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From time to time the group goes on trips to attend meetings and do research work with collaborators, and gets together for fun activities. Please click on the links below for slideshows of pictures taken at these events.
Bruker MIT X-ray Crystallography Symposium, 2025: Several members of Team Thamattoor (Jesus Cortes ’27, Nate Flint ’26, Lindsay Gewirtz ’26, Daniel Lee ’26, Emily Morgan ’26 and Henry Stone ’26) accompanied Das to Boston to attend the annual Bruker MIT X-ray Crystallography Symposium. The Symposium began with the a tribute to the late Professor George Sheldrick, the legendary creator of the world famous SHELX suite of programs for working up X-ray data, who passed away just a couple of days ago. After that, a number of speakers from around the world gave informative and stimulating talks. During lunch the group got to take a picture outside the office of Professor Emeritus Richard Schrock (2005 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry). The trip also included delightful meals at two of Boston’s amazing restaurants.
Holiday Party, 2024: Members of the DasLab, a group of Pulver Science Scholars, and a few friends got together at Das’ home to celebrate the end of the semester and usher in the holidays. The highlight of the evening was a round of Tombola, an Indo-Italian style Bingo game with lots of prizes. It was a fun evening for all and a chance to relax a bit before going into finals week.
Summer, 2024: Five Colby students and five high school students worked in the DasLab this summer. As usual, it was magical time to be in Maine. Hiighlights included a trip to Hadlock Field to see the Sea Dogs in Portland, numerous outings to restaurants for meals, a visit by DasLab alum Dr. Tarini Hardikar (class of 2017), and the traditional day at La Casina, Das’ camp on Great Moose Lake in Hartland. Of course, the group also got a lot done in lab.
Farewell Party, 2024: Team Thamattoor got together to bid a fond farewell to Sophy, Kalium, Alessandro, and Dr. TEA right after classes ended this spring. It was fun to hang out and socilaize over delicious food, and also celebrate the end of another successful semester. We will dearly miss our four friends who were an integral part of the DasLab family. Happy trails, folks! And stay in touch!
Japan Trip, 2024: Jesus Cortes ’27, Zhazira Koldasbay ’26, and Katie Lane ’24 accompanied Das Thamattoor on a research trip to Hiroshima University where they performed Matrix Isolation Spectroscopy and EPR experiments in the laboratory of Professor Manabu Abe. The team also got to go on many sight seeing trips around Japan including Hiroshima, Miyajima, Onomichi, Kyoto, and Tokyo.
Thanksgiving, 2023: Members of the DasLab as well as other students who happened to be on campus joined Das with his family and friends for a Thanksgiving meal. The party lasted hours and was highlighted by a musical performance by the students.
Lake Retreat, 2023: Continuing another long tradition, members of the DasLab took a day off from work and spent it Das’ camp on Great Moose Lake. It turned out to be a great day for kayaking, swimming, grilling, and hanging out. The Maine summer day did not disappoint.
Sea Dogs, 2023: Members of the DasLab along with a few other students and friends caught a Sea Dogs game at Hadlock Field in Portland. Going to a minor league every summer is a fun and cherished lab tradition. Although not everyone followed the game the atmosphere and camaraderie was amazing as was the food.
Holiday Dinner, 2022: Members of Team Thamattoor gathered at Das’ home for dinner to celebrate the holiday season. This was the first lab party since the kitchen renovation and the event was marked by delicious food and drinks. The revelry was a perfect ending to a great year.
Japan Trips, 2022: Members of Team Thamattoor made two trips to Japan in the summer of 2022. In the first trip, David Ramgren ’24, Alex Roth ’24, Dr. Tom Anderson, and Das Thamattoor traveled to Japan to attend the 25th IUPAC Conference on Physical Organic Chemistry in Hiroshima. This was the the conference in which David and Alex were awarded a prize for their research poster. Later in the summer, Su Park ’24 and Khaidar Kairbek ’25 accompanied Das to run Matrix Isolation Spectroscopy and EPR experiments at Hiroshima University in collaboration with the research team of Professor Manabu Abe. Among the highlights of the trips were the delightful visits and delicious meals with former members of the DasLab, Dr. Nate Flanders ’15 and Dr. Xi Yang ’16, who are living in Japan.
Spring ACS Meeting, 2022: Members of Team Thamattoor (Pegah Honarmand ’22, David Ramgren ’24, Caleb Jacques ’22, Alex Roth ’24, Dr. Tom Anderson, and Das Thamattoor) attended the Spring ACS Meeting in San Diiego. The trip was memorable on many counts. The team presented research posters and also got to meet up with alumni such as Professor Galia Debelouchina ’05 (UCSD), Professor Stan Presolski ’05 (Yale-NUS College), Dr. Jamie Shaum ’13 (Scripps Research Institute), and Sam Marchand ’21 (graduate student in Professor Debelouchina’s lab at UCSD). The trip also featured many wonderful meals, and an amazing trip to the San Diego Zoo courtesy of Alex’s grandfather Professor Emeritus Jack Kyte of UCSD.
