Song group
Home
Research Description
Group members and alumni
Publications
See our state-of-the-art equipment!
Academic and industry partners
We have openings in the group!
Course offers
Funding sources
Pictures!
Internal use only
Group and department contact info
 
 


since Jan 2006

 
 
2023
Chem 4491 success for Xiaoran Chen and Philippa Denduk! (Apr 2023)

Xiaoran_Philippa

Chem 4491 students Xiaoran Chen and Philippa Denduk successfully defended their honor B.Sc. theses. Congratulations Xiaoran and Philippa!
 
2022
Jesse Ratte received M.Sc. degree! (Aug 2022)
Jesse successfully defended his thesis entitled "Pressure tuning of electrooptic properties of perovskite photovoltaic materials" and received his M.Sc. degree. Congratulations Jesse!
Macregor Machntosh won 1st place in SOUSCC! (Mar 2022)

Mac_4491

Chem 4491 student Macgregor delivered an oral presentation at the 50th SOUSCC and won 1st Place for "Theoretical, Computational, and Physical Chemistry" division. Congratulations Mac!
 
2021
Daiqiang Liu received M.Sc. degree! (Aug 2021)
Daiqiang successfully defended his thesis entitled "Pressure tuning of functional materials for lithium ion and lithium sulfur batteries" and received his M.Sc. degree. Congratulations Daiqiang!
 
2020
Rongfeng Guan received M.Sc. degree! (Aug 2020)
Rongfeng successfully defended his thesis entitled "Computational studies of high pressure materials" and received his M.Sc. degree. Congratulations Rongfeng!
Boqing Li received M.Sc. degree! (Aug 2020)
Boqing successfully defended her thesis entitled "CO2 Adsoption studies in MOFs under high pressures" and received her M.Sc. degree. Congratulations Boqing!
 
2019
Heng Xiang received Ph.D. degree! (Dec 2019)
Heng successfully defended his thesis entitled "Pressure tuning of nanostructures for lithium ion battery applications" and received his Ph.D. degree. Congratulations Dr. Heng Xiang!
Shan Jiang received Ph.D. degree! (Dec 2019)
Shan successfully defended her thesis entitled "MOFs under high pressures by vibrational spectroscopy" and received her Ph.D. degree. Congratulations Dr. Shan Jiang!
 
2018
Pan Wang received Ph.D. degree! (Nov 2018)
Pan successfully defended his thesis entitled "Development of hydrogen storage materials using high pressure" and received his Ph.D. degree. Congratulations Dr. Pan Wang!
Jiwen Guan received Ph.D. degree! (Aug 2018)
Jiwen successfully defended his thesis entitled "High-pressure photochemistry" and received his Ph.D. degree. Congratulations Dr. Jiwen Guan!
 
2017
AIRAPT 26, Beijing, China (Aug 2017)
Dr. Song organized a symposium entitled "High Pressure Chemistry of Porous Materials" in 26th International Conference on High Pressure Science and Technology (AIRAPT26), Beijing, China
 
2016
Dr. Xuerui Cheng left the group (Dec 2016)
Dr. Xuerui Cheng completed his visiting professorship in our group and returned to Zhengzhou University of Light Industry in China to resume his position there. We wish him the best for his career.
Song group welcomes a new member (Sep 2016)
Ms. Cici (Aiyun) Yang joined us as Chem 4491 student for her final year honor¡¯s thesis project. Welcome Cici!
99th CSC meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Jun 2016)
The 99th CSC meeting was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jun 6 - 9, 2016. Dr. Song co-organized a symposium entitled Materials at High Pressures and delivered a talk in the session in honor of Prof. T.K. Sham.
Chem 4491 Day (Apr 2016)
Chemistry 4491 student Cindy Fung He successfully defended her thesis projects on Apr 2, 2016, the Chem 4491 day. Congratulations!
Song group welcomes a new member (Mar 2016)
Mr. Yijun Fu from Soochow University joined our group as an exchange undergrad student and will conduct research projects in our lab for 3 months.
The Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Argonne National Lab (Feb 2016)
Graduate students Jiwen Guan, Shan Jiang, Pan Wang and Dr. Song made a field trip to HPCAT, a synchrotron facility at Advance Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory during the reading week of Feb, 2012.
Song group welcomes a new member (Feb 2016)
Sponsored by the China Scholarship Council, Dr. Xuerui Cheng from Zhengzhou University of Light Industry joined our group as a visiting professor for a 10-month tenure. Welcome Xuerui!
 
