Graduation time.........

[Chad L. Magee]

Tomarrow night, I finally get hooded by my research advisor at the MU graduate school graduation ceramony at the Hearns Center.  The name change has not sunk in yet, that will take some getting used to.  I just wish it came with a good job offer attached to it.   Guess you can't win them all. .......

[skip68]

Tomarrow night, I finally get hooded by my research advisor at the MU graduate school graduation ceramony at the Hearns Center.  The name change has not sunk in yet, that will take some getting used to.  I just wish it came with a good job offer attached to it.   Guess you can't win them all. .......

Congrats  on your honor!

But I would think you would of learned to spell better after all that "ed-gu-ma-ca-tion!" Just kidding!
Mrs.Skip68

[hemigeno]

So is it officially Dr. Magee now?   

Quite an achievement, and maybe the good job offer will come soon.

[Goodz]

Congratz on your graduation!

[Charger-Bodie]

Great!!.....Can you prescribe some medication for me??

[Chad L. Magee]

hemigeno-  Not until about 12 hours from now, then it will be official.   Looking back it was a long, long trip up to this point in my life.  Just wish my family members could make it here, but other things blocked them.....

Mrs.Skip68-  Yes, I agree that my grammer is quite rough at times (especially when I get tired).   Thank God for spellchecker, I just need to use it more when I am on the car webboards.  It has always been my worst subject, even going back to grade school (I had a hearing problem when I was young that compounds the situation, as I could not correctly phonicate words that other kids could do when learning to spell them).  Just goes to show you that even Ph.D.s are not perfect in every subject, I am proof of that. ......

I hope the job offers come in soon, but the market is not looking good right now. .....

[moparstuart]

congrat's  doc.

[472 R/T SE]

Dang dude, for as long as I've known you, you've been in school.  Congrats on sticking with it for so long to reach your final goal and putting up with what you did. 

It won't be long now and you'll be posting about the purple wing car you just purchased.

[Chad L. Magee]

Yep, it is now Dr. Magee, just not an M.D.

The ceremony took two and a half hours to finish (500+ Ph.D.s and 800+ Master Degrees granted is what I heard) and that was with a mass hooding at the beginning.  I had a nice 22 oz. porterhouse steak right after it got done. ....

[Brock Samson]

nice! 

BTW: i phonicate words an stuff all the time... 

[RD]

congrats chad, how did your final research come out? any breakthroughs?

[firefighter3931]

Fantastic...congrats Chad ! 


Ron

[Chad L. Magee]

congrats chad, how did your final research come out? any breakthroughs?

Thanks all, I have pictures to share, but I need to resize them to get them to fit here......

Yes, I made a new environmental sensor system that is selective for mercury (Hg2+) when other metal cations are present in solution.  Even low levels of mercury in that form can be toxic over time as humans can not readily excrete it out (accumulative poison) and it can cross the blood-brain barrier (leading to multiple problems).  If you eat alot of large sea fish (tuna, shark, etc), you will have a higher concetration of this metal cation in your sytem than if you eat a land based diet, as mercury tends to concentrate in aquatic lifeforms.  The ligand system that I developed is a multi-detection sensor.  One can use three different spectrocopy techniques to detect the presence of the product.  While it will not be commercially viable, it does help in the advancement of the technology towards the creation of one that might be able to detect levels below parts per billion someday.  The sensor that I developed for lead worked well in the detection area, but failled at being selective to only lead, it created mixtures of metal products.  My cadmium sensor was a dud from the start, as it was selective for both zinc and cadmium (they have similar properties).  Eventhough that one was a failure, the information gained from the products can be used to refine other known ligand systems to make them more selective towards targets.  I developed my research project on my own, without the help of my research advisor, which is very rare to do in my field.  I am an idea generator, something that sets me apart from alot of chemists.  Most people take on established projects or projects that their advisor gives them to work on after doing some background research into the subject....

[69_500]

Congratulations. So its now officially Dr. Magee huh.

So many people give up on pursuing their dreams, or plans of furthering their education. Glad to see that someone has actually stuck to it long enough to start to think about finally reaping some of the benefits of having the education.

Looking forward to seeing how many more Chargers you add to the collection now that it is officially Dr. Magee.

