Inside Volume 79, No.3, July 2015 Articles and Features 128 Electrospray ionisation – a simple prelude to the understanding of other mass spectrometry techniques William Henderson 132 Carbon sequestration chemistry John McDonald-Wharry 137 The chemistry and metallurgy of beryllium Onyekachi Raymond, Lakshika Perera, Penelope J. Brothers, William Henderson, Paul G. Plieger 144 Heroes and plots in chemistry storytelling Peter Hodder 149 Metals: ancient and modern Robert H. Bennett 157 Some unremembered chemists: Henry Edward Armstrong, FRS (1848-1937) Brian Halton Other Columns 120 Comment from the President 154 Correspondence 120 From the Editor 155 Patent Proze 121 July News 161 Dates of Note 136 Corrigendum Inside back Conference calendar 119 Chemistry in New Zealand July 2015 Chemistry in New Zealand July 2015 News Comment from the President. New Zealand Institute of Chemistry This issue I’d like to draw longer was there a stream of bright young technicians supporting chemical sciences your attention to the growing and learning in our labs and project teams and need to sustain and grow feeding through to our oil, paint, milk, food and other man- July News our technical and science ufacturing industries. More recently, this qualification has technician workforce been reviewed and is to be again replaced by the New Zea- in the face of changing land Diploma in Applied Science beyond December 2016. NZIC NEWS Resigned posed for the centenary celebration tertiary education struc- photo. The day ended with cocktails David Bibby, former Dean of Science Auckland Branch: Mr Malcolm tures, the changing needs Is the current process delivering skilled science technicians and canapés and a self-guided tour of at Victoria University of Wellington, Smith, Mr Thilliar Varnakulasing- of employers and a future to meet our needs as scientists and science employers, and the Museums' WWI exhibition. was appointed a Companion of the ham, Mr Amir Ali, Mr Lindsay Main. President/Editor where demand for these in the wider industrial community? Does it meet the stu- Order of New Zealand (CNZM) in the On the Saturday, a day of lectures skills is certain to grow. dents’ needs in terms of gaining suitable experience and Manawatu Branch: Mr Christopher skills to springboard to a career? Does this meet New Zea- Queen's Birthday Honours. aimed at a more general audience Having worked within the Rowse. government science sys- land’s anticipated demand for technicians in terms of the was presented to a near full lecture tem since 1979, I’ve seen relevance of training and in the quality and quantity of stu- MEMBERSHIP Wellington Branch: Dr Barry Dent, theatre, including a lively talk by Pro- big changes in the way dents being trained? So many questions. Dr David Bull, Dr Hilary Hamnett, Dr fessor Gordon Miskelly about the his- that we as a nation have managed the training and quali- New Members 2014-2015 (MNZIC) David Herman. tory of the school and the “academic The Royal Society of New Zealand is considering forming lineage” of alumni. fications for science technicians. I recall that every year an expert advice panel to look at the future science tech- Auckland Branch: Dr Robyn Somer- throughout the 1980s at DSIR Chemistry we took on a clus- Canterbury Branch: Dr William (Bill) nician workforce. Wearing both my NZIC and RSNZ hats, ville (ESR); Dr Ivanhoe Leung, A/Prof The whizz bang chemistry display was ter of bright new high school students enrolled for NZCS or Swallow, Miss Anne Wignall. I would welcome your feedback and comments with re- Christian Hartinger (University of a highlight of the day that saw the NZCE qualifications. The students worked within assigned spect to what extent there are perceived to be problems Auckland). Overseas: Dr Campbell Page. children in the audience mesmerised research teams, learning the essentials of laboratory skills and what those problems are. This would certainly assist development while undertaking course work most days at Waikato Branch: Dr Anatoly Chemy- by exploding balloons and frothy, the Royal Society to decide how high a priority to give to Deceased the local polytech. It wasn’t a perfect system, but it placed shev (Ruakura Research Centre); Dr fizzy and bubbly lab experiments. this issue and help in framing the future work programme. Tours of the glassblowing laborato- young people into laboratories and enabled them to work We in the chemistry profession can only benefit through Andrew P Vogt (Scion). Auckland Branch: Mr Birger Nord- alongside scientists and engineers. For many it was a direct mark. ries proved very popular, as did the improved structures and processes that lead to enhanced Manawatu Branch: Dr Catherine tours of the newly renovated chem- path to a career outside DSIR in industry - an important quality and quantity of trained science technicians. We as Whitby, Dr Andrew Sutherland- Wellington Branch: Dr Anthony istry laboratories. conduit to get sharp young people trained and