2015
Fengping received M.Sc. degree (Nov 2015)
Fengping successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis on Nov 13, 2015. Congratulations! Best wishes for her future endeavor in China.
Song group welcomes new members (Sep 2015)
Undergraduate student Ms. Cindy Fung He joined our group to conduct her B.Sc. honor thesis for the next two semesters. Mr. Heng Xiang joined our group as the first "2+2" joint Ph.D. student between Soochow University and Western University. Welcome both!
Third Soochow-Western Bilateral Workshop (Jul 2015)
The 3rd International workshop of Soochow University - Western University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research was successfully held on Western campus for the first time. Dr. Song co-organized the workshop with Profs. Kim Baines (Western) and Jeff Sun (Soochow).
98th CSC conference (Jun 2015)
Graduate students Yue Hu, Jiwen Guan, Fengping Xiao and Nilesh Shinde attended 98th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Ottawa, ON, Jun 13 - 17, 2015 and delivered oral or poster presentations.
Dr. Song delivered invited lecture (May 2015)
The HPSTAR Workshop of New Frontier in Studying Chemistry under Extreme Conditions was held in Shanghai, China, May 21-22, 2015. Shanghai, China. Dr. Song delivered an invited lecture.
Mini-workshop in Soochow (May 2015)
Dr. Song organized an mini-workshop entitled "Application of Synchrotron Techniques in High-Pressure Materials Research", at the Soochow University - Western University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Suzhou, China, May 18, 2015.
Invited lecture tour (May 2015)
Dr. Song delivered invited lectures during the visit to several institutions in China, including Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Nanjing Forest University, Nanjing, on May 11-15, 2015.
Dr. Song delivered invited lecture (Apr 2015)
Invited by the Department of Physics & Astronomy of Western Ontario, Dr. Song delivered an invited lecture entitled "Development and Characterization of Novel Materials under Extreme Conditions using Spectroscopy and Synchrotron Radiation", on ?Apr 9, 2015.
SMEC Conference (Mar 2015)
SMEC2015, Study of Matter at Extreme Conditions was held on the Ford Lauderdale, USA - West Caribbean cruise ship on, Mar 8-15, 2015. Dr. Song delivered an invited lecture.
 
2014
International Symposium of Nanoporous Materials (Jun 2014)
Graduate student Mr. Yue Hu attended International Symposium of Nanoporous Materials -7, Niagara Falls, ON, Jun 22-25, 2014 and delivered an oral presentation.
2nd Bilateral Soochow-Western Workshop (May 2014)
Dr. Song co-organized (with Prof. Jeff Sun of Soochow University) the 2nd International Workshop of the Soochow University-Western University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research, Suzhou, China, May 6-8, 2014 and delivered an invited lecture.
Analytix conference (Apr 2014)
Dr. Song delivered an invited lecture in Analytix 2014, Dalian, China, Apr 25-28, 2014.
Success of Scott Truman (Apr 2014)
Chem 4491 student Mr. Scott Truman was awarded a Third Prize in Analytical Chemistry in 42nd SOUSCC conference, Windsor, ON, Apr 5, 2014 for his oral presentation entitled "High pressure study of MOF UiO-66 by vibrational spectroscopy He subsequently successfully defended his B.Sc. honor thesis the following week. Congratulations, Scott!
Welcome a new group member (Jan 2014)
Mr. Nilesh Shinde joined the group as a new graduate student. Welcome!
 
2013
The Song group welcomes new people (Sep 2013)
Mr. Scott Truman joined us as a Chem 4491 student for his 4th-year honor¡¯s thesis project. Mr. Jiwen Guan and Ms. Fengping Xiao joined the group as new graduate students. Welcome all!
BBQ party at the Song house (Sep 2013)
A BBQ party was held in Dr. Song¡¯s house as farewell to Liang Zhou and Ankang Zhao upon finishing their M.Sc. and as welcome to new group members: Jiwen Guan, Fengping Xiao, and Haiyan Mao. Cheers!
Three members obtained their M.Sc. degrees (Aug 2013)
Graduate students Zhihao (Joe) Yu, Liang Zhou and Ankang Zhao successfully defended their M.Sc. theses. Congratulations and best wishes for everyone!
Dr. Song visited SSRF (Jul 2013)
The Soochow-Western Centre delegation visited Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility on Jul 25, 2013. Dr. Song delivered an invited lecture.
Summer school in Soochow, China (Jul 2013)
The first Soochow University - Western University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation summer school was held in Soochow University on Jul 22-24. Dr. Song delivered invited lectures. See more details here¡­
summer school
24th AIRAPT meeting, Seattle WA, USA (Jul 2013)
The Joint 24th AIRAPT & APS-SCCM was held in Seattle, USA, Jul 7-12, 2013. Dr. Song delivered oral presentations.
96th CSC meeting, Quebec City, Quebec (May 2013)
The 96th CSC meeting was held in Quebec City, Quebec, May 26 - 30, 2013. Group members Yue Hu and Liang Zhou presented posters. Dr. Song delivered an invited lecture.
Chem 4491 Day (Apr 2013)
Chemistry 4491 student Erica Till successfully defended her thesis projects on Apr 6, 2013, the Chem 4491 day. Congratulations!
SOUCCS (Mar 2013)
Chemistry 4491 student Erica Till presented her thesis work at the 41st Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC) hosted by McMaster University on March 30, 2013.
 
