Nuclear Engineering Graduate Student Seeks to Increase Diversity Among His Peers

by Luis Ocampo

On January 25, 1999, my hometown of Armenia, Colombia, suffered a very devastating earthquake which not only destroyed a large majority of the city but also led to chaos and looting. The latter caused my father’s business to be completely empty making that whole year very hard for all of us. Given the situation and how devastated the economy was, my parents decided to find a better life and give me a better future by moving to the United States.

Coming to the U.S. was incredible! I was 12 years old and everything seemed really amazing. I came during the winter, so seeing snow for the first time was very pretty and special. I started attending middle school immediately. In Colombia, I had to walk to school, so being picked up by the bus on the corner of the street in the U.S. felt like a luxury. My life changed dramatically with all the education opportunities. I moved out of the English as a Second Language program in six months and started high school like all the regular students. I was lucky that my high school had many after-school activities and even a radio station, so I decided to participate in everything.

I ended up at Penn State, thanks to the College of Engineering’s undergraduate recruitment initiatives. For example, I participated in a program called VIEW (Visit In Engineering Week) where I was given hands-on experience relating to engineering projects, design, and presentations. Part of that week included tours of various labs and facilities around campus. One of the moments of my life that I will never forget was the Thursday of that week when we visited the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor. During the tour they did a pulse of the reactor which is quite an incredible sight and seeing it fascinated me so much that I said, “this is the coolest thing in the world and I want to be a nuclear engineer.” There was never any doubt that I would attend any other university but Penn State because the College’s Multicultural Engineering Program made sure that I liked it here. Upon being accepted into Penn State I was enrolled in the Pre-First Year Science and Engineering program, which gave me a really great experience and made me feel that that I really belonged even before my freshman year started.

One of the main challenges during my undergraduate years was the lack of diversity, particularly in engineering. I joined different clubs and societies to fill the gap and to make new friends; this was when the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers really became crucial to my involvement and my experience. As a first-generation college student, I felt that I was another minority, not because of being Latino, but rather because it felt that everyone’s family had attended Penn State for many generations.

Now as a graduate student and hopefully the first Ph.D. in my family, I am faced with an even greater lack of diversity at the graduate level. This is why we formed the Multicultural Engineering Graduate Association. It creates initiatives that foster the recruitment and retention of domestically diverse graduate students. I am very happy that Dean Elnashai has made this one of his priorities and is starting to take steps towards a solution.

Luis Ocampo was named runner-up in the J.D. Williams Student Paper Competition, based on research he performed at Brookhaven National Lab during the summer of 2013.  (Photo Courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Luis Ocampo (right) was named runner-up in the J.D. Williams Student Paper Competition, based on research he performed at Brookhaven National Lab during the summer of 2013. (Photo Courtesy of Brookhaven National Laboratory)

I think graduating as a nuclear engineer has been my greatest success. However, now in graduate school, I have to say that working at a national laboratory and being recognized by the premier technical organization in nuclear materials feel like the greatest success. I do hope that many more will come and I can contribute significantly to my field.

Luis Ocampo is president of the Multicultural Engineering Graduate Association, vice-president of the Penn State Institute of Nuclear Materials Management student chapter, elected representative for the College of Engineering to the Graduate & Professional Student Association, and a member of the Catholic Graduate Student Group. He aspires to work at a national laboratory as a scientist and eventually work for the U.S. Department of Energy in the area of nuclear materials management and nuclear security. In his free time, Luis enjoys electric remote controlled cars, cooking and baking (lately lots of pumpkin bread), listening to music, and traveling (when time permits).

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Penn State paper examines the state of the art in neural interface materials

Though engineers and doctors have been hard at work developing breakthroughs such as artificial limbs and therapies for spinal cord injuries, one of the greatest challenges is designing the neural interfaces themselves — the bridge between the body’s nervous system and the medical device.

A paper reviewing the state of the art in biomaterials for neural interfaces is featured on the cover of the journal Advanced Materials.

A paper reviewing the state of the art in biomaterials for neural interfaces is featured on the cover of the journal Advanced Materials.

As part of this effort, a team of Penn State engineers underwent an exhaustive review of the current state of the art in the organic and inorganic biomaterials utilized in neural interfaces.

The team’s paper looks at current microelectrode technologies, advancements in electroactive nanomaterials and the technical and scientific challenges in using nanomaterials to create long-lasting, functional neural interfaces.

The authors include Pouria Fattahi, graduate student in chemical engineering; Guang Yang, graduate student in bioengineering; Gloria Kim, graduate student in bioengineering; and Mohammad Reza Abidian, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, materials science and chemistry.

The result, “A Review of Organic and Inorganic Biomaterials for Neural Interfaces,” is the cover story in the latest issue of Advanced Materials, published on March 26.

The Penn State team’s paper can be found online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201304496/abstract.

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It’s always 65 degrees at the Eco-Machine

Rachel Brennan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, back, shows Ozgul Calicioglu, a new doctoral student in her research group, how to clear out the duckweed in one of the Eco-Machine's ponds.

Rachel Brennan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, back, shows Ozgul Calicioglu, a new doctoral student in her research group, how to clear out the duckweed in one of the Eco-Machine’s ponds.

On a campus where everything’s draped in white, there are precious few spots where greenery can be found.

One of those places is the Eco-Machine , an artificial wetland laboratory sheltered in a greenhouse south of Medlar Field just off Porter Road.

Run by Rachel Brennan, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, the Eco-Machine is designed to clean wastewater through the use of natural ecological processes.

Only a handful of plants occupy the 540-square-foot facility during the winter. Once spring arrives, the Eco-Machine will be teeming with more life.

Only a handful of plants occupy the 540-square-foot facility during the winter. Once spring arrives, the Eco-Machine will be teeming with more life.

Employing various plants and organisms, Brennan’s Eco-Machine replicates the biofiltration process that removes pollutants in wetlands.

Brennan explained that during the winter, many of the plants in the Eco-Machine go into a ‘resting phase’ where they don’t grow much, but the microorganisms in the system still keep the water quality high. Since the system contains so many living organisms, the machine can’t just switch off.

Inside the greenhouse, it’s a balmy 65 degrees and the vibrant colors of the resident Black Magic Taros and Water Callas are a stark contrast to the blanket of snow outside.

“I reduced the temperature over winter break to help conserve energy, but the plants really didn’t like it,” Brennan stated.

Water callas are among the few plants that live at the Eco-Machine facility year-round. Brennan's team stops by the greenhouse every few days to check on the plants.

Water callas are among the few plants that live at the Eco-Machine facility year-round. Brennan’s team stops by the greenhouse every few days to check on the plants.

She said the plants that are currently in the greenhouse are just a small part of the Eco-Machine. Once the weather gets warmer, the roughly 540-square-foot facility will spring to life with more than a dozen tropical plants to enhance the filtration work.

Until then, Brennan and her team will continue visiting the machine every few days to check on things.

“Every week, this place needs some minor maintenance like trimming the plants.”

And because the relatively warm environment can be a haven for bugs, her team keeps vigilant for unwanted pests.

“Earlier in the winter, we had a bit of an aphid problem because we can’t open the windows, so they tend to multiply,” Brennan said. To solve the problem, she purchases ladybugs to keep the aphids in check without the use of pesticides.

On this particular day, she’s introducing Özgül Çalicioglu, a Fulbright Scholar from Middle East Technical University in Turkey who just started her doctorate in Brennan’s group this semester, to the facility.

Brennan shows Çalicioglu how to scoop out duckweed from the artificial ponds. She explains that the emerald plant does a fantastic job of trapping nutrients in water.

The environmental engineer thinks that duckweed’s nutrient-trapping ability could be used to prevent runoff into waterways and potentially serve as a substitute for chemical fertilizers.

“Using duckweed in this capacity hasn’t been studied very much,” Brennan said. She said she hopes to test duckweed as a fertilizer substitute in the nearby community gardens this summer.

After Çalicioglu finishes cleaning the duckweed out of the ponds, the two head back to campus, but will check back again in a few days.

“It really just takes care of itself,” Brennan said. “It’s great.”

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DOW Sustainability Innovation Award

Four graduate students competed in the DOW Sustainability Innovation Challenge Award (SISCA) and received second place for their entry. The team of Patrick Saboe, Bryan Ferlez, Yuexiao Shen, Mustafa Erbakan, and Dr. Manish Kumar as faculty advisor received $2,500 for their entry “Solar Energy Based Biomimetic Water Desalination and Purification.”

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Criteria for the competition were based off of the goals that DOW has set out for 2015. The submissions had to feature interdisciplinary work and also a balance of social, environmental and economic success. The award recognizes students and universities for their innovation and research of sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing social, economic and environmental problems.

 

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Winning students have the opportunity to network with global sustainability thought leaders and peers along with their monetary award. The winners are also able to join a network of SISCA alumni and showcase their work with various external sustainability media.
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