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Invited tutorial on atomic layer deposition (ALD) at ALD 2021 conference

1.07.2021

June 27-30, 2021, there was the 21st International Conference on Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD 2021), https://ald2021.avs.org/, organized as a virtual meeting. I had the honour of giving an invited tutorial: Fundamentals of atomic layer deposition: an introduction (“ALD101”). The pre-recorded tutorial is easy to access also after the conference – enjoy!

Posted by Riikka Puurunen

Associate professor, Catalysis Science and Technology, at Aalto since February 2017

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Promo video of the COOLCAT project and Catalysis group

7.06.2021

We made a video to tell (i) specifically about the COOLCAT project funded by the Academy of Finland through the C1 value programme, and (ii) additionally also of the Catalysis group led by Prof. Puurunen in general. You can view the video on Academy of Finland’s Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/KWJXErrh24c. Enjoy 🙂

Posted by Riikka Puurunen

Associate professor, Catalysis Science and Technology, at Aalto since February 2017

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Zoom-breakout-room-based online poster session: how did the second trial go?

5.05.2021

In the previous post, I reported on the feedback that we received for the first-ever online poster session that we organized, using Zoom and the breakout rooms as basis. This was in November 2020 (2020 November Networking – ALD at Aalto University).

Feedback from the November 2020 online poster session was encouraging: clearly the concept can be repeated, and also improved. Soon, (as an already-experienced person,) I was requested to organize another online poster session: in April 2021 for the Finnish Young Scientist Forum on Catalysis (FYSFC 2021). With help from my group, we tweaked the earlier instructions and organization a little. Main change was that we gave more time for the presentations: instead of starting a new presentation every 5 min like in the first event, we started with a new presentation every 10 min.

Again, we collected feedback of the online poster event; this feedback is shared below. I interpret that:

Zoom breakout rooms are a meaningful way to organize an online poster session
10 min for poster presentation slot can be ok. The feeling was less hasty than from 5 min presentations, and this is also seen from the feedback (absence of complaints of too short slots — even a request to have still longer time reserved).

Would I be willing to organize a Zoom-breakout-room-based online poster session again in the future? Sure! Two rounds of practice has taught how to organize one (good pre-planning is a must!). Also, I have seen how this type of an online poster session can be a meaningful way network remotely, when we cannot meet in person. A further benefit is that as university teaching staff, we have this tool at hand, and we don’t need to spend time (or money) on learning new systems. We can use the tools we are used to — just in a bit a new way.

Zoom-breakout-room-based online poster session: how did the first trial go?

5.05.2021

At 2020 November Networking – ALD at Aalto University (archival page here), Part 2: Local networking, we experimented with an on-line poster session carried out in individual Zoom breakout rooms (optional online poster template here, poster schedule and instructions here).

This event was first of its kind by the organizers, and we asked for feedback. Below you can find the feedback that we received related to the online poster session.

I read from this feedback that:

Overall, Zoom breakout rooms were a functional way to organize an online poster session. (From organizer point of view I do note that a testing session will be essential.)
Five minutes between poster presentation starts was too little. This gave a hasty experience to many.

Coronado doctoral thesis defence 5.2., Grénman invited talk 4.2.

27.01.2021

There is a doctoral thesis defence coming on 5.2.2021: M.Sc. Irene Coronado, “Catalytic Aqueous-Phase Reforming of Biorefinery Water Fractions.” Thesis is available at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/101983. Defence can be attended in Zoom: https://aalto.zoom.us/j/61275036987, starting 12:00.

The opponent Prof. Henrik Grénman will give an invited talk on the day before, 4.2.2021, starting at 10:00 (same Zoom link): “Chemical process intensification – an interdisciplinary field for developing sustainable chemical engineering”. Short biography of Prof. Grénman below. read more >>

Posted by Riikka Puurunen

Associate professor, Catalysis Science and Technology, at Aalto since February 2017

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Season’s greetings and Happy 2021 from Aalto Catalysis group

21.12.2020

Dear colleagues, collaborators, emeriti, old and potential future colleagues and collaborators,

Year 2020 approaches the end. Quite a year it was, with Covid-19 impacting pretty much everything. Despite the challenges, the Catalysis research group kept on operating and made progress. It is a good time to look back on the activities in the past year.

As for research, in 2020, several projects started or progressed to the next level: the company-funded HDN catalysis project, the Academy of Finland funded COOLCAT project (on CO2 hydrogenation to methanol), and the ALDI project from the Academy of Finland September 2019 call. Positions for M.Sc. thesis workers, doctoral students, postdocs, research assistant and summer student were open and filled; this will continue in 2021. The current group composition can be viewed on our website, aalto.fi/cmet/catalysis and my project portfolio in https://research.aalto.fi/en/persons/riikka-puurunen/projects/.

In teaching, course CHEM-E1130 Catalysis in Jan-Feb was still completed mostly as usual, while Covid-19 impacted course CHEM-E1140 Catalysis for Biomass Refining (due to curriculum changes organized for the last time). In the spirit of the slogan “more openness for research and teaching”, the (overall very positive) student feedback is openly shared in the MyCourses websites of the courses, with teacher’s counter feedback. Part of CHEM-E1140 will live on — in a somewhat modified form — as a Scientific Article Exercise in the CHEM-E0105 Academic Learning Community course.