2012
Soochow-Western Research Collaboration Initiatives (Nov 2012)
Western delegation visited Soochow University, China for signing an agreement and inauguration ceremony for Soochow University-Western University Centre for Synchrotron Radiation Research. Dr. Song was appointed as a visiting professor at Soochow University. Prior to the ceremony, a bilateral meeting co-organized by Dr. Song was held on Soochow campus. Read more details here¡­

soochow visiting

Dr. Song visited Jilin University (Nov 2012)
Dr. Song visited State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, Jilin University, Changchun, China and delivered an invited lecture on Nov 8, 2012.
The Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Argonne National Lab (Oct 2012)
Graduate students Yue Hu, Zhihao Yu, Ankang Zhao, Liang Zhou and Dr. Song made a field trip to HPCAT, a synchrotron facility at Advance Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory on Oct 9-13, 2012.
The Song group welcomes a new Chem 4491 student (Sep 2012)
Ms. Erica Till joined us as Chem 4491 student for her final year honor¡¯s thesis project. Welcome Erica!
International Conference on High Pressure in Semiconductor Physics (Jul 2012)
Dr. Song attended and delivered an invited lecture at the International Conference on High Pressure in Semiconductor Physics, Montpellier, France, Jul 25-27, 2012.
Zhaohui Dong received her Ph.D. (Jun 2012)
Graduate student Zhaohui Dong successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis! Congratulations, Dr. Dong! Zhaohui will assume a research scientist position at Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Faclilty (SSRF), China, shortly. Best wishes!

Zhao

95th CSC meeting, Calgary, AB (May 2012)
The 95th CSC meeting was held in Calgary, AB, May 26 - 30, 2012. Group member Yue Hu and Dr. Song delivered oral presentations.
Dr. Vinod Panchal left the group (Mar 2012)
We wish Vinod well for his future endeavor!
 
2011
The Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Brookhaven National Lab (Dec 2011)
Graduate students Zhaohui Dong, Yue Hu, PDF Vinod Panchal and Dr. Song made a field trip to NSLS, a synchrotron facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory, US on Dec 12-18, 2011.
Dr. Song delivered invited lecture (Oct 2011)
Dr. Song visited University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN on Oct 26-28, 2011 as a visiting speaker to deliver an invited lecture at Department of Chemistry¡¯s seminar.
Faculty and Staff Recognition Day (Sep 2011)
The Faculty of Science hosted a reception luncheon in Great Hall, Somerville House on Sep 21 to celebrate the honors received by Science members. Dr. Song was presented for Tenure & Promotion 2011. See here for Faculty of Science news¡­

Song

The Song group welcomes new people (Sep 2011)
Three new graduate students, Zhihao (Joe) Yu, Ankang Zhao and Liang Zhou, and a new postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Vinod Panchal joined the group the fall of 2011. Welcome all!

Song_group 2011

Ang Liu obtained his M. Sc. degree (Aug 2011)
Graduate student Ang Liu successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis on Aug 18, 2011. Congratulations!
94th CSC meeting, Montreal, Quebec (Jun 2011)
The 94th CSC meeting was held in Montreal Quebec on Jun 5-9, 2011. All members of the Song group attended the conference and all delivered oral presentations (i.e., by Dr. Song, Zhaohui, Ang and Yue).
Dr. Song was awarded ADF major grant (May 2011)
Dr. Song¡¯s proposal "UV and ruby fluorescence optical systems for high-pressure chemistry" was approved and awarded with a Western major Academic Development Fund (ADF).
Dr. Song delivered an invited talked at Peking University, China (Apr 2011)
Dr. Song visited Peking University and its Department of Geology and delivered an invited lecture entitled "Probing Novel Structures and Transformations of Materials under Extreme Conditions" on Apr 22, 2011
Dr. Song visited Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (Apr 2011)
Dr. Song visited Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), Shanghai, China and delivered an invited lecture "Journey to synchrotron rings: from far-infrared to hard X-ray" on Apr 18, 2011.
International Conference on Clean Energy (Apr 2011)
As the only Canadian delegate, Dr. Song presented a talk entitled "Development of Novel Energy Storage Materials by High-Pressure Techniques" at the International Conference on Clean Energy Science held in Dalian, China Apr 10-13. Click here for conference details¡­

