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Geoff Hutchison

@geoffhutchison.net

Chemist, Scientist, Husband, Dad, Runner, Teacher. I develop Avogadro + OpenBabel to find new materials for energy applications @Pitt_Chemistry he/him

691 Posts2952 Follower1200 Folgt
Avogadro Project@avogadro.cc · last wk.

Avogadro now has over 25 Python plugins for: - input generation for common programs - partial charges and electrostatics - reading and writing file formats through cclib - forcefields and ML potentials - building and analysis commands What are some tools you'd like to see? #compchem

Michael Clemens@mclem.org · 4w ago

Yesterday the US Administration supercharged its explicit effort to bar international students from staying in the US after graduation. All Americans should know: 1/3 of *all* STEM PhDs working in the US are immigrants who graduated from US universities, then stayed. www.piie.com/index%2Ephp/...

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Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · last mo.

Sigh. State budget keeps University funding level for eighth straight year… "all the money Pitt receives from the state is used to provide 18,000 Pennsylvania students with an in-state tuition discount www.utimes.pitt.edu/news/state-b...

State budget keeps University funding level for eighth straight year

Pitt will split $10 million in performance-based funding with Penn State and Temple, instead of $30 million requested by Shapiro.

utimes.pitt.edu

Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 2mo ago

Thanks to @bethanyhalford.bsky.social for outlining the challenges right now with PhD programs across the board - and to everyone else who commented. And yes, we will be taking applications to our master's program @pittchemistry.bsky.social - we hope it can help #chemsky

Bethany Halford@bethanyhalford.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This year has been a tough one for chemists who want to go to graduate school in the US - chemistry graduate programs are taking significantly fewer students than they did just 2 years ago. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/education/gr...

Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 2mo ago

And then Alex files for an IPO... "if you’re still confused, all you really need to know is that everything is totally working and everyone is making a lot of money, and you should just stop asking questions, luddite."

McSweeney's@mcsweeneys.net · 2mo ago

"Acquiring one grape costs Alex $2 billion. Alex offers to sell Mike one grape a month for the next 12 months for $1 billion per grape. Alex asks for the full $12 billion up front and provides Mike with one grape for the first month..."

Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 2mo ago

I have some personal experience with over-valued IPOs. Back in Dec. 1999, VA Linux offered "friends and family" shares to a variety of #opensource maintainers. As a grad student, I was asked if I wanted to buy 50, 100, or 150 shares for $30 / share. I said "what the heck" and put in 50 = $1500 1/x

Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 2mo ago

Hey Anthropic? Calling your new model "Fable" might give the wrong (right?) impression given current impressions about LLM models .. you know .. not always telling the truth? Just my 0.02 tokens

Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 3mo ago

The new optimizer works great with ML-based potentials too. Got ideas? As a community #opensource #openscience project, we welcome suggestions (and bug reports) #chemsky

Avogadro Project@avogadro.cc · 3mo ago

We're still working... @geoffhutchison.net reports on new speedups coming in v2.1 scheduled for June 02 (6/02 in the states 😉) - 20-25x faster orbital and density calculations - 6-8x faster geometry optimizations using an adaptive FIRE+L-BFGS method discuss.avogadro.cc/t/may-2026-d... #compchem

Angus Johnston@angus.bsky.social · 3mo ago

There is no way to do anything interesting in any sustained way in any field without immersion in that field. That's just a fundamental fact of being human, and there's no getting around it.

Mike Boylan-Kolchin@mbkplus.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Part 2 of the New Yorker series on higher ed is up; it’s an interview with someone who has even weirder and less good ideas than Jay Caspian King (the author / interviewer). For example: rhere’s no meaningful experience at the edge of chemistry without knowing some (and probably a lot of) chemistry.

would think there's still value in her understanding the basic theories and foundations of, say, chemistry. Even if A.I. knows all of that, she should probably know it, too, if she wants to understand what those edges of knowledge are, no? So, in my ideal vision of the academy, you're going to be in class with a mentor who isn't going to have to teach you Chemistry 101 but will want to quickly move to where the edges are, to do something new. Maybe they would decide together to 3-D-print some new material that has never been printed before, or what have you. Whatever they decide together will not be something every university is going to be able to do.
Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 3mo ago

There’s a huge difference between undergrad research and letting students follow AI chemistry experiments. Believe me - I’ve seen chem students use current AI models. #chemsky

Mike Boylan-Kolchin@mbkplus.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Part 2 of the New Yorker series on higher ed is up; it’s an interview with someone who has even weirder and less good ideas than Jay Caspian King (the author / interviewer). For example: rhere’s no meaningful experience at the edge of chemistry without knowing some (and probably a lot of) chemistry.

would think there's still value in her understanding the basic theories and foundations of, say, chemistry. Even if A.I. knows all of that, she should probably know it, too, if she wants to understand what those edges of knowledge are, no? So, in my ideal vision of the academy, you're going to be in class with a mentor who isn't going to have to teach you Chemistry 101 but will want to quickly move to where the edges are, to do something new. Maybe they would decide together to 3-D-print some new material that has never been printed before, or what have you. Whatever they decide together will not be something every university is going to be able to do.
Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 3mo ago

I heard this evening about the passing of Mark Ratner #chemsky Mark was many things - a scientist, an educator, a mentor - a mensch - in all the meanings He always said that the best thing about science were the people that do it.

Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 4mo ago

Another great article on coffee chemistry from Prof. Chris Hendon chhendon.bsky.social Last week as we finished classes, I was telling them about design-of-experiments using a coffee example... #chemsky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Direct electrochemical appraisal of black coffee quality using cyclic voltammetry - Nature Communications

Coffee flavor is primarily determined by the bean roast color and concentration of the beverage. Here, the authors show that both of these characteristics are reflected in the coffee’s cyclic voltammo...

nature.com

Bookshop.org@bookshop.org · 4mo ago

Choosing local when buying books is more than just where you shop: You’re protecting creativity. You’re defending the freedom to read. You’re uplifting diverse voices. You’re investing in neighbors. Today, and every day, we celebrate and support indie bookstores. Happy Independent Bookstore Day!

Andrea Devon@andreadevon.sheshed.rocks · 4mo ago

She warned the world before it was ready to listen. Rachel Carson exposed the dangers of pesticides and helped launch the modern environmental movement. Scientist. Author. A mind behind the science that saved lives. Her work still shapes how we protect life. #EarthDay #SheShed

Geoff Hutchison@geoffhutchison.net · 4mo ago

When Biden took office, he suggested that international students receiving a PhD in the US should get a green card if they want one. Several students in my program were really excited - they wanted to stay. It never materialized. Not every job wants to sponsor an H1B, particularly now.

Scott Delaney@scott-delaney.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Roughly half of STEM PhD students in the U.S. are international students. 75% of them stay in the U.S. long term after graduating to contribute their skills to U.S. scientific research and development. Cutting international student visas hurts U.S. science now and long into the future.