela Ryan found out that she got accepted to medical school. Congratulations Michaela on your achievements. We wish you the best of luck!

Undergraduate NSERC USRA and MUCEP student Mason Lawrence publishes his first manuscript. Congratulations Mason for your publication in Chemical Communications! Mason and Celine Schneider, Memorial Universities NMR guru, studied the stability of UiO-67 as a function of time. This MOF has received a great deal of attention in the literature and we hope that our manuscript will alleviate some of the confusions.

Brandon Furlong joins the group. Brandon did his undergraduate degree at Memorial University. He subsequently decided that he loved it here so he decided to stay on as a graduate student. We wish you all the success in the world Brandon!

Michaela Ryan and Christian Pearce join the team for an 8 month honours project. They both picked some challenging projects. Michaela's project is partially funded by a Research and Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador (RDC) Undergraduate Oceans and Industries Student Research Award. Good luck Christian and Michaela!

Gabrielle White, a Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) highschool student joins us for a few weeks to try her hand at research. I hope you have fun making MOFs!

Mason Lawrence joins the group as an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) Students. Michaela Ryan joins the group as a Memorial University Science Undergraduate Research Award (SURA). Good luck Mason and Michaela! I hope you have a fantastic research summer.

Dr. Katz receives his first NSERC Discovery Grant. May this be the first of many grants for the research team.

Jinfeng Zhang joins the team as a graduate student from China. We hope that you enjoy all that St. John's, Newfoundland, and the rest of Canada have to offer. Welcome on board Jinfeng!