Song_ICCE

Chem 4490 day (Apr 2011)
Chemistry 4490 student Kamila J. Bladek successfully defended her thesis project on Apr 2, 2011, the Chem 4490 day. Congratulations!
SMEC 2011 (Mar 2011)
Dr. Song attended the 2011 Meeting of Study of Matter at Extreme Conditions (SMEC) on a cruise trip from Miami to Mexico on Mar 26 - Apr 2, 2011. He organized a session entitled "High-pressure chemistry, synthesis, kinetics and novel materials" and delivered two invited talks.
SOUCCS (Mar 2011)
Chemistry 4490 student Kamila J. Bladek presented "A High Pressure Investigation of MOF-5 by vibrational spectroscopy" at the 39th Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC) hosted by Waterloo on March 26, 2011.
The Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Argonne National Lab (Feb 2011)
Graduate students Zhaohui Dong and Ang Liu and Dr. Song made a field trip to HPCAT, a synchrotron facility at Advance Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory on Feb 22-25, 2011.
Tenure & Promotion of Dr. Song (Feb 2011)
It was announced that Dr. Song was promoted to the rank of Associate with Professor with Tenure, effective of Jul 1, 2011. See here for the department news¡­
 
2010
Pacifichem 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii (Dec 2010)
Dr. Song co-organized (with Ian Butler of McGill and Riad Maana of US Livermore Lab) a special symposium (#239) entitled "Chemistry and Materials Science at High Pressures" at the Pacifichem 2010, Honolulu, Hawaii on Dec 18-19, 2010. Graduate student Zhaohui Dong presented a talk entitled "Nanostructured materials under high pressure" in a session dedicated to Professor M. Nicol. See here for details¡­

Pacifichem2010

Dr. Song delivered an invited talk at Faculty of Engineering, Western (Sep 2010)
Invited by Prof. Jesse Zhu of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Dr. Song presented a seminar entitled "Chemistry and Materials Science under Extreme Conditions" at the Faculty of Engineering of Western on Sep 20, 2011.
Welcome three new people to the group (Sep 2010)
Ms. Arielle Kieran and Ms. Kamila J. Bladek joined us as Chem 4490 students for their final year theses. Mr. Luis Miguel L¨®pez Leyva joined us as an exchange undergrad student between UNAM, Mexico and Western. Welcome all!

Group 2010

The Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Argonne National Lab (Aug 2010)
Graduate student Zhaohui Dong and Dr. Song made a field trip to HPCAT, a synchrotron facility at Advance Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory on Aug 18-20.
Another fat award for Zhao! (Jul 2010)
It was announced by the national Ministry of Education of China that graduate student Zhaohui Dong, among another 496 Chinese graduate students worldwide, was chosen to receive the 2009 Outstanding Overseas Chinese Graduate Student Fellowship ($5000). Congratulations again, Zhao!

Toronto_consulate

IUCr Young Scientist Travel Awards (Jun 2010)
The organizing committee of symposium #239 of Pacifichem 2010 has decided to award graduate student Zhaohui Dong one of the four IUCr Young Scientist Travel Awards ($500) to as a partial support to her travel to Honolulu, Hawaii to attend the conference.
NERM 2010 (Jun 2010)
Dr. Song attended the 37th Northeast Regional Meeting (NERM 2010) of the American Chemical Society on Jun 2-5, 2010 to deliver a lecture.
Dr. Song visited Queen's University (Jun 2010)
Dr. Song visited Department of Chemistry of Queen's University at Kingston, ON on Jun 3 to give an invited lecture.
Dr. Song received the 2010 Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award (May 2010)
The $12,500 award, presented by Research Western, helps to promote outstanding research by new faculty...
(See here for press release)
93rd CSC meeting, Toronto, Ontario (May 2010)
Graduate students Zhaohui Dong and Ang Liu attended the 93rd Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition held in Toronto, Ontario on May 29 - Jun 2, 2010. Both presented a poster.
Dr. Kirill Zhuravlev left the group (May 2010)
Postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kirill Zhuravlev left the group to take a position at Advance Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory, a US synchrotron facility our group visited regularly.We wish him the best for his future career.
Zhao won a Robert and Ruth Lumsden Graduate Fellowship (Apr 2010)
Graduate student Zhaohui Dong was chosen to receive a Robert and Ruth Lumsden Graduate Fellowship ($1,000) from Faculty of Graduate Studies at Western for the 2009-2010 academic year. Also see department news here. Congratulations, Zhao!
Chemistry 4490 day (Mar 2010)
Chemistry 4490 students Theresa van Straaten and Fatima Benhabib successfully defended their thesis projects on Mar 27, 2010, the Chem 4490 day. Congratulations!
38th SOUSCC ( Mar 2010)
Chemistry 4490 students Theresa van Straaten and Fatima Benhabib presented "A High Pressure Investigation of Ferrocene " and "A Vibrational Spectroscopic Study of Iron Pentacarbonyl Under High External Pressures", respectively, at the 38th Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC) hosted by Western on March 20, 2010.
Zhao won Graduate Thesis Research Award (Jan 2010)
Graduate student Zhaohui Dong was chosen to receive a Graduate Thesis Research Award. She will receive $750 to help cover the costs for attending a research conference. Congratulations, Zhao!
 