Other noteworthy things from 2020 from the Catalysis research group:

In total nine articles were published by the current group members or previous associates of work made at Aalto CHEM – see the list at the end of this message
Yaseen Khan defended his doctoral thesis
Emma Verkama completed her Master’s theses
Fully remote summer works (due to Covid-19) were successfully experimented with
Joint presentation “On the fundamentals of ALD: the importance of getting the picture right” was given by Puurunen and van Ommen at ALD 2020, see e.g. Catalysis Professor’s Open blog https://blogs.aalto.fi/catprofopen/2020/07/05/on-the-fundamentals-of-ald-the-importance-of-getting-the-picture-right-by-puurunen-and-van-ommen/
2020 November Networking – ALD at Aalto University was organized fully online, experimenting with a Zoom-breakout-room-based online poster session. Feedback was overall very positive, also of the new type of poster session. At the time of writing this, the recorded lecture videos are still to be finalized, and the plan is also to share some of the feedback obtained. Thanks again for speakers and organizers!
New startup started operating: Chipmetrics Oy commercializes test chips for ALD saturation profile measurement, developed by Puurunen and collaborators at VTT. More info e.g. in pillarhall.com. (For clarity: Puurunen is not affiliated with Chipmetrics Oy.)
“More openness in science and teaching” has been realized e.g. by releasing images in Wikimedia Commons with Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 copyright, for reuse by anyone – see Category: atomic layer deposition

Copy of email: Subject: Poster pitch presentation instructions for NovemberNetworkingALD

19.11.2020

From: Catalysis <>
Sent: torstai 19. marraskuuta 2020 10.36
To: <> Cc: Catalysis <>
Subject: Poster pitch presentation instructions for NovemberNetworkingALD

Dear poster pitch presenters,

In this email, details and practicalities are communicated for the 3 minute poster pitch talks at 2020 November Networking – ALD at Aalto University.

An updated programme of the event, and also poster schedule and instructions, have been published to the event website, https://www.aalto.fi/en/events/2020-november-networking-ald-at-aalto-university. Please note that schedule details may still be modified. read more >>

Posted by Riikka Puurunen

Associate professor, Catalysis Science and Technology, at Aalto since February 2017

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We are hiring! Looking for a postdoc on the area of catalyst development and testing

17.11.2020

Repost from: https://www.aalto.fi/en/open-positions/postdoctoral-researcher-in-catalyst-development-and-testing

Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 11 000 students and nearly 400 professors.

We are now looking for a talented and motivated POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER in Catalyst development and testing at the Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering.

The School of Chemical Engineering is one of the six schools of Aalto University and is located in the Otaniemi Campus (Espoo, Finland). In the Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, the Catalysis research group lead by Prof. Riikka Puurunen develops solid heterogeneous catalysts and evaluates their performance in test reactions relevant to the sustainable use of natural resources. The group aims for fundamental understanding of structure-activity relationships and strives towards more openness in science & teaching. Scientific publications by the group can be viewed in research.aalto.fi. See the webpage of the group for more information: http://aalto.fi/cmet/catalysis.

Job description

The open postdoctoral position is related to catalytic hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) by sulfided transition metal catalysts. The research will comprise at least the participation in the designing and building of a continuous flow reactor for catalytic experiments; design, preparation and characterization of catalysts; activity measurements; project management; and research activities depending on the preferences by the successful candidate. Postdoctoral researchers participate in advising doctoral candidates and master’s thesis students and contribute to university teaching. Also promoted are writing scientific publications and participation at international scientific meetings. read more >>

Posted by Riikka Puurunen

Associate professor, Catalysis Science and Technology, at Aalto since February 2017

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Copy of email: Subject: To Part 2 presenters, NovemberNetworkingALD

13.11.2020

Copy of email related to November Networking – ALD at Aalto University, Part 2 Local networking, presentations.

(Everyone who registered with a presentation by 11.11.2020 with a *.fi email or from a the email address of a known Finnish company should have received this.)

From: Catalysis
Sent: perjantai 13. marraskuuta 2020 16.33
To: Catalysis
Subject: To Part 2 presenters, NovemberNetworkingALD read more >>

Posted by Riikka Puurunen

Associate professor, Catalysis Science and Technology, at Aalto since February 2017

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Copy of email: Subject: NovemberNetworkingALD: Thank you for registering for Part 2 Local Networking

13.11.2020

Copy of email related to November Networking – ALD at Aalto University, Part 2 Local networking.

(Everyone who registered by 11.11.2020 with a *.fi email or from a the email address of a known Finnish company should have received this.)

From: Catalysis
Sent: perjantai 13. marraskuuta 2020 16.06
To: Catalysis
Subject: NovemberNetworkingALD: Thank you for registering for Part 2 Local Networking

Dear recipient,

Thank you for registering for Part 2: Local Networking of 2020 November Networking – ALD at Aalto University. Event web page: https://www.aalto.fi/en/events/2020-november-networking-ald-at-aalto-university.

Almost 150 people have already registered for the event (Part 1, Part 2 or both) by the first deadline of 11.11.2020. Registration without presentation is still open until 22.11.2020, via the link provided at the event website. Please feel free to forward the information to anyone potentially interested. read more >>

Posted by Riikka Puurunen

Associate professor, Catalysis Science and Technology, at Aalto since February 2017

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