The  Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition  (CSC 2025) is delighted to highlight Dr. Tsun-Kong (T.K.) Sham as a plenary speaker. The CIC interviewed Dr. Sham, winner of the CIC Medal 2025. Dr. Sham shared all about his work in synchrotron technology as well as what people can expect from his plenary talk. 

Introduction 

“I had an interesting start to my career,” Dr. Sham explains. “I started my career in Hong Kong in the Chemistry department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).” 

One of Dr. Sham’s professors, Thomas C.W. Mak, was a professor working in the department as well at the University of Western Ontario before he returned to Hong Kong, he recommended that Dr. Sham do his graduate work at Western.  

This was an easy decision for Dr. Sham, who valued the recommendation from Professor. Mak. When Dr. Sham arrived in Ontario, he was supposed to work under the department head of chemistry, Professor Howard Clark. However, Professor Clark bridged a conversation between Dr. Sham and younger professors in the department.  

“Several young professors had recently joined the chemistry department at Western, and Howard unselfishly gave me the opportunity to explore their research programs. I ended up conducting my PhD research with Professor G. Michael Bancroft on Mössbauer spectroscopy of iron and tin compounds,” Dr. Sham recalled. This turned out to be a career, and life changing direction.  

Synchrotron radiation 

After Dr. Sham completed his PhD, he remained as a postdoctoral follow with Professor Bancroft. During this time, Dr. Sham became interested in the use of synchrotron radiation for X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. 

“I was exposed to synchrotron research at the Physical Science Laboratory of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Stoughton Wisconsin where Mike [Professor Bancroft] conducted his first synchrotron experiment. He later founded the Canadian Synchrotron Radiation Facility (CSRF) in the mid-1980’s,” Dr. Sham explained. 

In 1988, Dr. Sham returned to Western to focus on building a synchrotron on Canadian soil under the leadership of Mike Bancroft.  

“The way I tend to explain it is the following: the electrons are running around a track, and they sweat. The sweat of the electron turns into light, and that causes synchrotron light,” Dr. Sham explains.  

It is this word that led to Dr. Sham receiving the CIC Medal award from the Canadian Institute for Chemistry in 2025. The award is given to individuals who are residents of Canada, who have shown leadership or have contributed to the profession of chemistry or chemical engineering. As part of his award, Dr. Sham was invited to give a plenary talk at the upcoming CSC 2025 conference in Ottawa.  

CSC 2025 Conference in Ottawa 

“I will summarize some of the work, in two areas and their interplay. One is the work I started on nano materials about 30 years ago. Of course, the other would be the synchrotron capabilities, which I have been working on for the past 50 years,” Dr Sham explains. 

Dr. Sham hopes to be an advocate for synchrotron radiation at the conferences –as the Canadian community is planning for a long-range plan for the next 15 years. 

“I hope the people that attend my plenary talk learn about some of the amazing things that synchrotron can do. I want people to see how things mingle together,” says Dr. Sham. 

The topic of Dr. Sham’s plenary talk will be, ‘The science of scale and synchrotron technology for discovery: exploring materials electronic structure, functionality, and dynamics.’ 

Attend CSC 2025 to learn more about Dr. Sham and his plenary talk. Register today!