As we settle into finals week here at the UIUC, I thought I would post a
question that seems appropriate as we approach the new year and new
millenium. Actually, it was brought to me by a colleague, and as I don't
often think reflectively about where NMR as a field has been and where it
is going, it seemed appropriate to post here. Specifically, where is the
field going in the next 10-20 years? What new data will we be able to
acquire? What hardware and software will be necessary to get there?
When I was asked this question it was posed along with the question of
advances in artificial intelligence and how that would impact data
collection and analysis. I answered that I believed that artificial
intelligence systems could and would have a significant impact in the next
10-20 years, but that in my realm, that of training the next generation of
users of nmr instrumentation, I would probably never take full advantage of
such software. My reason was that having worked in industry, and also in
academia, I believe that academia should train in the basic skills, e.g.,
the importance of parameter choice in taking data or apodization for a nD
data set. It is possible that in 10-20 years an nmr user will truly not
need to understand anything, but let the instrument make all the choices.
I believe that is a dangerous precedent in initial exposure to an instrument.
So, that's my $0.02's worth (and I didn't even realize until now that the
"cent" sign no longer exists on my keyboard - obviously I never use it!).
I will post a summary, as usual.
Vera
Vera V. Mainz
School of Chemical Sciences email: v-mainz@uiuc.edu
142B RAL, Box 34-1 phone: 217-244-0564
600 S. Mathews Ave. fax: 217-244-8068
Urbana, IL 61801