WISE Presents - PDF document

1 WISE Presents 14 th REWU By: Ashle
WISE Presents 14 th REWU By: Ashley Duvelius Photos By: Dottie Stover and Sucharitha Rajendran The UC College of Engineering and Applied Science’s (CEAS) Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) P rogram presented the 2012 Research Experience for Women Undergraduates (REWU) summer projects. WISE REWU Class of 2012 (bottom row, left to right): Shelby Campbell - Larbes, Jill Bader, Mickaela Sudhoff, Emily Christenson, Rachel Laughlin, Elizabeth Werren, Alison Brittain , Mackenzie Clark, Amanda Bell and Lauren Blake. Top row, left to right: Aisha Hussain, Chelsea Iles, Devan Macke, Catherine Schomaker, Margaret Pryatel, Kelly Louie, Sri Rajamouli, Malvika Sharma, Tajuanna Thornton and Nikole Dorsett. “These talented and dedicated young women are the bright future of the science, technology, engineering and m athematics (STEM) fields,” proudly spoke Urmila Ghia, PhD and Chair of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Program to kick - off the 2012 Research Experience for Women Undergraduates (REWU) summer project presentations. CEAS’ WISE P rogram is held each summer and has just completed its fourteenth cycle. It is a twelve week program that encourages the participation of talented young women in the science and enginee ring fields, with a goal of exposing these talents to diverse areas of research early in their education. Initiated and administered by the WISE Committee, the REWU Program encourages the participation of talented young women in ongoing research. The goals are to expose students to various aspects of scientific res

2 earch, and to encourage the pursuit of
earch, and to encourage the pursuit of advance d studies in science, mathematics and CEAS Dean Lim and Professor Ghia kick things off engineering. This summer twenty young women were given grants to conduct research endeavors in their field. The students worked with UC’s leading scientists and engineers in Anthropology, Biology, Bio - medical Engineer ing, Chemistry, Communications, Communications Sciences and Disorders, Geology, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Molecular Genetics, Nursing, Physics, Science and Health. The young researchers shared their research findings in a special presentation se ssion held in ERC on August 16, 2012 . Lauren Blake , CEAS biomedical engineering student, showcased her research project titled “ Design of a Nano - Vibratio n System for Nano - manufacturing.” Blake works with nano - machining , which is the modification of material features ranging from 1 - 1000 nanometers. To achieve this, one performs a novel nano - machining technique that uses a small vibrating to ol as a nano - hammer to hit nano - diamond particles on a work piece under an Atomic Force Microscope. Blake and her advisor, Murali Sundaram, PhD and CEAS assistant professor of mechanical engineering, set out to ensure constant and precise gaps of 100 - 200 nm between the tool and the work piece a s a prerequisite for the accuracy and repeatability of the novel process. They also hoped to prevent direct contact of the tool and work piece to protect the nano - hammer from breakage while machining a nano - sized hole. Blake hypothesiz

3 ed that a piezo transducer, which chan
ed that a piezo transducer, which changes electrical energy into mechanical energy, would be successful in nano - positioning the tool and work piece to ensure the required gap between the two. After conducting her experiments, Blake concluded that with the piezo transduce r, such positioning is certainly possible. However, more work needs to be done to implement this strategy. CEAS biomedical engineering student, Mackenzie Clark , introduced her research project titled “Characterization of Murphy Roths Large Bone Marrow Derived Progenitor Cells.” Clark and her advisor, Jason Shearn, PhD and CEAS biomedical engineering assistant professor, conducted work to study the Murphy Roths L arge (MRL) mouse as it is the only known mammalian regenerator . I ts distinct healing phenotype compared to that of a wild type of mouse , is pertinent to understanding the processes of regeneration and natural development. Lauren Blake with her advisor, Dr. Sundaram Left to Right: Dr. Shearn, Mackenzie Clark and Dr. Ghia Clark hypothesized that in the MR L there will be an increased expression of a gene — c - myc, the p21 inhibitor — which induces rapid, natural regeneration compared to its expression in the wild mice (black6 and CD1). Unfortunately, various complications arose during the preliminary stages of t he experiment and Clark was unable to obtain data. Clark remains busy doing fall co - op work with William Ball , MD and Interim Vice President of University Research. Kelly Louie , CEAS chemical engineering student, presented her research project

4 titled “Synthesis of Sialic Acid Stab
titled “Synthesis of Sialic Acid Stabilized Silver Nanoparticles.” Louie worked with her advisor, Peng Zhang, PhD and A&S chemistry associate professor, to create artificial silver nanoparticles. These particles were coated with sialic acid to perform bio - related applications. Louie was tasked with developing a more cost and time efficient procedure to synthesize these nanoparticles. Louie hypothesized she would be able to stabilize the nanoparti cles, which means control the size and color of the particles. She also hypothesized that she would be able to find a more time and cost effective procedure for synthesizing the particles. Louie was correct on both of her hypotheses. Louie takes her WISE REWU experience and gained confidence with her as she begins co - op work at Patheon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. this fall. She plans to earn her chemical engineering bachelor’s degree by 2016. These young women are key factors in the renowned res earch recognition that UC consistently upholds! Congratulations to the successful participants!  Jill Bader  Amanda Bell  Lauren Blake  Alison Brittain  Shelby Campbell - Larbes  Emily Christenson  Mackenzie Clark  Nikole Dorsett  Aisha Hussain  Chelsea Iles  Rachel L aughlin  Kelly Louie Left to Right: Dr. Changwon Lee , Dr. Zhang, Kelly Louie and Dr. Ghia  Devan Macke  Margaret Pryatel  Sri Rajamouli  Catherine Schomaker  Malvika Sharma  Mickaela Sudhoff  Tajuanna Thornton  Elizabeth Werre