As the Billinge group looks forward to ACA 2016, we look back on the 2015 meeting!

1) Our very own, Simon Billinge and Pavol Juhas gave an exciting session on PDF application in pharmaceuticals. Specifically, how to use PDF analysis to determine solid-state structures of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), for quality control, stability studies and intellectual property protection through fingerprinting!

Read More: http://www.amercrystalassn.org/2015-scientific-program#3.2.2

2) The Billinge group would like you to join us in congratulating our very own, Maxwell Terban, for winning the Herman R. Branson Pauling Poster Prize. The Pauling Poster Prize was established by the American Crystallography Association (ACA) to recognize the seven best graduate or undergraduate poster presentations at their annual meeting. The prize is named in honor of Linus Pauling and Herman R Branson. Pauling was one of the pioneers in American structural research and Branson the first African American physicists to make crystallography the focus of his research. Keep up the good work Max!

3) Though she is gone, we are very grateful to our favorite postdoc (now assistant professor!) Kirsten Jensen for spreading the gospel of PDF while she was here. At last year’s meeting, Kirsten was a speaker in the Local Structure and Complex Materials session. She gave a great lecture on the power of PDF and the momentum it’s currently acquiring!