Informatics for High Throughput Materials Development

Dr. Donald W. Whisenhunt Jr.
General Electric Corporate Research and Development

Abstract

Fundamentally, the informatics needs of a materials development group are different than the needs of a medicinal chemistry group. As we change from one materials target to another the experimental setup, reactors, analysis, and types of data can radically change. To accommodate diverse materials targets the data structure, front-end software and querying tools must be very flexible. Currently, this type of software tool is not commercially available and internal development has been necessary. This talk will discuss the informatics needs of a high-throughput materials development group and some of our solutions.

Biography

Dr. Whisenhunt obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1994 in inorganic chemistry with Dr. Kenneth Raymond. Thesis Title: "The Design and Synthesis of New Sequestering Agents and Resins Specific for the Actinides." He conducted fundamental research on the molecular recognition of Lewis acidic cations, developed selective chelating ion-exchange resins, designed and synthesized molecules for specific applications, carried out detail thermodynamic measurements and calculations on the speciation of metal-ligand complexes. Dr. Whisenhunt joined the GE Research and Development Center in 1996 in the Environmental Technology Program. Prior to joining GE-CRD, Dr. Whisenhunt was a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Darleane C. Hoffman. There he conducted research into new analytical methods for the specific recognition and extraction of metal ions, explored the coordination and solution chemistry of biologically and environmentally relevant metal ions, and developed radioanalytical methods for the evaluation of new waste remediation technologies. Since joining GE CRD in 1996 he has been involved in a number of projects. Most recently he has been developing and implementing high throughput screen techniques for homogeneous catalysis research. Dr. Whisenhunt has co-authored 10 technical publications. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and the Sigma Xi Honor Society.

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