ACA SIG Officer Candidate 2021: V. Nicholas Vukotic

Assistant Professor
Industrial Research Chair
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Windsor
ON, Canada

Education

B.Sc. Biochemistry (Honours) University of Windsor (2009), Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Windsor (2014), Industrial Post-doctoral fellow with PROTO Mfg. Ltd. (2014-2016)

Professional Activities

Member of the (CNCC) Canadian National Committee for Crystallography (2019- ), Member of the (CIC) Chemical Institute of Canada (2007- ), Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2017-)

Research Interests

Powder X-ray diffraction, in-situ XRD, small molecule crystallography, materials chemistry, stimuli-responsive crystals, high-throughput screening, nanoporous adsorbents, metal-organic frameworks, chemical sensors, biomaterials, crystal engineering.

Statement

I would like to start with thanking the nominating committee of the Canadian division of the ACA for considering me as a candidate for division chair for 2022 – 2023. I would be honored to support the ACA and its activities in this capacity. My passion for X-ray diffraction and crystallography started very early in my research career. The ability to visually observe the interactions between molecules and deduce the fundamental driving forces for molecular self-assembly were simply fascinating to me. As an undergraduate student, I was fortunate enough to attend some wonderful conferences and workshops focused on crystallography which further spurred my interest in the field. My graduate work on incorporating dynamic interlocked molecules into metal-organic frameworks then exposed me to powder X-ray diffraction as an extremely valuable method for studying the structure property relationships of materials. After graduate school, I decided to pursue a career in industry working for PROTO Mfg. on specific applications of XRD in industry and developing X-ray diffraction instrumentation. This was extremely gratifying, as the environment allowed me to learn much more with respect to how XRD is used in various industries around the world and also gave me a much deeper understanding and appreciation for the X-ray sources, goniometers, optics, and detectors required for XRD instrumentation. In 2019 I started my independent research career as an Assistant Professor and Industrial Research Chair in X-ray Diffraction and Crystalline Materials at the University of Windsor. Our work is dedicated to developing new stimuli-responsive crystalline materials, in addition to developing XRD instrumentation and in-situ XRD devices. I am also a current member of the Canadian National Committee for Crystallography which promotes the advancement of crystallography in Canada and throughout the world. I believe that my previous industrial experience and being an early career academic researcher allows me to bring a unique perspective to the Canadian division of the ACA. Thank you for considering me for this role.