Robyn Goacher Email & Phone Number

As Principal Analytical Chemist at Materion, I develop and improve analytical methods for precious and non-precious metals and support the training and growth of individuals working in the QC lab. My main focus is as the TOF-SIMS surface scientist, working on a wide variety of projects for R&D and production/QC. I have also overhauled the GDMS area of our lab and am currently also working to improve the precision and accuracy of our ICP-OES measurements. I enjoy the mix of problem-solving, continuous improvement, and teaching involved in this role. Formerly, I was an Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry, teaching undergraduate analytical chemistry, instrumental analysis, environmental chemistry, scientific writing, oral communication, and career development courses. In the classroom, I focused on employing active-learning strategies via clickers, reading quizzes, and discussion. As a research advisor, I aimed to give my undergraduate students realistic research experiences. As a graduate student, I applied ToF-SIMS to quantify the diffusion of Mn in GaAs semiconductors for spintronic applications. During my postdoc, I turned from Physics applications to Biological applications and developed an expanded peak library for wood analysis using ToF-SIMS, eventually identifying that ToF-SIMS could be used as a relatively high-throughput way to detect enzyme activity at the surface of wood particles. As a professor, I continued research comparing different analytical methods for the characterization of lignocellulose after enzyme treatments. We also studied wood polymer composites (WPC) using imaging mass spectrometry (time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, ToF-SIMS) to evaluate how the composites change as they age and weather; investigated ToF-SIMS imaging for the forensic analysis of inks from common pens, developed HPLC methods for drug analysis, and performed environmental analyses.I maintain research interests in the ToF-SIMS analysis of lignocellulose and in studying whether ToF-SIMS analysis can reliably determine the deposition order and relative age of ink lines in questioned documents.

Listed skills include Analytical Chemistry, Teaching, Tof Sims, Mass Spectrometry, and 19 others.