We just returned from our travels to Newry, Maine for the 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Crystal Engineering: Design, Assembly, and Function. The meeting brought together researchers from across crystal engineering, solid-state chemistry, materials science, and molecular design for a week of talks, posters, and many lively (sometimes even scientific) discussions.
The week began with the Gordon Research Seminar, where Maria and Alejandro gave talks highlighting their recent work on anharmonic phonon dynamics and design of polymorphic materials. We are also excited to share that Alonso will serve as co-vice-chair for the next GRS, a role he is already approaching with great seriousness and thoughtful planning. He has assured us that his top priorities include excellent science, lively discussion, strong community building, and, pending budgetary approval, refreshments that live up to the enthusiasm of the poster and discussion sessions.
At the GRC, Maria, Johanna, Will, Alonso, and Alejandro all presented posters on projects spanning terahertz and low-frequency Raman spectroscopy, lattice dynamics, computational modeling, polymorphism, porous materials, and topochemical reactions. The poster sessions were a great opportunity to get feedback and exchange ideas.Mike also gave a talk at the GRC, which we unanimously agreed was one of his better ones. As scientists, we recognize that this assessment may suffer from some group bias, but we stand by the conclusion.
The talks, posters, and discussions gave us plenty of new ideas to bring back to Rochester, along with a renewed appreciation for the fact that conference conversations, scientific and otherwise, can continue well past bedtime. We were often among the last ones standing into the early hours, but still made it to the 9 a.m. sessions, even if breakfast occasionally became more of an aspiration than a reality.
Of course, the trip was not only about science. The setting at Sunday River was beautiful, and we made time between sessions to enjoy the Maine scenery, including mountain views, time by the water, and some excellent road trip bonding. After some prodding and almost finishing a manuscript, we even got Will to quickly jump into the pool!
We also conducted a very informal wildlife survey, which yielded a couple of deers, zero bears (no, we’re not counting the one we didn’t actually see, Ale!), zero moose, and several very well-roasted marshmallows. Maria’s marshmallow technique was especially impressive, and, by general group consensus, somewhat more confident than her approach to the lobster.
In other words, the week had excellent structure, lively dynamics, strong intermolecular interactions, and good thermal properties around the fire pit.
Thank you to the organizers, speakers, discussion leaders, and poster presenters for such a welcoming and stimulating conference. We left Newry with new ideas, new connections, renewed excitement for our work on THz spectroscopy and crystal dynamics, and, perhaps most importantly, the confidence that our group can survive both intense scientific discussion and long car rides together.
Alejandro, you deserve a medal for the best driver of the year!
