Week nine: The Grand Finale

As I sit at my desk for the last 25 minutes of my time here at CMOP, I look back on what has been an amazing summer. (Well, really I'm looking out the window, but in my mind I'm looking back.) The sticky notes that covered every surface of my desk are gone, along with my little orchid.

This week has been all about cleaning up; final tests, my sticky notes, my lab bench, and my masses of data. I finished testing iron, which I have concluded has a detrimental effect, for a variety of reasons. I ran some tests while varying the pH during deposition of platinum, the results of which were a mystery I had put off solving. It seems lower pH has a different effect, possibly a higher loading or different particle size. All in all, it was a productive week.

And when I look past this week to the summer as a whole, I realize I have learned a lot. On second thought, "a lot" doesn't even begin to cover it. I've spent more than 300 hours in Cooley Science center. I've had bad data and good data. I've learned how to handle both. I could go on and on about the lab and computer work I learned, but I prefer think in the present.

Tomorrow (already I've stopped thinking about the present), I will be presenting a powerpoint and poster at the ASE symposium. I feel like when I leave today there will be fireworks, a kickline, and a marimba band. A grand finale. Rather, all the ASE interns are going to Red Robins.

Thank you to Dr. Paul Tratnyek and Amanda Mather for being amazing mentors and genuinely nice people. I have had a wondrous summer thanks to everyone in the Tratnyek lab and everyone else at Cooley.

I guess there is only two things left to say: 1. Platinum is the best.  2. Goodbye.

-Katie Murphy