2009
Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Argonne National Lab (Dec 2009)
Chemistry postdoctoral fellow Kirill Zhuravlev, graduate student Zhaohui Dong and Dr. Song made a field trip to HPCAT, a synchrotron facility at Advance Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory on Dec 20-22.
Workshop on X-ray diffraction and scattering in Guelph ON (Oct 2009)
Dr. Song co-organized a workshop entitled "Advances in X-ray diffraction and scattering" with Stefan Kycia (Guelph), Bruce Gaulin (McMaster) and Young-June Kim (Toronto) in Guelph ON on Oct 26-27 to promote the construction of the Brockhouse sector at Canadian Light Source (CLS). Dr. Ho-kwang Mao from Carnegie Institution of Washington delivered an invited talk. Postdoctoral fellow Kirill Zhuravlev and graduate student Zhaohui Dong presented posters.
X-ray workshop
Welcome four new people to the group (Sep 2009)
Dr. Kirill Zhuravlev (Ph.D. in Physics from Washington State University, 2004) joined us as a postdoctoral fellow. Mr. Ang Liu (B.Sc. in Chemistry from University of Science and Technology of China) joined us as a M.Sc. student. Ms. Theresa Van Straaten and Ms. Fatima Benhabib joined us as Chem 4490 students for their final year theses. Welcome all!
Shuntai obtained his M.Sc. degree (Sep 2009)
Graduate student Shuntai Xie successfully defended his M.Sc. thesis on Sep 21st. Congratulations!
Zhao's Chem. Phys. Lett. paper (Aug 2009)
Our paper entitled "Pressure-induced morphology-dependent phase transformations of nanostructured tin dioxide" authored by graduate student Zhaohui Dong appeared in Chem. Phys. Lett., 480, 90 (2009). Congratulations, Zhao!
Shuntai's Can. J. Chem. paper (Aug 2009)
Our paper entitled "In situ High-pressure Study of Ammonia Borane by Raman and Infrared Spectroscopy" authored by graduate student Shuntai Xie appeared in Can. J. Chem., 87, 1235 (2009). Congratulations, Shuntai!
Vacuum FTIR microscope installed (Aug 2009)
The final component of our major CFI project, i.e., a vacuum IR microscope for the customized FTIR system dedicated to diamond anvil cell based in situ measurement, was installed. This completes the implementation of all CFI supported infrastructures. Our lab now is fully operational for cutting-edge materials research under extreme conditions. See Gallery and Laboratory for details.
Dr. Song attended the AIRAPT meeting in Japan (Jul 2009)
The International Conference on High Pressure Science and Technology (i.e, the 22nd AIRAPT) was held in Tokyo, Japan on July 26-31.
Dr. Song and Zhao attended the IUCr Workshop in China (Jul 2009)
The 2009 IUCr Workshop of "Advanced Crystallography at High Pressure" was held in Harbin, China on July 19-22. Dr. Song delivered an invited talk and graduate student Zhaohui Dong contributed a poster.
Dr. Chitra Murli left the group (Jul 2009)
Dr. Chitra Murli, a senior research officer from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, India, returned to her home institution after completing a nine-month CCP visiting fellowship with us. Farewell!
Chemistry 4490 day (Jul 2009)
Chemistry 4490 student Ning Lu successfully defended her thesis project on Jul 6, 2009, the Chem 4490 day (a special summer arrangement). Congratulations!
Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Argonne National Lab (Jun 2009)
Chemistry postdoctoral fellow Dmitry Shakhvorostov CCP visiting fellow Chitra Murli made a field trip to HPCAT, a synchrotron facility at Advance Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory on Jul 5-7.
92nd CSC meeting, Hamilton, Ontario (Jun 2009)
Dr. Song, CCP visiting fellow Chitra Murli, graduate student Zhaohui Dong and Shuntai attended the 92nd Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition held in Hamilton, Ontario on May 30 - Jun 3, 2009. Dr. Song, Chitra and Zhao delivered oral presentations and Shuntai presented a poster.
Chemistry 4490 student joined the group (May 2009)
Ms. Ning Lu joined the group to conduct her Chem 4490 project in the summer. Welcome!
Dr. Song visited University of Ottawa (Apr 2009)
Dr. Song visited Department of Physics of University of Ottawa on Apr 16 as an external thesis examiner for Ph.D. candidate Jesse Smith supervised by Prof. Serge Desgreniers. An invited talked entitled "Discoveries of novel transformations of materials by pressure tuning" was also delivered. Dr. Dennis Klug from NRC and a former Western colleague Prof. Tom Woo were in the audience.
