蓝莓视频

The University of 蓝莓视频 is proud to announce that one of its former Department of Chemistry听students, German Augusto G贸mez-Rios, will receive one of Canada鈥檚 most prestigious academic awards at Spring convocation: the Governor General鈥檚 Academic Gold Medal.

Created听in 1873 by Canada鈥檚 third Governor General Lord Dufferin, the Governor General鈥檚 Academic Medal is an award given out annually to students from different institutions who听achieve the highest level of academic scholarship for their cohort at their institution. The award is divided听into four categories ranging from bronze at the secondary school level to gold at the graduate level. German Augusto G贸mez-Rios, now a postdoctoral fellow in the department听of Chemistry and part of the Pawliszyn Research Group, specializes in developing and improving analytical technologies for rapid analysis of a variety of organic substances.

Already an author on more than 30 peer-reviewed journals articles, G贸mez-Rios has succeeded in improving a number of methods related to solid phase micro-extraction (SPME), an analytical method developed by Janusz Pawliszyn in the 1990s that uses a solid coating to selectively extract small molecules. For example, he streamlined analytical protocols that will allow doctors and surgeons in the near future to provide individualized patient treatment, and he has听succeeded in reducing the time it takes to screen for prohibited substances and drug abuse from 30 minutes to just 10 seconds.

He defended his PhD thesis last fall, and will be receiving his doctoral degree at the Spring 2018听convocation ceremony on Thursday, June 14.

鈥淗onestly, I was surprised my thesis was chosen as there are several grad students at the University of 蓝莓视频 working on outstanding projects who also deserve this recognition,鈥� said G贸mez-Rios. 鈥淚 am very grateful to the evaluation committee for selecting me between this group of outstanding people. It feels great to be recognized by my University peers, and it is a strong encouragement to keep working hard and pushing the limits of our developments.鈥�

G贸mez-Rios鈥� supervisor, Janusz Pawliszyn, is no stranger to awards and academic acclaim. Pawliszyn, a Canada Research Chair, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and recipient of such prestigious awards as the Ontario Premier鈥檚 Innovation Award, the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Medal and the Environmental Research and Development Award, has supervised over 100 graduate students and is the author of over 500 scientific publications.听

鈥淚t was encouraging to see scientific growth of the student over the last seven years to the level deserving this outstanding distinction.听 We do excellent training at University of 蓝莓视频 and Chemistry Department,鈥� said Pawliszyn.

German Augusto G贸mez-Rios听testing a sample in the听Pawliszyn Research Lab.

The Pawliszyn Research Group includes 19 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Several members continue to develop SPME methods, creating novel solid coatings and sampling devices that require little to no sample preparation. Combined with advances in portable instrumentation, SPME provides an ideal solution to analyses that can be done rapidly, on-site.

In addition to sports drug testing, the group is also working on drug roadside testing, skin cancer detection, in-vivo brain chemical sampling and pesticide testing. 听To find out more about the Pawliszyn Research Group, visit their website.

While G贸mez-Rios has already accomplished so much in his early career, the 32-year-old said there鈥檚 much more to come.

鈥淢y dream and personal goal is that the technologies I help conceive and develop during my PhD听will one day be used on a daily basis wherever,鈥� said G贸mez-Rios.听 鈥淚 am convinced the technologies we鈥檝e developed can do it, but we need to keep working hard to bring them to reality and prove their robustness so they don't become another article on a bookshelf or a web page.鈥�

A more detailed summary of his work can be found in this news release and his profile.