LSC Montgomery – Biotechnology Interns

This was the last week of the internship and I’m so grateful for it all. Working in the lab with my mentor was such a great experience and I’m so happy I was able to see the behind the scenes of research.

My Biotech Bestie

I was so nervous in preparing for the poster presentation. I hadn’t realized that I was spending so much time with the articles, getting my hands dirty in lab, and actually analyzing data, that all of the information came so naturally to me. I knew my presentation had gone well but I was not expecting to get an award, but I’m beyond happy with my achievement.

Thank you Dr. Zafar, you have been an amazing leader. I hope everyone has an amazing journey to whatever comes next, whether it be in your education or just in life.

I just want to say how grateful I  for this opportunity. I’m so excited to present my poster and tell everyone about my research. I honestly wish I was here much longer. This has been a lovely environment to learn and grow, from the beautiful buildings to wonderful staff and faculty. This experience has opened my eyes to multiple opportunities. My favorite things was talking to the bus drivers, specifically the Greenbriar route. They were so nice about when I was still figuring out how the routes worked. I will also miss the 6th floor on Fondren library. I really liked the research I was doing and it made me aware of how problematic PFAS are. I plan to use these skills to use the skills I learned in the next lab I work in. Hopefully I will be presenting my research at another symposium. I also want to thank my mentor and PI for allowing me to use the resources in their lab. I also want to thank Dr. Faiza Zafar for organizing this, and creating such opportunities.

Well, the last week is finally here, and I am upset this had to eventually end. I wish it was longer. I did learn a lot in the past ten weeks. I didn’t think I would gain so much from this internship, but I am glad that I did. This experience did place me outside of my comfort zone, but it was a good thing. Although the research I did here wasn’t aligned specifically to my major, (Mechanical engineering), I am glad I had the opportunity to experience working in the chemical engineering department. I realized most engineering disciplines overlap, because I was working with electrical components, chemical reactions, designing reactors, etc. So, I am grateful to say that I gained some chemical engineering experience.

I am also grateful I had the chance to talk to graduate students and ask them about their experiences in their undergraduate degree, what made them pursue a graduate degree, and how to get one. I also asked about why they decided to pursue a graduate degree, and I just really liked their input. This was one of the things I was looking forward to, guidance from someone who had already had their bachelor’s in engineering.

My mentor did a terrific job helping me with this summer research. She was always available when I had questions, and always encouraged me to attempt all the experiments. From day one, I was in the lab, mixing chemicals, measuring mass, etc. I am really grateful I had her as a mentor, and hopefully I can apply the same teaching methods if I ever have a mentee assigned to me.

As for grad school, this opportunity really helped me decide if I wanted to do it. I had considered it in the past, because I love learning, and I don’t just want to stop at a bachelor’s level. Once I saw how the grad students work, and what they do? I realized I want to do it too. I want to find something I am interested in and research it. See how it can be improved, changed, studied to help contribute to a bigger problem. So, again this I am grateful for everything and everyone that supported me in this research journey. I also want to thank Dr. Zafar and the faculty at the OURI office for their support in making this experience enjoyable.

So thank you for reading, and until next time

-Adrian

This was the last week of the internship. First official research experience. I aim to end it on a high note.

Monday 29JUL2024:

Monday was spent hoping to get the final poster done on time to submit after the revisions my mentor had asked me to take care of. I ran more wire tests in the mean time. I was able to finish it and turn it in by the end of the day, thankfully.

Tuesday 30JUL2024:

Tuesday was significantly less worrying now that I had turned in the poster. I fumbled on the elevator pitch, but I needed to rework it anyway. So not too bad overall.

Wednesday 31JUL2024:

With the poster out of the way, I was able to focus solely on wire cutting. Testing more extreme parameters and making a batch of wires with the old parameters.

Thursday 01AUG2024:

Thursday I had cleaned the tests from the day before and gave my results to my mentor, he approved for me to run the next batch with these new parameters. While they were being cut, I asked for training on a resin 3d printer and more info on a new filament 3d printer.

Friday 02AUG2024:

Today is the day. Hopefully things go well.

This is the end of this chapter. Signing off!

[End of Post for Week 10]

One last hello to everyone,

This week is the last. It almost feels impossible to see how fast time has gone. I am currently writing my blog post before heading out to the symposium. Throughout the week, all I did was practice with my fellow R-STEM REU peers. We pointed out each other’s weak points to ensure a good presentation. Besides that, I spent all the money left on my Rice ID at the Rice Coffee House. This REU made me start drinking coffee, I think I will take a break from it now because I feel like I am getting addicted to caffeine.

It was nice meeting all of you, and the lessons learned will surely be used throughout my life. I feel like this is the most I have grown as a student, and it was done in such a small amount of time. Lastly, I wish everyone successful college and professional careers, I am sure you will all thrive.

