Dr. Wenming Tong

Dr Simon Tong, NUI Galway

In the absence of face-to-face meetings, Danielle Nicholson, Pintail Limited pitched a few questions to Dr Wenming (Simon) Tong, NUI Galway-based Deputy Project Coordinator of FlowPhotoChem. We hope to introduce several on our research team in this way over the coming months. Enjoy!

Tell us about your background- what and where did you study as an undergraduate? Graduate School?

I finished my Bachelor degree course in Applied Chemistry and Master degree course in Chemistry all at Inner Mongolia University, China. I then went on to pursue my PhD research in Chemistry at Monash University, Australia. 

How did you become interested in chemistry? Did you have an inspiring teacher in school? 

I hated it when I was exposed to Chemistry subject for the first time in middle school. Nothing made sense to me. 

I could not pinpoint a time when things clicked or a person who was inspiring when I started to develop an interest in Chemistry. I guess it happened gradually. But by the time I had to decide my major for the undergraduate course, I knew chemistry is the one for me without any thinking.

For how long have you worked in Dr PauFarras’s group? What are your main responsibilities?

It has been more than three years now since I started working in the ChemLight research group. I was originally recruited for the SEAFUEL project. I then moved to work on FlowPhotoChem (FPC) as the deputy project coordinator when the project was launched. I am responsible for FPC-related research, supervising undergraduate and PhD students, as well as lab and instrument management and maintenances. 

Describe the group: how many PhD students, postdocs and senior investigators? Do you take on summer research students?

Our research group has grown so much in the past few years. We now host six PhD students with two more to join us in the upcoming academic year. There are six postdoctoral researchers who are working on various research branches that the group specializes. There is a project coordinator who is dedicated to the management of a Marie Curie PhD consortium (Solar2Chem). Dr Pau Farras is the only senior investigator within the group at the moment. Every year, we accept certain numbers of domestic and international students both for their undergraduate summer project or final year research theses.

Describe your lab: What pieces of equipment/instruments are used inFlowPhotoChem on a day-to-day basis?

Our lab has several sections such as synthetic organic lab, synthetic nanomaterials lab, and instrument/equipment lab etc. They are scattered across the department. As our research group is working on the development of electrocatalysis for oxygen evolution reaction for the FPC, we could not survive without our potentiostats and all sorts of electrodes.

From a NUI Galway perspective, what is the most difficult part of the FPC project?

As the coordinator of the FPC project, I would say it is a big challenge for NUI Galway to manage a project of such scale during a pandemic. Interestingly, the financial and legal aspects of the project are not generally in the mind of partners, but they could be delaying factors. 

What do you like best about what you do?

I really enjoy it when I am able to extract sensible data from a pile of messy results.

What has been the most surprising thing you’ve discovered in your research?

It was during my PhD study that our research team found out the existence of {0 1 1+√2} surface facets in the gold nanorods. 

What do you like to do in your free time?

Watch documentary films and sci-fi movies.