Brothers in Research/Co-ops

Q: Please explain your project in a few sentences.

A: "My project is studying antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, specifically observing whether proteins contribute to the resistance factors that occur. I exposed the bacteria to penicillin and then collected mass spectrometry data before doing a bioinformatics analysis to make sense of the data we received."

Q: What impact do you hope your research will have (immediately or in the future)?

A: "Neisseria has yet to be heavily studied due to issues in handling it, so I hope to be able to contribute to the field and hope it grows more."

Q: How has research affected your academic/career goals?

A: "It has encouraged me to pursue a career in studying infectious diseases and has me considering virology/immunology as an area to pursue further."

Q: Do you have any advice for students interested in research?

A: "It can be a time commitment and sometimes you don't get results due to various problems, but the experience you gain is valuable, regardless of the outcome."

Q: Please explain your project in a few sentences.

A: "Critical Need: Personalized stent geometries show promise with high efficacies in early clinical trials. However, manufacturing limitations and high costs have restricted research for long-term stent design to primarily theoretical models.  

Objective: Develop and characterize a biocompatible nanocomposite appropriate for (M)SLA printing."

Q: What inspired you to pursue this area of study?

A: "I wanted to merge the work of advanced materials and additive manufacturing being done in our lab with a medical application after finding enjoyment in pharmaceutical manufacturing and research while on co-op. Being able to work with a specialized polymeric system, modify it, and find a beneficial application for it felt like a calling."

Q: What impact do you hope your research will have (immediately or in the future)?

A: "Reinvigorating our group with more biomedical projects (which has started to happen), giving patients more options and better treatments for respiratory and cardiovascular conditions"

Q: What has been the highlight/your proudest moment so far?

A: "Simplifying the synthesis and demonstrating a resistive heating effect (still needs a little more love)"

Q: How has research affected your academic/career goals?

A: "Gave me a new career path that feels empowering and allows me to continue the joy of discovery and experimentation (alongside teaching)"

Q: Please explain your role in a few sentences.

A: "At Kodak, I was tasked with designing a polymer purification process as well as tested out different thin film coatings. In the summer, my focus shifted primarily to Li battery formulation coatings and the development of a transport system to deliver challenging slurries to coating machines."

Q: What inspired you to pursue this field?

A: "I am very interested in upscaling designs from lab scale to production scale, and enjoy tackling the challenges associated with doing so. My role at Kodak afforded me the opportunity to dive into polymer chemistry and lab research as well as the more hands on engineering of building a pump cart and leading coating events on a large pilot coater."

Q: What impact do you hope your work will have (immediately or in the future)?

A: "I am hopeful that the work I contributed to continues to eliminate harmful solvents from production and helps to make the battery and packaging industries more sustainable."

Q: What specific skills have you developed/find valuable for your role?

A: "I learned how to confidently present my ideas in research meetings and found that I have a lot that I am able to contribute through speaking up and expressing my thoughts. I learned the specific chemical engineering skills of thin film coating technology and got experience in the more business end of project budgets as well as patents."

Q: What has been the highlight/your proudest moment so far?

A: "I successfully led a coating event on the pilot coater, coating batteries of my own formulation for about 5 hours of run time under various conditions. Additionally, I successful overcame mechanical and material constraints presented when designing a delivery system to a syringe coater device in the research labs."

Q: How has your experience impacted your academic/career goals?

A: "This experience definitely opened my eyes up to the possibility of research as a job that I would have interest in. My coworkers enhanced my abilities and encouraged me to be the best that I could be. It gave me something to look forward to after graduation."

Q: Do you have any advice for students interested in this field? 

A: "Be open minded. Co-op is about finding out what you like and what you do not like. My time at Kodak was valuable in opening my eyes to the potential Chemical engineering jobs in lab scale research as well as process upscaling."

Q: Do you have any advice for students looking for co-ops in general?

A: "Apply to lots of places. Get to know your coworkers. They are a valuable resource for you even if you do not plan on continuing at that company."