Assistant professor garners Outstanding Faculty Award

Assistant professor in both chemistry and the School of Informatics, Mu-Hyun Baik is one of five teachers to receive the 2005-2006 Outstanding Junior Faculty Award. \nGiven annually to junior faculty members who have made substantial contributions to IU research and teaching, the award allots $14,500 for the recipient to further his or her research. Baik, known by colleagues and students as "Mookie," plans to use much of the award to fund summer research opportunities for high school and undergraduate students. \nBorn in South Korea, Baik earned his high school and undergraduate education in Germany before receiving his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After his stay at Columbia University, where he earned his postdoctoral associate degree in 2003, Baik became an IU faculty member, concentrating on computational chemistry. \n"(Computational chemistry) is the use of computers to make models of chemical reactions," Baik said. \nChemistry and computer science became interests for Baik at a young age. At age 12, he recalls receiving his first chemistry set, and he can remember using his first computer at 13. Although Baik knew early on that he would love to teach one day, he said that for a while, he was torn between becoming a chemist or a computer scientist. He has since combined both loves into computational chemistry, a subject to which he has dedicated much of his time and energy. Baik teaches a 500-level combined chemistry and informatics course for graduate students, where students learn how to create computer models of chemical reactions using real computer simulations. \nBaik has organized a research group, which includes two postdoctoral associate students, seven graduate students and five undergraduates. Funded partly by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Chemistry and the School of Informatics, the research done by Baik and his group involves the use of quantum chemical models. The group uses computers to study how and why chemicals react in an effort to propose better designs for certain catalysts and anti-cancer drugs.\n"I'm very passionate about research at the lower level," Baik said. \nSibo Lin is an undergraduate researcher in Baik's group and has been a member since January 2005. Lin uses molecular modeling to research how certain reactions work. He describes Baik as a "driven researcher." \n"Professor Baik is unbelievably knowledgeable -- not just in computational chemistry, but chemistry as a whole," Lin said via e-mail. "If an interesting result arises in my research, he can explain why my results make sense chemically."\nBaik said he enjoys teaching science because with it, one only needs "scientific curiosity" as a driving force. Unlike grants that require individuals to generate results, Baik describes the award as "particularly nice" because he is able to use his award to explore new ideas. \n"The award allows me to be bold and take risks," Baik said. \nHe plans to use a large portion of the award to help students who are unable to afford the opportunity to conduct summer research at IU, which Baik calls "one of the best universities in the United States to do research in computational sciences"