Inside Look

NORTH CAMPUS: 856 Natural Sciences Complex

read the body text to understand the objects depicted on the desk.

The office of chemistry professor Timothy R. Cook

Tim Cook.

Though an expert in molecular self-assembly, photochemistry, fluorescence, phosphorescence and alternative energy, Tim Cook maintains an office that’s surprisingly unintimidating. In fact, he intentionally created an ultra-welcoming space to meet with students and colleagues, and to do his own thinking, writing and drawing.

Part of Cook’s fountain pen collection.

Part of Cook’s fountain pen collection.

A-Fountain pen collection

“Years ago, an old friend urged me to try out fountain pens, and I very quickly fell in love. Downstairs there are wall murals made from drawings I did using some of these. They show a bunch of chemistry things laid out in the shape of a periodic table, then blown up really big, so the edges of the lines have this cool, squiggly look.”

crochet lab items.

B-Chemistry amigurumi

“A former student gave a set of these to me as a thank-you. And they were so neat they made me want to learn how to crochet. I started out using available patterns but then started designing my own.”

C-Self-assembling molecule models

“Self-assembly chemistry revolves around the idea that you can design molecules that come together on their own to form complex structures. I realized I could model those interactions with magnets and 3D-printed pieces. If you shake the jars, you can watch the ‘molecules’ collide, form intermediates, and eventually snap into their most stable shapes.”

D-Sinhala-script pillows

“These pillows are from Sri Lanka. After working with a Sri Lankan student my first year at UB, I became fascinated by the Sinhala alphabet and learned how to write names and chemistry terms in it. Now, when I write names for awards, I try to use students’ native scripts. It’s a small way to honor where they come from and how far they’ve traveled to be here.”

E-Cross-stitch sampler

Only some of the elements have atomic symbols. That’s what’s called the D block—where the transition metals are, which are at the heart of inorganic chemistry. The cross-stitch was a gift from a group of undergrads who later took my graduate inorganic course. They stitched it collaboratively and surprised me with it when they graduated.”