Golden Master Award 2022

Considerans

Leon Smook, Universiteit Twente
A sense of the future: How polymer brushes can contribute to the next generation of artificial olfraction technology

The Golden Master Award Jury has nominated the thesis of Leon Smook, entitled “A sense of the future” as the Winner of the Golden Master Award 2022.

Leon Smook describes in his thesis in a very clear and well-illustrated way the research that was performed under supervision of Dr. Sissi de Beer from the Department of Molecules & Materials  of the Sustainable Polymer Chemistry Group of the University of Twente. Leon worked on artificial olfaction technology, or in other words: on the development of an artificial nose.

The process of smelling is complex and consists of three main steps: odorant capture, signal generation, and signal processing and interpretation. Development of an artificial nose thus requires the integration of various scientific disciplines and Leon has shown to be a master in such a kind of integration, by combining advanced computational simulations with thermodynamic fundamentals, as a starting point for lab studies. Fragrances consist of a bouquet of volatile molecules and each of them can influence the perceived smell. The focus of the research of Leon was on odorant capture on polymer brushes. One of the key issues of study consisted of the absorption of a fragrance in the presence of a second vapor.

Leon graduated cum laude at the University of Twente for two master programs in parallel: Chemical Engineering and Nanotechnology. One of the chapters in his thesis reflects the versatility of Leon as it dealt with the societal embedding of artificial olfaction technology. The research has resulted in three papers in top journals in the field, of which Leon is the first author.

The jury was highly impressed by the originality of the research performed and by the creativity that was evident from the thesis of Leon. It truly was a pleasure to read the thesis, the more as the thesis is of a very high scientific level and very accessible to a layman audience. Sometimes the thesis actually reads like a novelle. It is obvious that Leon is highly interested in effective communication and he has clearly shown that writing is indeed an art and a science, with Leon clearly mastering both aspects.

The combination of the originality and scientific quality of the work performed and the creativity that was evident from the combinations of experiments performed and from the artistic way of reporting, has convinced the committee to nominate the thesis of Leon Smook as the Winner of the Golden Master Award 2022.

The other two prizes were awarded to:

Adarsh Kalikadien - Delft University of Technology
Automated data-driven exploration of chemical space for catalysts

Raman van Wee - Delft University of Technology
Using DNA Nanotechnology and Fluorescence for Single-Molecule Protein Identification

The jury consisted of KNCV members in the broad range of chemistry: