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Analytical and Biomaterials Undergraduate Chemistry Research

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Nov02

Marielle Percuoco ’19 – GRAB Lab Halloween

Posted on Nov 2 by

The students of GRAB Lab have had reason to celebrate with Halloween, the Red Sox World Series win, and National Chemistry Week! The Emmanuel College Chemistry Club hosted a pumpkin carving event in the spirit Halloween. As the secretary of Chemistry Club and a member of the research team, Marielle carved her own pumpkin as well as assisted on the one pictured. Marielle just recently learned the technique to make dry ice needed for lyophilization. This technique was brought from the lab to the club’s event as a way to combine Halloween with chemistry and entice students to become involved in National Chemistry...

Oct29

Katarina Kozicki ‘21 – Working in more than just the research lab

Posted on Oct 29 by

When the students of GRAB lab are not in class, studying, or doing research, many of them work as lab assistants. Katarina works as a lab assistant in a general chemistry lab and this week the students were creating their own abbreviated activity series. Working as a lab assistant is a good opportunity for Katarina to review her knowledge of basic chemistry principles, which often times can be applied to her own research. Having Katarina in the lab allows the underclassmen to have someone they can talk to about future research opportunities or ask what being a chemistry major...

Oct29

Alex Paige ’20 – Save the sea life

Posted on Oct 29 by

After researching the morphology of calcium phosphate, Alex will now move onto studying calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is a common mineral found in the ocean. With increasing climate change, more carbon dioxide is absorbed in the seawater, causing chemical reactions to occur that lower the pH of the ocean and the concentration of carbonate ions. Carbonate is a main component in sea organisms’ skeletons and shells. The lowered pH and concentration of carbonate can harm sea life and Alex hopes he can uncover information about the morphology of calcium carbonate to help save the sea...

Oct01

Emma Duffy ’19 – Summer Research Poster Session

Posted on Oct 1 by

The members of Grab Lab are reflecting back on the summer as they look for inspiration for research during the fall semester. They attended and presented at the Emmanuel College Summer Research Poster Session to share the progress that has been made.  They also explored research projects going on in other departments. For example, in the Biology department several groups are studying how chemical pathways are related to genes in model organisms. Reflecting on their own research and other’s was a good way to get motivated to have a productive semester in research.    ...

Sep21

Jake Shlaferman ’19 – Kicking off Senior year

Posted on Sep 21 by

To kick off the start of his senior year, Jake is finishing up some mineralization experiments for a new publication that is soon to come. After presenting his poster at ACS Boston in August, Jake is motivated to tie up loose ends and finish his calcium phosphate mineralization project. Also, with new students joining the GRAB Lab, senior members are helping them get acclimated with the lab and start running experiments on their...

Sep10

Publication! (for team laminar flow)

Posted on Sep 10 by

A very big congratulations to Aimee Sanford, Geoff Conklin, and Jason Miech for the fantastic work, recently published in Materials Science & Engineering C! “Solution rheological parameters modulate calcium phosphate mineralization in a microfluidic device” This publication has been a long time coming and was really based on the Distinction in the Field work by Geoff and Aimee. It is an interesting combination of the engineering and chemistry aspects of controlling solid-forming reactions, like mineralization, in a microfluidic device. Check out the abstract here! Congrats to Aimee, Geoff, and Jason!...