[Chad L. Magee]

Yep, I am now officially a Ph.D., but without a job yet.   I have been a bit distracted with packing stuff for the move back to Kansas (not fun), as I have some photos to share from the commencement.  I will try to get those up tonight if I can figure how to convert them over to a smaller size and right side up........

[mikepmcs]

Yes, I made a new environmental sensor system that is selective for mercury (Hg2+) when other metal cations are present in solution.  Even low levels of mercury in that form can be toxic over time as humans can not readily excrete it out (accumulative poison) and it can cross the blood-brain barrier (leading to multiple problems).  If you eat alot of large sea fish (tuna, shark, etc), you will have a higher concetration of this metal cation in your sytem than if you eat a land based diet, as mercury tends to concentrate in aquatic lifeforms.  The ligand system that I developed is a multi-detection sensor.  One can use three different spectrocopy techniques to detect the presence of the product.  While it will not be commercially viable, it does help in the advancement of the technology towards the creation of one that might be able to detect levels below parts per billion someday.  The sensor that I developed for lead worked well in the detection area, but failled at being selective to only lead, it created mixtures of metal products.  My cadmium sensor was a dud from the start, as it was selective for both zinc and cadmium (they have similar properties).  Eventhough that one was a failure, the information gained from the products can be used to refine other known ligand systems to make them more selective towards targets.  I developed my research project on my own, without the help of my research advisor, which is very rare to do in my field.  I am an idea generator, something that sets me apart from alot of chemists.  Most people take on established projects or projects that their advisor gives them to work on after doing some background research into the subject....

Uhhh What??

That's Awesome!!!!Congratulations Doc, that is really impressive!
I like to stay at a Holiday Inn Express every now and again but all they give is receipts.

v/r
Not a PhD Mike

[Blown70]

Good job, I know if finished with professinal school and they for got to include the high paying job.  Thought that was always part of laying out the big $$ for school?

Congrats.....

[mikesbbody]

congrats chad!   

[Chad L. Magee]

Thanks, it was a long term struggle to get to this point.  If I had it all to do again, I am not sure that I would have taken it to this degree.  Usually your research advisor that you work for will help you out in getting started with the job prospects when you get finished, but due to some major problems that I had with him at the end (a very long, complicated story that I don't want to discuss here), that was simply not possible for me.  I do however have many good references that I can use in my job search, so things might still pan out (waiting to hear back from some companies now).  Here are some of the pictures that I promised everyone......

The first one is of the Ph.D. students awaiting their turn to get the diploma covers (500+ of them takes a while).  See if you can find me, I should not be too hard to spot, eventhough it is a bit blurry.....

The second is a picture of me and a fellow lab chemist (Tony) who also graduated at the same time.  This was taken by a friend as we were leaving the building.....

The third is of me on the stage after the ceremony was done......

I have a professional set being made, but I won't have those until a bit later on.....

[Charger_Fan]

Congrats, Doc. Magee!!
Like 472 Mike said, you've been in school as long as I've know you, it's gonna be different for me to imagine you NOT in school. Probably much more different for you, though.

May you need a big stick to fight off the massive barrage of job offers very soon.

[71ChallengeHer]

Congrats.

[69_500]

Congrats, Doc. Magee!!
Like 472 Mike said, you've been in school as long as I've know you, it's gonna be different for me to imagine you NOT in school. Probably much more different for you, though.

May you need a big stick to fight off the massive barrage of job offers very soon.

Kind of reminds me of the line in the movie Tommy Boy.

"A lot of people went to college for 7 years"

"yeah they are called Doctors"

[mikepmcs]

Chad, what are you like.. 19?
Man, I guess I pictured you a little bit older.

I just realized what a loser I am.

Awesome!!!

v/r
Mike

[Chad L. Magee]

It is part of my family's curse, as I look alot younger than I actually am (35).   That creates some ackwardness in social situations occationally.......

I was waiting to hear the Tommy Boy reference being mentioned (thanks 69_500), as I got that alot when the movie first came out back in the mid-90s while working on my Bachelors.  My undergrad degree took alot longer than it should as I was trying to duel major in chemistry and nuclear engineering while at KSU, which in retrospect was a dumb move.  That cost me alot of time and money......

Just hope I get some job offers soon.......

[Duey]

Congrats, Chad!  It must be a pretty good sense of accomplishment!  I'm sure opportunities will be coming to you in no time!