Chemistry 4490 day(Apr 2009)
Chemistry 4490 student Shahab Dabiran successfully defended his thesis project on Apr 4, 2009, the Chem 4490 day. Congratulations! See pictures in the gallery.
SMEC 2009 (Mar 2009)
Dr. Song attended the 2009 Meeting of Study of Matter at Extreme Conditions (SMEC) on a cruise trip from Miami to Western Caribbean on Mar 28 - Apr 2, 2009, and delivered an invited talk.
Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Argonne National Lab (Feb 2009)
Dr. Song and graduate student Zhaohui Dong made a field trip to HPCAT, a synchrotron facility at Advance Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory on Feb 20-23.
2008
Ti:Sapphire laser system installed (Dec 2008)
A Ti:Sapphire CW laser from Spectra Physics was installed to the existing Raman system to enable the excitation wavelength from 700 nm to 1000 nm. The Raman system now is fully implemented that allows us to conduct Raman measurements on a wide variety of materials. See Gallery and Laboratory for details.
Dr. Chitra Murli joined the group (Oct 2008)
Dr. Chitra Murli, a senior research officer from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, India, joined the group as a CCP visiting fellow to collaborate with us for the next 9 months. Welcome!
FTIR spectroscopy system installed (Sep 2008)
Our another major instrument (a CFI supported item), a customized FTIR spectrometer dedicated to diamond anvil cell based in situ measurement, was installed. This system allows us to conduct cutting-edge materials research under extreme conditions complementary to Raman measurements. See Gallery and Laboratory for details.
Chemistry 490 student joined the group (Sep 2008)
Mr. Shahab Dabiran joined the group to conduct his Chem 490 projects. Welcome!
Zhao obtained her M.Sc. degree (Aug 2008)
Graduate student Zhaohui Dong successfully defended her M.Sc. thesis on Aug 15th. She subsequently re-joined the group to continue her Ph.D. study. Congratulations and welcome again!
Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Brookhaven National Lab (Jul 2008)
Applied Math postdoctoral fellow Dr. Dmitry Shakhvorostov, graduate student Zhaohui Dong and Shuntai, and Dr. Song made a field trip to synchrotron facilities (beamline U2A and X17B) at National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) of Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) on July 24-31.
Dr. Song attended Canadian Light Source 11th Users' meeting (Jun 2008)
Canadian Light Source 11th Users' meeting was held in Saskatoon on Jun 9-10, 2008. See here for details...
91st CSC meeting, Edmonton, Alberta ( May 2008)
Dr. Song and graduate student Zhaohui Dong attended the 91st Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition held in Edmonton, Alberta on May 24-28, 2008. Both delivered oral presentations (link to the abstracts: Dong and Song).
Chemistry 490 day (Apr 2008)
Chemistry 490 students Katrina Traikov and Aaron Ahortor successfully defended their projects on Apr 5, 2008, the Chem 490 day. Congratulations! See pictures in the gallery.
Zhao and Nick's J. Chem. Phys. paper (Feb 2008)
Our paper entitled "Conformational and phase transformations of chlorocyclohexane at high pressures by Raman spectroscopy" authored by graduate student Zhaohui Dong and former Chemistry 490 student Nicholas Beilby appeared in J. Phys. Chem., 128, 074501 (2008). Congratulations, Zhao and Nick!
Dmitry made a synchrotron visit to Brookhaven National Lab (Jan 2008)
Applied Math postdoctoral fellow Dr. Dmitry Shakhvorostov, a collaborator of the Song group made a trip to synchrotron facilities (beamline U2A and X17B) at National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) of Brookhaven National Lab (BNL).
2007
Trip to Montreal (Nov 2007)
Dr. Song visited McGill University on a graduate recruiting trip on behalf of Chemistry Department and Faculty of Science. A lecture entitled "Probing novel high-pressure structures by vibrational spectroscopy and synchrotron radiation" was delivered to McGill Chemistry.
Glove box installed (Oct 2007)
Our second major apparatus, a glove box from Mbraun funded by CFI-LOF was installed. This glove box will allow the loading of extensive classes of materials into the diamond anvil cell and thus greatly enhances our research capacities. See Gallery for pictures.
Moe's Can. J. Chem. paper (Sep 2007)
Our paper entitled "Examining the structural change in Fe2(CO)9 under high external pressure by Raman spectroscopy" authored by former Chem 490 student Muhieddine Safa and graduate student Zhaohui Dong appeared in Can. J. Chem., 85, 866 (2007), a special issue dedicated to Prof. G. Mike Bancroft. Congratulations, Moe and Zhao, for their first publication at Western!
Chemistry 490 students joined the group (Sep 2007)
Ms. Katrina Traikov and Mr. Aaron Ahortor joined the group to conduct their chem 490 projects. Welcome both!
Mr. Shuntai Xie joined the group (Sep 2007)
Shuntai obtained his B. Sc. in Chemistry from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in the summer of 2006. Welcome, Shuntai!
Dr. Song won Early Researcher Award (Aug 2007)
Dr. Song was awarded Early Researcher Award by Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. This award is to help promising, recently appointed Ontario researchers undertake cutting-edge research and build their research teams of graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research associates. Researchers each receive a $100,000 award through the program. See more details here.
Song group visited synchrotron facilities at Brookhaven National Lab (Jul 2007)
Applied Math postdoctoral fellow Dr. Dmitry Shakhvorostov, graduate student Zhaohui Dong and Dr. Song made a field trip to synchrotron facilities (beamline U2A and X17B) at National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) of Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) on Jul 1-9.
Rob's J. Phys. Chem. paper (Jun 2007)
Our paper entitled "High-pressure induced conformational and phase transformations of 1,2-dichloroethane probed by Raman spectroscopy" authored by former Chemistry 490 student Robert J. Sabharwal appeared in J. Phys. Chem., 111, 7267 (2007). Congratulations, Rob!
Dr. Song attended Canadian Light Source 10th Users' meeting (Jun 2007)
Canadian Light Source 9th Users' meeting was held at the University of Saskatchewan at Saskatoon on Jun 16-18. See here for details...
Chemistry 490 day (Mar 2007)
Chemistry 490 students Natashia Seemann and Muhhiedine Safa successfully defended their projects on Mar 31, 2006, the Chem 490 day. Congratulations! See pictures in the gallery.
Raman spectroscopy system installed (Mar 2007)
Our first major instrument, a customized Raman spectrometer dedicated to diamond anvil cell based in situ measurement, was installed on Mar 25, 2007. This system allows us to conduct cutting-edge materials research under extreme conditions. See Gallery and Laboratory for details.
35th SOUSCC (Mar 2007)
Chemistry 490 student Muhhiedine Safa presented "Examining the structural change in Fe2(CO)9 under high external pressure by Raman spectroscopy " at the 35th Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC) at UOIT, Oshawa on March 17, 2007.
Dr. Song was awarded CFI-LOF (Mar 2007)
The proposal entitled "Laboratory for Chemistry and Materials Research under Extreme Conditions" was awarded the Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF) by Canadian Foundation of Innovation (CFI). This fund is designed to help universities attract and retain the very best of today¡¯s and tomorrow¡¯s researchers at a time of intense international competition. The awarded project total is $635,639. See more details here.
1st synchrotron visit to Brookhaven National Lab (Feb 2007)
Applied Math postdoctoral fellow Dr. Dmitry Shakhvorostov, graduate student Zhaohui Dong and Dr. Song made the 1st trip to synchrotron facilities (beamline U2A and X17B) at National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) of Brookhaven National Lab (BNL). See gallery for pictures.
Project for NSERC USRA Program (Jan 2007)
A new project is now available for NSERC undergraduate student research award (USRA) program. Students who will be awarded and choose to work in the area of physical, inorganic and material chemistry are welcome to work in our group in collaboration with Dr. Y. Huang's group. In this project, you will study the structures of zeolites under high external pressures using vibrational spectroscopy including Raman and FTIR. Contact Dr. Song or Dr. Huang for details.
 
