The Adventure Begins

Hello everyone, not only is this the first week of the NEWT REU this is also my first blog post, ever! I had such an amazing time this week. I traveled to Houston, for the first time, met my fellow REUers and learned so much in the lab.

The week started in the new Martel dorms. I was very pleased with the accommodations we were given, well once we got linens I was pleased. The Rice campus is so beautiful and the during the first day of orientation we were given a tour.The Beautiful Entrance to Rice

Some of the ASU contingent: Paola Cahue and me, plus honorary member Tim

The Whole Gang

Tuesday night those of us from out of town traveled back home(Phoenix, Arizona). We started working in our labs the next day. I will be working in Dr. Westerhoff’s lab, at Arizona State University, my mentors are Ariel Atkinson, and Anjali Mulchandani. Ariel will be mentoring me until she leaves in three weeks.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent getting me acquainted with the lab and running an experiment which consisted of creating nano bubbles, using air, and trying to gauge how many nano bubbles were still in the water after time.

First we created nano bubbles using this machine:

MoLeaer Nano Bubble Generator

Then we added pCBA at a specific concentration. This chemical reacts with the nano bubbles and allows us to see there concentration using a High-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). We allowed the pCBA to set for different intervals of time before we quenched it(stopped the reaction). Then the samples went in the HPLC for analysis.

At ASU Fridays are spent in meetings and doing paperwork. I sat in on these meeting and saw what will be expected of me next week. I loved watching how well these professionals collaborate with each other. It was also good for me to see how the constructive criticism works so I don’t take it personally when I present my work.