Saint Louis Award 2023: Winner, Symposium, Banquet

Cynthia Chapple, past chair of the St Louis Section–ACS and chair of the award jury, has announced the winner of the 2023 St Louis Section ACS Award: Dr Istvan Z Kiss, Professor of Chemistry at Saint Louis University.

• The Winner

  

  Istvan Kiss, winner of the 2023 Saint Louis Section ACS Award

  Dr Kiss earned his MS (1995) and PhD (2000) degrees in Chemistry at the University of Debrecen (Debrecen, Hungary), working for Prof. Vilmos Gáspár. From 2000 to 2007, he served as a Research Scientist at the University of Virginia–Charlottesville Department of Chemical Engineering, working for John L Hudson. He joined the Chemistry Department at Saint Louis University in 2007 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2013 and to Professor in 2018.

  Professor Kiss is known for his seminal work on complex chemical reaction networks and the use of multielectrode arrays to study nonlinear dynamics of coupled charge-transfer reactions under far-from-equilibrium conditions. He has used oscillatory reaction networks as analogues for biological rhythms to show that synchronization emerges through a new form of second-order phase transition.

  More recently, he has shown that diversity can promote synchrony. Using network reconstruction, data science, and machine learning, Prof Kiss showed that a fundamentally new type of mathematical description, experiment-based phase models, can correctly predict synchronization structures with chemical oscillators. His techniques have been used to differentiate excitatory and inhibitory, and direct and indirect coupling in networks. His work has ultimately led to a new field of synchronization engineering that uses a generic mathematical framework for tuning the synchronization structures with designed signals. Prof Kiss showed that a new generation of pacemakers can be designed using nonlinear waveforms instead of the commonly used pulse sequences. He envisions that applications of engineered feedback hold promise for low-power deep brain stimulators and novel dynamic light therapies for sleep disorders.

  Kiss has also made essential breakthroughs in identifying the principles that govern self-organized structures in electrochemical reactions in lab-on-a-chip cells. In a parallel study, he has been able to build valves without moving parts that can direct analytes through different paths on a chip. He has also found applications of his work to corrosion science and has been developing new types of corrosion resistant metals that leverage electrochemical gradients.

  Prof Kiss is an author of over 130 peer-reviewed publications that have appeared in such journals as Science, Nature, Nature Communications, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Angewandte Chemie, and Physical Review Letters. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Electrochemical Society, and editor of the journal Chaos (2019–) and associate editor of Frontiers in Complex Systems (2023–). He has also served as guest editor for three special issues of Chaos and is a co-editor for the series World Scientific Lecture Notes in Complex Systems.

  He received a Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement in 2008, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2010 and was elected chair for the Gordon Conference on Oscillations and Dynamical Instabilities in Chemical Systems in 2019. He also received a 10-year service award for “Students and Teachers as Research Scientists” (STARS), a Senior Faculty Scholarly Works Award and a Gradute Mentoring Award from Saint Louis University, and was made a Research Institute Fellow of Saint Louis University in 2022.

  The Saint Louis Section ACS Award, consisting of a $1,500 honorarium and a plaque, will be presented at the Saint Louis Award Banquet at Glen Echo Country Club (reservations required) at 6 pm on Friday October 27, 2023. The Banquet will immediately follow the Award Symposium which will be held in the Pere Marquette Gallery in DuBourg Hall at Saint Louis University from 1-4:45 pm. See below for details on the symposium and the banquet.