2006
Dr. Song is awarded Academic Enrichment Grant (Dec 2006)
The project entitled "High-pressure modifications of nanostructured materials" was awarded Academic Enrichment Grant by Foundation Western. The purpose of Western Academic Enrichment Grant is to enhance the education experience at the University of Western Ontario by assisting with expenses related to research, equipment, supplies, travel, services or special projects... See more details here.
CFI announced LEF and NIF competition results (Nov 2006)
Two NIF projects entitled "Regional Facility for Research on Materials at Extreme P,T Conditions" (PI: Prof. R. Secco, Earth Sciences at Western) and "The Brockhouse X-Ray Diffraction and Scattering Sector at the Canadian Light Source" (PI: Prof. S. Kycia, Physics at Guelph), in which Dr. Song was involved, were awarded $519,823 and $11,135,002 respectively. See here for more details.
Chemistry 490 students joined the group (Sep 2006)
Ms. Natashia Seemann and Mr. Muhieddine Safa joined the group to conduct their chem 490 projects. Welcome both!
Ms. Zhaohui Dong joined the group (Sep 2006)
Zhaohui obtained her B. Sc. in Polymer Science and Engineering from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in the summer of 2006. Welcome, Zhaohui!
Dr. Song delivered invited talks in China (Jul 2006)
With partial support from CCP, Dr. Song delivered invited talks at 25th Chinese Chemistry Society Congress on July 14, 2006 and Institute of High Energy Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Song attended Canadian Light Source 9th Users' meeting (Jun 2006)
Canadian Light Source 9th Users' meeting was held at the University of Saskatchewan at Saskatoon on Jun 16-18. See here for details...
Dr. Song attended High Pressure Synergy Workshop (May 2006)
Workshop on Synergy of 21st Century High-Pressure Science and Technology sponsored by CDAC of Geophysical Laboratory at Carnegie Institution of Washington, HPCAT of Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory was held on Apr 29 - May 1, 2006. See here for details...
Chemistry 490 day (Apr 2006)
Chemistry 490 students Nick Beilby and Rob Sabharwal successfully defended their projects on Apr 8, 2006, the Chem 490 day. Congratulations!
Western announced the results of ADF major grant competition (Apr 2006)
Dr. Song was awarded an Academic Development Fund (ADF) - major grant by the University for a collaborative project with Dr. S. Shieh of Earth Sciences at Western.
NSERC released competition results of Discovery Grants and RTI Grants (Apr 2006)
Dr. Song was awarded a 3-year NSERC discovery grant for the proposal entitled " Chemistry under extreme pressure conditions and application of synchrotron radiation" and an NSERC Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) grant for " Essential high pressure apparatus for chemistry under extreme conditions". See here for more details...
34th SOUSCC ( Mar 2006)
Chemistry 490 students Nick Beilby and Rob Sabharwal presented "Study of Cholocyclohexane Under Extreme Pressure by Raman Spectroscopy" and "High-Pressure Study of 1,2-dichloroethane by Raman Spectroscopy", respectively, at the 34th Southern Ontario Undergraduate Student Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC) at York University on March 18, 2006. They did a nice job!
Project for NSERC USRA Program ( Jan 2006)
A new project is now available for NSERC undergraduate student research award (USRA) program. Students who will be awarded and choose to work in the area of physical, inorganic and material chemistry are welcome to work in our group in collaboration with Dr. Y. Huang's group. In this project, you will study the structures of zeolites under high external pressures using vibrational spectroscopy including Raman and FTIR. Contact Dr. Song or Dr. Huang for details.
 
2005
Western announced the results of ADF small grant competition (Dec 2005)
Dr. Song was awarded an Academic Development Fund (ADF) - small grant by the University for the proposal entitled "High pressure studies of ZDDP".
Dr. Song delivered a talk at CCP seminar (Nov 2005)
On Nov 25, 2005, Dr. Song delivered a CCP seminar entitled "Novel molecular structures probed by vibrational spectroscopy and synchrotron radiation under extreme conditions".
Canadian Light Source 8th Annual Users' Meeting (Nov 2005)
Dr. Song attended the Canadian Light Source 8th Users' meeting was held at the University of Saskatchewan at Saskatoon on Nov 18-20. See here for details...
Chemistry 490 students joined the group (Sep 2005)
Mr. Rob Sabharwal and Mr. Nick Beilby joined the group to conduct their Chem 490 projects. Welcome both!
Dr. Song arrives at Western (Jul 2005)
Dr. Song assumed the position as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry at Western. See here for the department announcement. See here for the webpage of faculty profiles.