Numerous physical and chemical processes play a determining role in cup quality, ranging from agricultural practices, to roasting and brewing. In this talk, we will canvas the landscape of coffee research, discussing our efforts to better understand the key factors that determine cup quality and reproducibility. The talk will touch on several research areas; the chemistry of water, the physics of grinding, mathematical modeling to improve espresso reproducibility, and our latest work on using electrochemistry to identify coffee qualities.
Professor Christopher H. Hendon is a computational chemist with interests in energy materials and coffee extraction. He obtained his BSc. Adv. HONS from Monash University (2011) and PhD from the University of Bath (2015). After a two-year postdoc at Massachusetts Institute of Technology he joined the University of Oregon in 2017 and is now an Associate Professor of chemistry where his research group focuses on the emergence of defects in metal-organic molecules and solids. He has published over 110 papers, was named a Cottrell Scholar, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, and the Samuel R. Scholes Jnr. Lecture for excellence in Scientific Communication. Additionally, he was also named a World Coffee Leader in 2016. Prof. Hendon enjoys washed African coffees, east coast oysters, and molecular orbital diagrams.