Author: A.Stenstam

Daedalus and the buckyball

2018-04-16

Graphene, nanotubes and other novel carbon-based materials are all in vogue nowadays, but it is an interesting exercise to take a step back and reminisce the true origins and underpinnings of the carbon craze that currently permeates chemistry and material science. This exercise touches on the soccer world cup (to commence June 14th in Moscow), and also allows us to honour the memory of a truly remarkable scientist, whose existence seems completely unknown to all but a select, admiring few. Let’s kick off with the sports connection (pun intended). A soccer ball is constructed by stitching together a total of 32…

Two stars and a wish – and feedback-cake

2018-02-23

“Two stars and a wish” might be a children’s activity but that surely doesn’t make it invalid for us who knows its worth. As a grown-up, you also have the choice of opening your envelope with 12 stars and 6 wishes at the same time as you open a bottle of wine. At CR, knowledge flow is central and there will be a separate post about this soon. But this is about a special type of flow – the feedback loop where you don’t communicate specific knowledge but rather how other people make you feel. As everybody else, we try…

Chemists with a Purpose – follow our development

2018-02-16

It is 2018, and CR has been around, helping industrial clients, for thirteen years. Much has happened and we have of course changed. We have been your advanced analytical lab, developed to be your problem solvers and now we get your trust to help your dreams come true. For some, we are your oxpeckers, helping you with annoying issues you cannot reach, or even see, yourself. For others, we are the guide dog who you can trust will take you where you need to go, even if it means crossing difficult roads. For many, we are the emulgator needed for…

CR part of a NextBioForm, Center for Formulation of Biologics

2018-02-12

We are proud to be one of 17 partners in the Vinnova finansed project that is to be the starting point of a new center for formulation of biologically derived pharmaceutical products: NextBioForm. Vinnova has decided to provide funding for three initiatives that together, through their different networks and approaches, will boost the Scandinavian product development of these drugs. In addition to NextBioForm these are CAMP – Centre for Advanced Medical Products, and CellNova. Within NextBioForm several research projects will take place connecting service providers such as CR and new materials companies such as Enza Biotech with established pharmaceutical companies as Ferring…

Congratulations Tommy Nylander!

2017-12-10

Tommy Nylander, our great friend and scientific sounding board, one of our Great Minds in Greater CR is awarded with the Norblad-Ekstrand medal. Congratulations Tommy, we are so proud of and happy for you! The Norblad-Ekstrand medal is awarded to persons who are distinguished by outstanding scientific research in chemistry and bordering sciences or who have performed work of great value to the Swedish Chemical Society. It was announced already in October, but Tommy being who he is has not let us know and we just learned about it today… Tommy is at the forefront of surface chemistry research, in…

Dancing surfactants and art

2017-12-08

“….They dance around us with such invisible elegance. Elongated shiny legs hold together their heavy waterlogged heads as they embark in synchronized choreography all around us every morning. We impolitely disregard their show and let them slip down the drain: In the end, what matters is a clean face for a fresh onset feeling….” Scientist Federica Sebastiani who recently finished her postDoc position with us at CR have recently been published in a new, and quite different, scientific publication, the Esperluette, a free monthly journal aimed at outreach in a new and artistic way. Esperluette is founded by Fernanda Haffner…

The beauty and scientific value of frozen water

2017-11-17

If you happen to live in the southern part of Sweden in November you may find it difficult to love water… Here and now, water in its liquid form comes with harsh winds straight in your face, or diffusing through clothes, skin and flesh to chill your bones. But soon (should global warming allow), we too will see water in one of its solid phases, as snowflakes with their distinct and unique pattern, or as crystallized ice on pavements as well as picturesque icicles hanging from our roofs. As colloidal chemists, however, there is another water phase that we value…

Knowledge flow and how to make a dressing to save the world

2017-11-07

The building company Skanska is developing, The Loop, a meeting place for future driven researchers, companies and organisations. Its main purpose is to connect science and business in order to gain commercial benefits from the building’s unique location in the heart of Science Village in Lund, Southern Scandinavia. To achieve their goals and to realise the true potential of the Loop, Skanska are engaging with as many people and organizations as possible in an open process, one of them our CEO Anna Stenstam. In this article more or less everything that we believe in is mentioned. Read it and learn what drives us,…

Langmuir Best Oral Communication!

2017-09-17

It is with great pride that we share that the contribution at ECIS 2017 (European Colloidal and Interface Science) given by our postDoc Federica Sebastiani was selected as Langmuir Best Oral Communication! Congratulations Federica! A more elaborative version of the seminar “Lipid-Alkylglycoside liposomes as a biocompatible vehicle: structural characterization and future application” will be given October 10, 2:15 pm in lecture hall F at the Chemical Centre as a part of the finalization of Federica’s work within the research program Bibafoods, an ITN program coordinated from Copenhagen University. Bibafoods is short for Biopolymer Based Food Delivery Systems. In Federica’s work she has…

Your favourite pink summer beverage

2017-06-14

Summer time is here, and with it comes the annual boom in consumption of rosé wine. Rosé wine is often sneered at by self-proclaimed wine connoisseurs, who implicitly assume this type of wine to be a modern fad, catering to those blasé elements in the chattering classes that do not actually like wine. This assumption happens to be erroneous on several levels. Firstly, rosé wine may well be the oldest type of wine, since it is actually far less complicated to manufacture from a process chemistry point of view, than red wine. Contrary to popular belief, rosé wine is not…

Thank you LTH, Lund University!

2017-06-04

Friday June 2nd, our CEO Anna Stenstam was appointed to Doctor Honoris Causa, Honorary Doctor, at the Faculty of Engineering, Lund University. We at CR are incredibly happy that Lund University has seen what we try to accomplish with our way of interfacing between Academy and Industry. Much more can be done and we hope and believe this is the starting point of a deepened collaboration between our organizations in the city of Lund. The ceremony was completely in Latin and here is the motivation… “Anna Stenstam, doctrix praeclaríssima et rectrix exsecutória societátis CR Competence nuncupátae, quae res industriáles scientífice explórans…

Coumarins – The Revenge of the Giant Hogweed (and the Grapefruit)

2017-03-12

Back in 1971, at a time when real music was still produced, prog masters Genesis released the 8-minute song The Return of the Giant Hogweed (yes kids, songs can be longer than 3 minutes!), unfortunately without any immediate commercial gratification. As any intelligent reader would find obvious from its title, the lyrics of the song concern the unfortunate import of giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) to Victorian England as an ornamental plant. The words in the Genesis song may not be entirely historically accurate, but it is true that surprised English horticultural enthusiasts soon found out that planting giant hogweed in…