2009 Plenary Speaker

Dr. John A. Shelnutt, Sandia National Laboratories

Dr. John Shelnutt, earned his Bachelor's degree in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He then went on to obtain his Master's and Doctoral degrees, also from Georgia Institute of Technology, in 1971 and 1975, respectively. After earning his Bachelor's, Dr. Shelnutt served as a Systems Analyst at the Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, CA. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he became a Research Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and was a Consultant for AT&T Bell Laboratories. In 1979, he joined Sandia National Laboratories, where he remains a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff. He has also been a Professor of Chemistry at the University of New Mexico from 1989 to 2002, and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia. During his time at Sandia, he has received numerous awards, including 6 Sandia National Laboratories Awards for Excellence.

Dr. Shelnutt's current research interests include:

• Solar energy and electronic applications of porphyrin nanotubes and other porphyrin nanostructures.
• Photocatalytic growth of metal and semiconductor nanostructures and nanostructured materials.
• Molecular mechanics and quantum chemical theoretical methods applied to designing molecular optical switches, catalysts, photomediators, chemical sensors, and nanostructured materials.
• Fundamental studies of tetrapyrrole-containing proteins using computational and experimental methods, in particular, molecular mechanics, Normal-Coordinate Structural Decomposition (NSD), and resonance Raman spectroscopy.
• Experimental and theoretical studies of basic photophysical processes in biomolecular systems and their biomimes; theory of vibronic molecular states and resonance Raman scattering.

Additional information can be found by visiting the website of Dr. Shelnutt's Research Group.

• Shelnutt Research Group

Discussion Topic - Novel nanomaterials being developed for solar energy applications

Check the following links for information about the 2006 and 2008 plenary speakers.