into our a nation need to get it right. manufacturing sector. For some, the career path stayed Smith, Dr Patrick Edwards, Mr Nigel Woolhouse. Two days of celebrations concluded within DSIR and its successors. For a few, there was a desire Finally, as we went to press, we learnt that Distinguished Kerr (Massey University); Dr Maurice Otago Branch: Mr Rex Malthus. with the exclusive gala dinner held to take on more rigorous study within a university course Professor Margaret Brimble of the University of Auck- Judd (IPC Tertiary Institute); MrAllan in the University marquee on the Old structure. Many of us know current and former colleagues land has received a global award for being an outstanding Dodge (Moed Consulting). Government House lawn. who took one of these paths, and the value that this cre- achiever in her field. She was named as one of this year's AUCKLAND Canterbury Branch: Mrs Lesley Park- ated for them, for their employers and for our economy. Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineer- Congratulations to Distinguished ing by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemis- er (Westmount School); Mr Scott The University of Auckland The much respected NZCS/NZCE education pathway didn’t Franklin (Christ’s College); Ms Miri- Professor Margaret Brimble being try. Margaret has been a Fellow of our Institute since 1999 The School of Chemical Sciences cen- last. The NZ Qualifications Authority, established in 1989, am Bugler (Linwood High School). named as one of this year’s Distin- and is the first New Zealander to be named for this biennial tenary was celebrated with two days guished Women in Chemistry or initiated changes in the structure, function and funding of award. Our very best congratulations. Otago Branch: Dr Anna Garden (Uni- of events to showcase the wealth of Chemical Engineering. The biennial polytechs and heralded a new technical education path, Ian Brown versity of Otago). talent that resides within the School awards, which honour prominent with the introduction of a National Diploma in Science in Callaghan Innovation and a look back at a rich history of women chemists from around the 1997. The mechanism for training students in situ within NZIC President 2015 the government agencies and other bodies dried up. No Overseas: Dr Erin Leitao (Bristol, UK). transformation, from humble begin- world, were handed out by the Inter- nings in an old courthouse in the national Union of Pure and Applied Student members 1800s, to a diverse School thriving Chemistry. For more details, follow From the Editor Auckland Branch: Winnie Cao, Yu Li across campuses at six different loca- the NZ Herald link: www.nzherald. (University of Auckland). tions. co.nz/technology/news/article. Following on from the reader than resized within a document. cfm?c_id=5&objectid=11451801 survey results reported in the Manawatu Branch: Ewan Fisher, Owing to the special anniversary, October 2014 issue, you may I have also been contacting people directly to solicit con- Josh Blazek (Massey University). the annual Research Showcase was Distinguished Professor Margaret have noticed some changes tributions which I hope will be reflected in more articles held at the Auckland Museum where Brimble, was also awarded a 2015 that have been made to our from chemists in industry and those in schools/education Wellington Branch: Benjamin the school’s PhD students presented Vice-Chancellor’s Commercialisation journal this year in response to as well as other disciplines. There have been a number of McVey, Emma Wrigglesworth, Tai- their research. Matthew Calvert was Medal at the University Research Ex- suggestions for improvements. high profile scientists who have visited various institutions tusi Taufa, Victoria Woolner, Sophie awarded first place for his 15-minute cellence Awards in May. Our publisher, Rebecca Hurrell, throughout the country over the past few months but un- Geyrhofer (Victoria University). oral presentation, A biomimetic syn- has updated the fonts to give fortunately it has not been possible to extract articles from thesis and structural revision of Yure- Dr Christy Wang was awarded one of the articles a fresher look and them. Once again I would encourage you to get in touch if Canterbury Branch: Vivek Poonthiyl, mamine, winning the $500 Thermo- the five Vice-Chancellor’s prizes for some regular features now have a new format. A change you have any ideas for a special feature to appear in our Jean-Batiste Lena, Nic Bason, Ben- Fisher prize. The day was also marked the best doctoral theses at the Uni- of printer has also improved the overall appearance of the journal from a distinguished visitor you are hosting. The jamin Wilson, Lance Buckett, Shane by three-minute talks and poster pre- versity of Auckland in 2014. Christy journal. One consequence of the latter change is that pho- reader survey highlighted the fact that members would ap- Verma, Alexandra McNeill (Univer- sentations from PhD students.