On this page you will find a compilation of the work I have done while here at Penn State, ranging from lab reports to class projects.
Rhetoric and Civic Life (ENGL 137H)
Over the course of my first year at Penn State, I took a yearlong honors English class, which focused on the use of rhetorical analysis on past and present facets of civic life in society. Over the course of two semesters, I learned to use multimedia technology to present my work in an interesting manner.
I believe the best project I completed was “The History of the Public Controversy,” which required us to form groups and make a video outlining a fresh perspective on a public controversy. Our group narrated and used iMovie to edit a video on capital punishment and the death penalty, culminating in the final submission below.
Organic Chemistry Lab (CHEM 213W)
During the Spring semester of 2018, I took a writing intensive organic chemistry laboratory course. In this class, I learned basic techniques for organic synthesis while completing many lab reports. Here is an archive of each lab report that I wrote. The first five lab reports were technique reports about experiments designed to teach essential organic chemistry lab techniques. The three final lab reports were synthetic experiments in which I applied the techniques I learned to perform an actual organic synthesis reaction and identify the product.
Technique Reports
Liquid-Liquid Extraction – This first technique report applies principles of acid/base chemistry to separate an unknown mixture of a carboxylic acid, amine, and neutral compound. Melting point analysis was then used to identify these components.
Oxidation of Benzoin to Benzil – This report discusses the application of thin layer chromatography and liquid/liquid extraction in an actual chemical reaction.
Distillation – This report discusses the application of a simple distillation apparatus to purify a product mixture from a Fischer-Esterification reaction. It also analyzes GC-MS data.
Recrystallization – This report analyzes the technique of recrystallization to purify a solid product mixture of the reaction between acetic anhydride and aniline.
Column Chromatography – This report reviews the use of the most effective purification method, column chromatography, to purify the product mixture of the nitration of phenol.
Synthetic Formal Final Reports
Chitosan Catalyzed Synthesis of an Imine – This reaction investigates the ability of chitosan, a natural product, to be used as a catalyst in the reaction between an aldehyde and amine to form an imine.
Making Soap from Nutmeg – This experiment explored the chemistry behind extraction of a natural product and synthesizing a useful compound, soap.
Wittig Reaction – This experiment centered on carbon-carbon bond formation chemistry, namely the stereoselective alkene formation reaction: the Wittig reaction.
CHE 210: Material Balances
In this introductory chemical engineering class, we learned about how to write mass and energy balances for various systems in accordance with the laws of conservation of mass and energy. All of the work culminated in a final project, where we were given various parameters in a propylene glycol production process and asked to analyze the effect on various parameters on the overall yearly profit for the process. While tough, it ultimately resulted in the application of essentially all of the concepts we learned throughout the class to a real life problem.
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Open in new tab I would later go on to serve as an instructional aide (IA) for the class the next year. I held office hours twice a week while also assisting the Penn State Department of Chemical Engineering in collecting sample student work for ABET Program Accreditation.
CHE 455: Drug Delivery
In this course, we learned about biological heat transfer, pharmacokinetics, and artificial organs. This course was my favorite course I ever took at Penn State due to the emphasis on applicability to the pharmaceutical and medical areas. As part of an honors option project, I wrote a report on bioavailability enhancement, which was inspired by both concepts learned in class as well as work I did on my internship at Lonza.
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