Participating in the 10-week Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program has been an enriching and eye-opening experience for me. Over the past ten weeks, I’ve had the chance to meet some fantastic people, including fellow students, faculty, and staff, each bringing their own unique stories and perspectives. Interacting with them has helped me learn more about different cultures and backgrounds and made me feel more connected and part of a community of aspiring scientists.

One of the program’s highlights was diving into real lab work. Working in the lab was challenging and exciting, as it allowed me to take the concepts I’ve learned in class and see them come to life through hands-on experiments. Whether it was setting up reactions, analyzing results, or troubleshooting issues, each day in the lab was a new adventure. This experience has boosted my confidence in using lab equipment and designing experiments, giving me a deeper understanding of how science works in the real world.

Another aspect of the program that I found incredibly valuable was the opportunity to connect scientific papers with real-life reaction processes. Discussing research papers with my peers and mentors showed me how the theories and ideas we read about translate into actual experiments and discoveries. It was fascinating to see the link between what’s written in journals and what happens in the lab, and this has sparked my curiosity to explore new research areas and think about how I can contribute to scientific progress.

Overall, the REU program has been a transformative part of my academic journey. It has given me new skills, broadened my knowledge, and strengthened my passion for science and research. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be part of this program and am excited to apply everything I’ve learned to my future studies and career.

The undergraduate research program has been a great experience.  Today is poster presentation at our final conference.  The poster was a lengthy chore but worth the effort.  I am almost have my elevator pitch down to a minute but it is hard for me to leave importatnt parts of the research out.  My poster link is below:

seed poster draft 4 pdf

This week I have continued to play around with different germination protocols to find the effective methods for germinating seeds of invasive plants.  Non-invasive plants such agricultural species are selectively bred to readily germinate.  Invasive have many subtle triggers for their seed germination including seed coats, light conditions, temperature restrictions, and /water conditions.  Below are pics of the invasive lamb’s quarter and agricultural quinoa:

Thank you to everyone that made this program happen:  Dr. Ashcroft with the NSF grant, Dr. Kanier at Lone Star, Amoi Campbell – my mentor, Dr. Zafar with Rice. and Dr. McCary – head of the ecoolgy lab at Rice.

I value the research experience I received in the program.

This week was all about making the poster. I joined the honors college at my community College last semester so I have a previous experience at making posters, but this still felt fairly new. This week was a time when all that I have learnt about my project throughout the 9 weeks culminated, and I enjoyed the process. This week plus the previous one was hectic in the sense that there were three assignments to turn in that really required some paying attention to.

In addition to the poster, I was required to present to my lab group. Actually the meeting this week was dedicated to all the interns in the lab, so I was also nervous for that. All the meetings I have attended in the past have been by grad students, and their works have all been thorough and lengthy. While my PI didn’t require that level of work from us, I still knew that my presentation had to have some semblance of a grad student’s; and I think I did well… there were questions my PI asked that I wasn’t able to answer, but that is alright because I know I do not fully understand everything about the work I performed in the lab.

Overall, I am satisfied with the work I made. Even though it could be better, I created them to the best of my ability and that is what matters.

The STEM REU program concludes today. Week 10 focused on learning from errors and tying up loose ends. In a couple of hours, I will be presenting my research at the symposium, marking a significant milestone. This experience has pushed me out of my comfort zone, highlighting that growth often requires discomfort. Overall, this research internship at Rice University has been a rollercoaster of emotions—interesting, fun, challenging, and at times uncomfortable.

Throughout this journey, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my mentor, Morgan Brinson, for her guidance and support. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Ashutosh Sabharwal, whose vision made this opportunity possible. I appreciate Dr. Faiza Zafar for her dedication and for pushing us to excel in every task. Thanks also to Dr. Clay, Mr. Mathew Cushing, and everyone involved in the REU program.

A special thank you to Rice University for this incredible opportunity. May we all continue our journeys forward, blessed and surpassing our own expectations.

This week has been a whirlwind of excitement and anticipation. John Paul and I spent our time rehearsing our pitch, and as I type this, I am about to present at the symposium. I am thrilled and grateful for this incredible experience.

Preparing for the Symposium

Rehearsing our presentation with John Paul has been a key focus. We’ve refined our delivery and ensured that our pitch effectively communicates our research findings. The hard work and practice have paid off, and we’re ready to showcase our efforts.

Gratitude and Reflections

Being part of this research internship has been an amazing journey. I have learned so much and grown both personally and professionally. I am immensely grateful to Sunny Kim, our mentor, for her invaluable guidance and support. John Paul has been an incredible partner, making this experience collaborative and enjoyable. A huge thank you to Dr. Vicky Yao for allowing us to be part of her lab, and to Faiza for ensuring we stayed on track throughout the internship.

Final Thanks

Lastly, I want to thank all the RSTEM interns this summer. Sharing this experience with such a talented and supportive group of individuals has been a highlight of my internship.

Thank you all, and until next time!