An Applause for
Thomas Smith
Assistant Director of Research Instrumentation
Department of Chemistry
March 2019
“Thomas is one of those always cheerful people that is a pleasure to have nearby. He does research, assists on numerous projects of others, teaches graduate students to use various pieces of testing equipment for their research and conducts lectures for undergraduate students in what real world lab equipment is and can do. To accomplish all this, Thomas is a master at organization and multi-tasking. His undergraduate lectures can easily take a full day and of necessity are repetitive as there are over 1000 undergraduates that he may address in a week.With everything that he has to accomplish in a day, he still has time to answer questions or explain a result to someone, and he will do it with a smile. Thomas works very hard for the department and deserves all the recognition he can get—and then some. ”
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“Thomas has been great to work with. He takes a genuine interest in students using the UIC. Thomas does a very good job teaching students the fundamentals and mechanics of using the various types of instrumentation in class and lab. He always has a good attitude and approaches everything with a smile. Thomas has discussed a number of innovative ideas with me for using various instruments not presently being used in the organic labs. I think he is very deserving of the APPLAUSE award and I recommend him without reservation!”
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“Thomas has been a big help to me in analyzing the composition of material from sunken iron ships. He has learned how to use a new instrument which uses electrons to excite atoms which allows identification of the atoms. He has done this with good humor and enthusiasm. I recommend him for an A&S Applause award!”