An Inside Look at SIBS and Transient Discharges

At the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry in Tucson, Arizona, Alexander Scheeline, a distinguished analytical chemist and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry, School of Chemical Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, delivered a talk titled, “Sparks, Pinches, and People: a Retrospective on Transient Discharges Before LIBeration” (1).

Scheeline has had a long career in analytical chemistry and spectroscopy. He earned his BS in chemistry from Michigan State University in 1974 and his PhD in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1978, where he focused on analytical and physical chemistry (2). Shortly after his doctoral work, he completed a National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship at the National Bureau of Standards before beginning his academic career. He served as an assistant professor at the University of Iowa from 1979 to 1981, after which he joined the University of Illinois faculty, where he remained for several decades (2).

At Illinois, Scheeline taught courses ranging from quantitative analysis to advanced instrumental methods and experimental spectroscopy. His research has spanned optical spectrometry, nonlinear chemical dynamics, oscillating reactions, oxidative stress, and innovative analytical methodologies (2). He pioneered the use of portable spectrometry tools, including low-cost cell-phone spectrometers for education and outreach, and has published extensively in areas such as emission spectroscopy, sensor development, and the dynamics of complex systems (2). His work reflects a blend of theoretical insight and practical instrumentation.

Scheeline’s contributions to chemical science have been recognized with multiple honors, including Fellow and Honorary Member status in the Society for Applied Spectroscopy, the William F. Meggers Award, and the American Chemical Society Newsmaker Award. Beyond academia, he is the founder of SpectroClick Inc. and a founding partner of Anchor Science LLC, through which he continues to advance spectroscopic technologies for research and education (2).

Spectroscopy sat down with Scheeline at the Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry to talk about his career and research. In the below video clip, Scheeline provides a summary of his talk as well as his initial thoughts about the conference.

This video clip is the first part of our conversation with Scheeline. To stay up to date on our coverage of the Winter Conference, click here.

References

1. IASA, Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry. IASA. Available at: https://iasa.world/winter-plasma-conference (accessed 2026-01-05).
2. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Alexander Scheeline. Illinois.edu. Available at: https://chemistry.illinois.edu/scheelin (accessed 2026-01-14)