Week three: Midlife crisis and ASE conference

After the third week I’m feeling what I’m guessing midlife crisis is like: I can’t believe that I have been here for so long and that so little time is left. Yet unlike midlife crisis I won’t be buying a shiny red convertible or a toupee; I will begin testing surface modifications to my titanium dioxide catalyst.

 

My third week consisted of only three days. On Tuesday I ran more tests on the solar simulator using blue dye and discovered it does not (unfortunately) heat all of its light area equally. I plan to utilize only the center of the light to avoid discrepancies in future data. On Wednesday I ran deionized water and measured temperature to confirm this. On Thursday I ran a test using the titanium dioxide catalyst and blue dye to use as a constant and comparison for the rest of my tests throughout the summer with modified catalyst. I also tested a photodeposition process trying to deposit palladium on titanium dioxide using a makeshift set up Amanda and I created. Unfortunately I can’t yet tell if the process worked, and I will have to wait to tell.

 

On Friday I went to the home of the Beavers for the ASE midsummer conference. Not only does the school have an amazing football team, produced my even more amazing front line mentor Amanda, but they also have a beautiful campus to accommodate my learning. Although it was an early morning and a long and hot bus ride, the day was incredible. I dissected a pig heart to learn about biomedicine, saw a computer simulation of a fellow interns movements to learn about biomechanics, and played with toys to learn about patents and how science relates to law. It was fun to be with my fellow interns and get to know new ones. Rather than feeling like midlife crisis, the conference felt like I was a newborn baby with loads of opportunities in science careers.