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Name: Kristin Lutek
Supervising Professor: Dr. Christine Schmidt Experience: During the second semester of my freshman year, I contacted a graduate student in the Schmidt lab and expressed interest in her research. We arranged a meeting to discuss her project, and shortly afterwards I began shadowing her in the lab. After many hours of watching and learning how to synthesize this biodegradable, biocompatible, electrically conducting polymer, I began to work independently on its synthesis. Over the course of the semester, I became very familiar with a series of four detailed and lengthy reactions. I also worked on some optimization issues, specifically involving the column chromatography technique used for purification. At the end of the semester, I had the opportunity to present my work to the Schmidt lab group during a lab meeting. Advice: Find a graduate student whose work really interests you, and contact him/her about it. Don’t be afraid to look for a research position as a freshman – they’re definitely out there! Sometimes it just takes a little perseverance to find a graduate student and a project that really suits you and piques your interest. Once you’ve found a position, keep learning – read related journal articles and ask lots of questions!
Supervising Professor: Dr. Michael Pishko Experience: From February through April of my freshman year, I researched and applied to various REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) programs at colleges and universities throughout the U.S.. I ended up accepting an offer at Penn State University, to work with Dr. Michael Pishko on a project with applications in drug delivery. As the first part of my project, I researched and developed a method for the synthesis of dye-loaded PLGA microspheres. Next, I modified these microspheres (particles) by a unique procedure called “particle lithography”. Once modified, I aimed to develop a protocol for release studies of the Rhodamine 6G dye from lithographed and non-lithographed (the control group) particles. Throughout the course of this project, I ran into a couple obstacles – once accidentally creating florescent bacteria. Although I didn’t actually create a working release protocol for these PLGA particles, I learned a lot about overcoming obstacles in research. I was also exposed to some imaging instrumentation, including the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and confocal microscopy. Advice: Experiments rarely work exactly the way you want them to. Be prepared for your experiments to fail multiple times, and be persistent. Sometimes months and months of work may fail to produce good data. Learn to think out of the box when tackling research obstacles, and most importantly – don’t give up! |