NIU Department of
Chemistry & Biochemistry
Where the study of matter...matters!
The Red and Black, the NIU Foundation's annual event celebrating philanthropy and NIU spirit and pride, was held at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center on Friday, October 12, 2007. With nearly 350 donors, alumni, and friends in attendance, the event this year celebrated Faculty Excellence. Professor C.T. Lin was one of eighteen faculty across the university to be featured at The Red and Black event. Learn more about Professor Lin below.
Dr. Chhiu-Tsu “C.T.” Lin, veteran professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has won all three of NIU’s most prestigious faculty awards---the Presidential Research Professorship (2004), the Presidential Teaching Professorship (2001), and the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (1999). Such awards clearly recognize his demonstrable teaching skills.
Lin’s research pursuits include environmentally friendly chemistry, materials processing at the nano-scale, and the development of optical sensors through laser technology. His focus is basic research with practical applications in mind. “My research activities seem to be very diverse, but they can be summarized in only four words: ‘better materials through chemistry,’” he adds.
Those diverse interests have produced a broad range of innovations. For example, in research conducted for the military, Lin developed a low cost, very fast sensor that selectively changes color immediately upon detection of a toxic chemical agent, including chemical warfare agents such as nerve and mustard gas. It was one of 16 technologies featured in the Innovation Showcase at the 2007 International Meeting of the Association of University Technology Managers.
Additionally, Lin’s invention of an innovative, environmentally friendly metal-surface coating technology led to the creation of ChemNova Technologies, Inc and the 2000 Governor’s Pollution Prevention award. The ten-year-old university spin-off company is marketing a process called “in-situ phosphatizing coatings.” It eliminates the health, safety, and waste disposal concerns of standard metals-coating technology.
Having received national and international recognition for his work, Lin has been invited to lectures and talks worldwide. “Dr. Lin is an accomplished and extremely creative scientist,” says John Simon, chemistry chair at Duke University. “He continually comes up with new ideas in science. This is a very rare ability, and it is impressive that he just becomes more innovative with age.”
Lin’s research has influenced much in industry and academia, his students also benefit firsthand from their experience in his labs. Throughout the years, 39 graduate students, 34 undergraduate students, seven postdoctoral research associates, and nine high school students have participated in his research at NIU. Furthermore, he has directed more than a dozen Ph.D. dissertations, 20 master’s theses, and three honors capstone theses and served as mentor to scores of students. Lin’s research credentials are equally impressive. He has authored 140 scientific papers and attracted about $2.5 million in research funding. He also holds five U.S. and three international patents.