Background
Nick received his chemistry B.S. from UC Berkeley and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. His research with Dennis Curran included the design of a programmable chiral auxiliary, algorithms for optimizing stereo-selection in free radical reactions, and the development of molecular mechanics parameters that have since been incorporated into the industry standard software MacroModel.
Post-doctoral quantum chemistry research with Ken Houk at UCLA focused on building molecular mechanics models for the transition state of epoxidation reactions and developing new technologies for molecular visualization.
Molecular visualization created by Nick DeMello
Digital Innovation & Industry
A founding member of the UCLA Center for Digital Innovation (CDI) that brought together Hollywood production professionals, Silicon Valley software developers, and university-level educators, the CDI produced some of the first distance learning products. Nick's projects included work for the University of California, McGraw-Hill, the Ministry of Education of Malaysia, Sony Corporation, Hitachi Ltd, and the development of CyberChem — McGraw-Hill's best-selling distance learning product.
Using software of his own design, Nick developed molecular illustrations for the cover of Science Magazine, C&E News, Angewandte Chemie, Eyes on Chemistry, Genes & Development, the calendar of the American Chemical Society, and other publications.
Nick has worked at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories and Design Science (the creators of MathType and the Equation Editor in every modern word processing program). He served as the editor-in-chief of MacTech Magazine, managed the largest retail presence at every MacWorld Expo for half a decade, and independently developed multimedia content under contract for Apple Inc. and others.
Current Research
Current research projects at Stanford University Online High School include improved algorithms for adaptive learning exercises, student assessment through machine learning, and a toolkit applying augmented reality for molecular visualization.