Margaret C. Etter Early Career Award: Kristin M. Hutchins (Texas Tech University)

May 30, 2023

The American Crystallographic Association (ACA) is proud to announce that Dr. Kristin Hutchins has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious 2023 ACA Etter Early Career Award for her outstanding achievement and exceptional potential in crystallographic research. This esteemed award recognizes Dr. Hutchins' exceptional research, innovative techniques, and dedication to advancing our understanding of crystal structures, all by a scientist at an early stage of their independent career.

Dr. Hutchins, an exceptional researcher and rising star in the field, has undeniably met and exceeded these criteria, earning her this well-deserved recognition. Kristin Hutchins started her independent career a little over two years ago, and her productivity has been highly impressive. Her laboratory has published 12 manuscripts and one book chapter and, notably, five of the papers include undergraduate or high school students as coauthors. Kristin’s projects are exploring how to improve formulation and efficiency of solid pharmaceuticals, she is identifying connections between crystal structure and physical responses of bulk materials, and her group is utilizing complementary intermolecular forces (hydrogen- and halogen bonding) to deliver desirable structural features in thermally responsive materials. All these efforts are firmly anchored in a foundation of crystallography. Kristin is a terrific communicator and she is clearly motivated by a genuine desire to make the audience “understand”. In addition, her presentations are refreshingly free from hyperbole, and she is confident enough to let the science speak for itself. Kristin’s outstanding accomplishments to date, coupled with her exceptional potential for further achievements in crystallographic research, make her an excellent recipient of the ACA Etter Early Career Award.

The ACA Etter Early Career Award will be officially presented to Dr. Hutchins during the upcoming ACA Annual Meeting in Baltimore on Sunday, July 11, 2023.  This event brings together leading crystallographers and scientists from around the world.  Please join us in congratulating Dr. Kristin Hutchins on this remarkable achievement. Her dedication, innovation, and outstanding contributions to the field of structural science make her an inspiration to aspiring scientists and an invaluable asset to our community.

The Dynamic Side of Crystals: How Structure Influences Function in the Solid-State
Kristin M Hutchins
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA

Crystalline materials that exhibit unique properties are finding use in many applications such as sensing, sorption, pharmaceutics, and optoelectronic. For molecular-based crystalline materials, the three-dimensional structure of the solid and the intermolecular interactions sustaining it directly influence the properties of the solid. Here, we will discuss our efforts to design, synthesize, and characterize organic solids that undergo dynamic motion in response to temperature change. We will also discuss the use of mixed cocrystals (i.e. cocrystal solid solutions) as a strategy for fine-tuning dynamic behaviors in organic solids.