From cooling beer to making circuit wires, IBM scientist and San Jose City College adjunct professor Richard DiPietro knows his chemistry.<\/p>\n
DiPietro discussed his education and career in a chemistry presentation, which was jointly sponsored by SJCC\u2019s Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science and the American Chemical Society, to community members, faculty and students in the Science Building on April 20.<\/p>\n
Using anecdotes and humor, DiPietro talked about his career\u2019s opportunities, such as being challenged to figure out the best way to cool beer on the TV show \u201cMythBusters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cMythBusters\u201d team \u201cwas maintaining that the best way to cool a beer was with a CO2 fire extinguisher, and I maintained at that time that the best way to do it was with liquid nitrogen,\u201d DiPietro said. \u201cBy the time mine was done and his was done, mine was a solid brick of beer.\u201d<\/p>\n
DiPietro\u2019s eclectic background is one of the reasons SJCC chemistry instructor and SACNAS adviser Jose Cabrera asked DiPietro to present at SJCC.<\/p>\n
He has \u201creally interesting work coupled with a connection with students,\u201d Cabrera said. \u201cI thought they\u2019d be ingredients for a very entertaining and intellectually stimulating presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n
DiPietro\u2019s interest in chemistry began at 7 years old with a chemistry set and eventually materialized into a synthetic medicinal chemistry Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n
After completing his education, DiPietro worked with steroidal materials and cyclic polypeptides, which are compounds used in medications, before being asked to work at IBM.<\/p>\n
DiPietro\u2019s work at IBM revolved around circuitry, where wires can be as close as 22 nanometers apart, which is one thousandth the diameter of a strand of hair on an ant.<\/p>\n
\u201cChemistry and physics is how you build something like this,\u201d DiPietro said, referring to the miniscule circuitry wires. \u201cAnd I\u2019m the chemistry part.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some audience members were surprised at the link between IBM, famous for its computers, and chemistry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never think to apply chemistry to electronics,\u201d said Amanda Martinez, 23, chemical engineering major.<\/p>\n
After years of working in the lab, DiPietro\u2019s passion for chemistry took him to another area of the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not working in the lab anymore because I got very interested in patents,\u201d DiPietro said, \u201cbecause patents are really the trade of the chemical industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
DiPietro\u2019s position entails looking at IBM\u2019s patents and comparing them to other companies\u2019 patents.<\/p>\n
Audience members responded positively to DiPietro\u2019s down-to-earth approach to chemistry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very interesting,\u201d said Kristina Vasquez, 20, kinesiology major. There was \u201ca lot of information and he (DiPietro) made it fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cabrera said he saw the presentation as an opportunity for students to see the real-world application of science and would like to eventually hold presentations every Friday.<\/p>\n
Cabrera said he would like students to realize the information in their textbooks \u201cwas actually obtained via the human interaction with the environment and trying to understand the environment and nature itself, the physical universe, little by little, over many years now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Cabrera, DiPietro advised students not to forget the practical nature of science.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe curious,\u201d DiPietro said. \u201cCollect something. If you see an unexpected result, don\u2019t throw it in the garbage can. Follow it up. Figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
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From cooling beer to making circuit wires, IBM scientist and San Jose City College adjunct professor Richard DiPietro knows his chemistry. DiPietro discussed his education and career in a chemistry presentation, which was jointly sponsored by SJCC\u2019s Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science and the American Chemical Society, to community members,…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[178,176,177,180,179,93,85],"staff_name":[603],"class_list":["post-3250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-life","tag-adjunct-professor-richard-dipietro","tag-chemistry","tag-industrial-chemistry","tag-jose-cabrera","tag-sacnas","tag-san-jose-city-college","tag-sjcc","staff_name-matt-narlesky"],"yoast_head":"\n