Semere Bairu

A highly motivated analytical and physical chemist with hands-on experience on several analytical methods (GC-MS, LC-MS, ESI-MS, ICP-MS, MALDI-TOF, UV, FTIR, NMR etc.) and electrochemical techniques (SWV, CV, DPV) for the characterization of clinical, environmental and pharmaceutical samples and method development for their analytical analysis. In-depth experience on steady-state and time-resolved optical spectroscopic techniques including Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC), fluorescence up-conversion, fluorescence anisotropy and excited state absorption (pump-probe spectroscopy) measurements for investigating the excited state behavior and fluorescence dynamics of chromophores and their interaction on interfaces.

• American Chemical Society, ACS (since 2010)
• National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, (since 2009)
• Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society (since 2012), Western Michigan University

• Academic Honorary Colors Award, University of Pretoria, South Africa
• Alpha Kappa Mu Honorary Academic Award, Western Michigan University

• Ultrafast Interfacial Charge Transfer Dynamics in a Donor-π-Acceptor Chromophore Sensitized TiO2 Nanocomposite, 245th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition, New Orleans, LA, April 2013
• Two-photon Absorption Properties of Coumarin Dyes in Cationic, Anionic and Neutral Micelles - Role of Local Electric Fields, National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, Washington DC, September 2012
• Enhanced Two-Photon Absorption Cross-sections for Novel Coumarin Derivatives on the Surface of ZnO Nanoparticles, 244th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition, Philadelphia, PA, August 2012
• Ultrafast Dynamics in Anthracene Derivatives Sensitized TiO2 Nanoparticles: Influence of Anchoring Group, 43rd Meeting of the Central Region of the American Chemical Society, Dearborn, MI, June 2012
• Charge-Transfer Dynamics in Triphenylamino-Cyanoacrylic Acid Dye-Sensitized TiO2 Nanocomposites: Evidence for Transient Stark Effect, 2012 APS/CNM/EMC Users Meeting, Chicago, IL, May 2012
• Dynamics and Two-photon Absorption Properties of Novel Coumarin Derivatives: Towards Multiphoton Sensing, National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers, Houston, TX, April 2011
• Diamond paste based electrodes for the determination of Fe (II) in vitamins, European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences, Euroanalysis-12, Dortmund, Germany, September 2002

• Served as time keeper at NOBCCHE National Science Bowl Competition, sponsored by ACS, 2011 to 2013.
• Organized quarterly demonstrations to engage disadvantaged K-6 students in chemistry, 2010 to 2013.
• Served as treasurer at WMU for Chemistry Graduate Student Association, 2010.

• Two-Photon Absorption Properties of Chromophores in Micelles: Electrostatic Interactions, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2013, 117, 36, 10484 -10491, Semere Bairu, Guda Ramakrishna
• Ultrafast Interfacial Charge Transfer Dynamics in a Donor-π-Acceptor Chromophore Sensitized TiO2 Nanocomposite, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2013, 117, 9, 4824- 4835, Semere G. Bairu, Edwin Mghanga, Jameel Hasan, Srinivas Kola, Vaidya Jayatirtha Rao, Kotamarthy Bhanuprakash, Lingamallu Giribabu, Gary P. Wiederrecht, Robson da Silva, Luis G. C. Rego, Guda Ramakrishna
• Temperature-Dependent Optical Absorption Properties of Monolayer-Protected Au25 and Au38 Clusters, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2011, 2, 2752-2758, Devadas, M. S., Bairu, S., Qian, H., Sinn, E., Jin, R., Ramakrishna, G.
• Single-color pseudorotaxane-based temperature sensing, New. J. Chem., 2010, 34, 2097-2100, Fernando, I., Bairu, S., Ramakrishna, G., Mezei, G.
• Surface Sampling by Spray-Desorption Followed by Collection for Chemical Analysis, Anal. Chem., 2010, 82, 5, 1674 - 1679, Andre R. Venter, Afrand Kamali, Shashank Jain, Semere Bairu
• Diamond paste based electrodes for the determination of Ag (I), Anal. Methods, 2010, 2, 650 - 652, Raluca-Ioana Stefan-van Staden, Semere Ghebru Bairu, Jacobus F. van Staden
• Diamond paste based electrodes for the determination of Pb (II) at trace concentration levels, Talanta, 2004, 63, 3, 605-608, Raluca-Ioana, Stefan, Bairu, Semere Ghebru
• Monocrystalline Diamond Paste-Based Electrodes and Their Applications for the Determination of Fe (II) in Vitamins, Analytical Chemistry, 2003, 75, 20, 5394 - 5398, Raluca-Ioana Stefan, Semere Ghebru Bairu
• Determination of Fe (III) using diamond paste based electrodes, Instrumentation Science & Technology, 2003, 31, 4, 411-416, Stefan, Raluca-Ioana, Bairu, Semere Ghebru, van Staden, Jacobus Frederick
• Diamond paste based electrodes for the determination of iodide in vitamins and table salt, Analytical Letters, 2003, 36, 8, 1493-1500, Stefan, Raluca-Ioana, Bairu, Semere Ghebru
• Diamond paste based electrodes for the determination of Cr (VI) at trace levels, Instrumentation Science & Technology, 2003, 31, 3, 261-267, Stefan, Raluca-Ioana, Bairu, Semere Ghebru
• Diamond paste-based electrodes for determination of Cr (III) in pharmaceutical compounds, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2003, 376, 6, 844-847, Stefan, Raluca-Ioana, Bairu, Semere Ghebru, van Staden, Jacobus F.
• Polycrystalline diamond-based electrochemical sensors and their applications in inorganic and organic analysis, Critical Reviews in Analytical Chemistry, 2003, 33, 2, 145-153, Bairu, Semere Ghebru, Stefan, Raluca-Ioana, van Staden, Jacobus F.