• The Symposium

  
  
  

  Honoring Istvan Z Kiss

  Professor of Chemistry
  Department of Chemistry
  Saint Louis University

  Modeling and Controlling
  Complex Self-Organized Structures

  Friday, Oct 27, 2023
  Pere Marquette Gallery, DuBourg Hall
  Saint Louis University
  

  1:00	Dr Tabbetha Bohac, Chair of the St Louis Section, American Chemical Society Welcome and general introduction
  1:05	Dr Adilson E. Motter, Charles E and Emma H Morrison Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University Emergent Microfluidic Dynamics
  1:45	Dr Oliver Steinbock, Cottrell Family Professor, Florida State University Far from Equilibrium Materials
  2:25	Dr Michael Sebek, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Northeastern University Connecting the Dark Matter of Nutrition and Disease Using Network Medicine
  2:50	Coffee Break
  3:10	Dr Jr-Shin Li, Newton R and Sarah Louisa Glasgow Wilson Professor of Engineering, Washington University in St Louis Engineering Chemical Complexity with Ensemble Control
  3:50	Dr K L Nikhil, McDonnell Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University in St Louis Tuning In: Synchronization and Its Impact on Body Clocks
  4:15	Dr Alexei Demchenko, Professor of Chemistry, St. Louis University, Symposium Chair Introduction and Salute to Dr Kiss
  4:20	Dr Istvan Z Kiss, Professor of Chemistry, Saint Louis University, Awardee Network Electrochemistry
  5:00	Dr Alexei Demchenko Concluding remarks
  6:00	St. Louis Award Banquet, Glen Echo Country Club, 3401 Lucas and Hunt Rd, Normandy, MO. Reservations required (see below for details and a link to make a reservation)

  This map shows the location of DuBourg Hall and the options for parking.

  The 2023 Saint Louis Award Symposium is sponsored by the St. Louis Section of the American Chemical Society and hosted by Saint Louis University.

• The Banquet

  

  Friday, Oct 27, 2023, immediately following the Award Symposium (nominally 6:00 pm)
  Glen Echo Country Club*
  3401 Lucas and Hunt Road
  Saint Louis, MO 63121

  Honoring Istvan Z Kiss

  6:00 pm	Reception —hors d’oeuvres (candied bacon, caprese, chicken skewers) —open bar (beer, wine, soda) until 8:00 pm
  7:00 pm	Dinner —First Course: mixed green salad with tomato, cucumber, mozzarella, sunflower seeds, ranch or Italian dressing —Entrée: Japanese cut striploin and Asian glazed salmon, seasoned sesame rice, and stir-fry vegetables —Dessert: tiramisu
  8:00 pm	Program Tabbetha Bohac, Chair, St. Louis Section Opening Remarks and Award Presentation Alexei Demchenko, Department of Chemistry, Saint Louis University Introduction of the Awardee Istvan Kiss, Awardee Adventures Through Sync and Chaos

  Reservations

  Reservations are required by midnight, October 23rd. Because of continuing concerns with COVID, we ask that all attendees be fully vaccinated, and asymptomatic when they attend the banquet.

  Please provide the following information for your party:

  • Name(s) of attendee(s)
  • Dietary limitations, if any
  • Number attending
  • Remittance amount: $40 each regular ACS member and spouse, $20 each graduate and undergraduate ACS member, $60 each non-member

  For information on obtaining ACS Membership see www.acs.org/membership.html

  Please send reservations and the requested information with a check payable to “St Louis Section–ACS” by postal mail to:

  Jeffrey Cornelius
  Department of Chemistry
  1 Maybeck Place
  Principia College
  Elsah, IL 62028
  phone: 618.374.5296
  email: jeff.cornelius@principia.edu

  Deadline for receipt of reservations is end of day, Monday, October 23.

  or pay via PayPal (enter info in the Notes window).

  For both methods of payment, it would be best to send a confirming email with the information to Dr Cornelius.

  *Glen Echo Country Club is in Normandy, in the southwest sector of the intersection of Natural Bridge Road and Lucas & Hunt Road. A link to a map with directions is available here. Use either entrance:

  1. Main entrance drive: turn west off Lucas & Hunt Road; Edison Avenue will be on the opposite side of the road almost adjacent to the entrance drive. Continue on the winding drive, and the parking lot will be on your right adjacent to the clubhouse.
  2. Back entrance: turn south off Natural Bridge Road onto St Mary’s Lane, just east of the post office. Continue through the gate, veer right, and park in front of the clubhouse.