Mini Golf, 2021: Occasionally over the summer the team would head out to get some ice cream. On the last day of summer research, the ice cream trip to Gifford’s was capped off by a round of mini golf. David “Docster” Ramgren came with his own special club which, of course, was the reason why he won. Das had the highest score among all players but apparently that’s not a good thing in golf. This turned out to be a nice way to end summer research with everyone heading home afterward for a much needed break before the start of another school year.
Lake Retreat, 2021: On June 30, our lab group took a day off for a retreat at “La Casina,” Das’ summer camp on Great Moose Lake in Hartland. It was nice to take a break from work and enjoy the Maine outdoors for a day. The event was also an occasion to welcome Dr. Tom Anderson, the inaugural David Lee Phillips Postdoctoral Fellow, to our lab, and bid farewell to Minji Ko who was off to start her new position at the Boston Children’s Hospital after spending a few extra weeks with us this summer.
Team Thamattoor in the Czech Republic, Summer 2019: Jakub Bystricky ’22, Amanda Deming ’20, Brett Ford ’21, Carol Lipshultz ’20 and Das spent part of the summer at Masaryk University in Brno on a collaborative research visit to the laboratory of Professor Peter Klán. This was a great opportunity for the Colby students to get a taste of research at a major international university and forge strong personal connections with members of the Klán group. It was also an extremely rewarding cultural experience. There were many trips to historic towns and castles around the Czech countryside, and a wine tasting trip to the Moravian region. During the visit, members of the team also got to visit the the 13th century town of Telč (a UNESCO World Heritage site), the Gregor Mendel monastery and museum (in Brno), Prague, Vienna, and Auschwitz (near Krakow, Poland).
Holiday Dinner, 2019: This holiday dinner was a bit unusual in that it also doubled as a graduation party for Thu Le ’19 and Fini Just ’19, seniors in the lab. As Das was going to be away on sabbatical in the spring, the usual graduation get together in May would not be organized. In any case, the event turned out to be a lot of fun with plenty of holiday cheer to go around. Members of Team Thamattoor and other guests reveled well into the night to close out the semester. It was also a good time to decompress before getting ready for the upcoming finals.
Team Thamattoor in Japan, Summer 2018: Four students – Fini Just ’19, Thu Le ’19, Jonathan “TJ” Pankauski ’21, and Noura Srour ’18 – joined Das at Hiroshima University, Japan to undertake collaborative research work in organic chemistry. This turned out to be a memorable trip that was scientifically, personally, and culturally enriching. The group also got to travel to different parts of Japan and enjoy the countries amazing cuisine. One of the highlights of the trip was that the students got to participate in the anniversary ceremony, at the Peace Memorial Park on August 6, to commemorate the victims of the atom bomb that was dropped on the city in 1945.
Graduation Party, 2018: Members of Team Thamattoor, their guests, as well as Professor Emeritus Brad Mundy and his wife Margaret, got together on Saturday, May 12th to celebrate the end of the school year and bid farewell to Noura Srour ’18 and Yuewei wen ’18, the two graduating seniors from the lab. Former lab members Dan Maurer ’16 (Freshman Dan) and Tarini Hardikar ’17 also drove up from Dartmouth to join the party. As it turned out, Das’ brother (who lives in India) happened to be in town and he, too, enjoyed being a part of the revelry. This turned out to be a fun evening and a great way to close out another school year.
Holiday Dinner, 2017: Current members of the Thamattoor lab, folks who helped teach organic chemistry during the semester, and guests gathered at Das’ home on Sunday, December 10 for the traditional holiday dinner. Once again, Thu volunteered to cook Vietnamese food which, as usual, ended up being the highlight of the meal. The food, conversation, and company added plenty of holiday cheer to the festivities.
Lake Retreat, 2017: Team Thamattoor took a day off from lab work in August to spend a day at Das’ camp by Great Moose Lake in Hartland. It was a beautiful day for tubing, fishing, kayaking, grilling, and having fun by the water. The evening was capped off by a spectacular sunset and s’mores on the fire pit. The team mascot “Horatio,” Ernesto’s pet giraffe, was also among the participants.
Team Thamattoor in Italy, Summer 2017: All four students of the lab – Tracy Fan ’17, Tarini Hardikar ’17, Yuewei Wen ’18, and Thu Le ’19 – traveled to Italy in June, 2017 to attend the International Symposium on Reactive Intermediates and Unusual Molecules. They presented their research work as posters and also helped with the on-site organization of the event. In addition to the scientific program, the entire group enjoyed their outing to the ancient ruins of Pompeii and a fabulous symposium dinner at the tip of the Amalfi Coast. The group also got to meet Professor Stanislav Presolski, a DasLab alumnus, who now teaches at the Yale-NUS College in Singapore. Stanislav gave an excellent talk at the symposium and was accompanied by his wife Ly (also a Colby alum) and their adorable little daughter “Princess” Maya.