Fall Seminar
(10/13/2004)
Dr. Kelly O. Sullivan, director, University Relations and Fellowship Programs at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), presented a talk on research and fellowship opportunities to students and faculty at Christopher Newport University on Wednesday, October 13 in the Alumni Room of the Student Center. A reception was held at 6 p.m. and the presentation began at 6:30 p.m. Dr. Sullivan focused her presentation on the research and fellowship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty from a variety of scientific disciplines. Dr. Sullivan is responsible for developing and maintaining collaborations and partnerships with colleges and universities both regionally and nationally. PNNL is one of nine U.S. Department of Energy multiprogram national laboratories that solve complex problems in energy, national security, the environment and life sciences by advancing the understanding of physics, chemistry, biology and computation. PNNL employs 3,800, has a $600 million annual budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. The talk was very informative and was an excellent opportunity for interested professors to ask questions and learn more about the opportunities at PNNL. Also the audience engaged with Dr. Sullivan in several productive discussions regarding prospective research at PNLL.

The Sixth Annual Student Research Poster Session
(11/19/2004)
The Tidewater Virginia Chapter of Sigma Xi held the 6th Annual Poster Session for Undergraduate and Graduate Student Research on November 19, 2004 in the Studio Theater, Ferguson Center of the Arts, at Christopher Newport University. We had a total of 29 posters submitted for our Student Research Poster Session by students from Old Dominion University, Christopher Newport University, Hampton University, Eastern Virginia Medical School, University of Virginia and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
The event was very successful and award prizes were offered to top three winners from the category of undergraduate and graduate research.

Spring Forum
(03/31/2005)
The Tidewater Virginia Chapter of Sigma Xi held its Spring Forum with a theme titled "New Trends in Science and Engineering" on Thursday March 31, 2005 from 3:00-6:00pm in the Alumni Room of the Students Center at Christopher Newport University. Several scientists and researchers were invited to give talks about their innovative and new discoveries that integrates with the forum theme. We were honored to have the following guest speakers for the forum:
Dr. Joan Thomas from Jefferson lab
Dr. Hani Elsayed from Old Dominion University
Dr. Qamar Shams from NASA Langely Research Center
Dr. Tarek Abdel-Fattah from Christopher Newport University.
The forum was attended by faculty and students interested in these fields of technology and it was a productive and successful forum.

Spring Banquet
(04/22/2005)
The Spring Banquet of the Tidewater Virginia Chapter of Sigma Xi was held on Friday April 22, 2005 at 6:00pm in the Alumni Room of the Students Center at Christopher Newport Univerity. The chapter was honored to have Dr. Richard Gregory, Dean of the College of Science at Old Dominion University as the event's keynote address speaker. The title of Dr. Gregory's presenatation was "All Organic Electroactive and Photonic Polymers for Use in Optical and Electronic Smart Materials Applications". Dr. Gregory talked about the inherently conductive polymers that are beginning to find widespread use in electronic and optical device applications due to their very unique property as all organic electrical conductor or semi-conductor materials. He discussed how he and his resreach group trace the development of these polymeric materials and discussed some of their potential uses in all organic lasers and through away electronic devices. He also highlighted the ways to control the conductivity and the optical properties by changes in polymer microstructure and morphology. Finally he presented new novel light emitting polymers for use in all organic lasers developed in his laboratories. The banquet was attended by all chapetr officers, invited guests, and members of the chapters. The chapter inducted new members and announced the new officers for the year 2005-2006. Fibally the chapter presented a certificate of recognition to the chapter's past president Dr. Tarek Abdel-Fattah for his able leadership during 2003-2004 that produced a certificate of excellence award to chapter during that year.