Houston Smith

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3762-1842

Houston received a B.S. in Chemistry from Emory University in 2018. During his time there, he worked with Dr. Widicus Weaver to experimentally create and study interstellar ice analogues. Since joining the McMahon group, he has been working in the rotational spectroscopy sub-group. Currently, he is working on the semi-experimental equilibrium structure determination of methacrylonitrile. This structure determination involves the analysis of 20+ isotopologues accounting for internal rotation within each and applying computational corrections to determine highly precise semi-experimental structural parameters for the molecule. Another current project is a least-squares fit of a Coriolis-coupled dyad of the two lowest-energy vibrationally excited states of 2-cyanopyrimidine. This least-squares fit requires a two-state Hamiltonian to adequately model the experimental spectrum. When not doing research, Houston enjoys playing video games, spending time with family, and traveling.

Houston obtained his Ph. D. in 2023 and is currently a postdoctoral research associate at Savannah River National Laboratory.

Recent publication:

Smith, H. H.; Esselman, B. J.; Wood, S. A.; Stanton, J. F.; Woods, R. C.; McMahon, R. J.  Improved Semi-experimental Equilibrium Structure and High-Level Theoretical Structures of Ketene. J. Chem Phys. 2023, 158, 244304.  View Article