Hello World,

It’s the last week of my 10-week research journey here at Rice University. I have learned quite a lot with the most noteworthy being able to convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit and vice-versa without using Google. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete my poster over the weekend but I was able to have it completed on Wednesday. I am very grateful for the REU and specifically for Dr. Faiza for her help in printing the poster for me. The majority of my time this week was spent on the poster. From editing to practice presentation, I feel a lot more prepared than I was about a week ago. My work on Polymer is not complete although due to time limitations, I wasn’t able to include it in my poster.

This week was primarily focused on the poster so there isn’t a lot of updates in terms of the research. However, thanks to some insight from Ricardo, I’ll write this blog on the topic of self-reflection. Looking back, to the very start of this program, my expectations coming in were very different. My idea of research was very basic and not as expansive as it is now. I was expecting research to be more hands-on, with little time spent at the desk. However, my experience with this research has been quite the opposite and I am very grateful for it. The numerous hours spent at my desk have helped me unlock something that I never thought I would, being self-taught. During the covid era, like most people, I did not really learn anything because I was required to take the initiative and “teach myself”. This led me to believe that I would never be able to teach myself things and would always need to be taught by someone else. This program helped me break that barrier and made me realize that all I was missing was determination.

This program also exposed me to what graduate school really is, something I never thought I would be heavily considering. More years of schooling was the last thing I wanted to do and on the surface level, that was all graduate school was to me. After the workshops and exposure to various graduate students, I realized that graduate school is more than more years of schooling. In fact, the Ph.D. level is barely any schooling given that you’re only taking about 1-2 classes and everything else is research. Overall, this program has benefited me in ways I wasn’t expecting and I am very grateful for that.

I would like to thank the National Science Foundation

I would like to thank Dr Faiza and Mr Mathew Cushing

I would like to thank the R-STEM REU program

I would like to thank Rice University

and lastly I would like to thank my REU cohorts for being so supportive. I hope you all end up in wonderful places and achieve your goals.

Thank you all.

Cheers,

Samuel Ogunsola

Hello world,

We’ve reached the last stretch of our journey. With only one week left, it feels like we’ve only been here for a short time. I know most of us are still scrambling, trying to gather some results for our poster (myself included).  The date is 07/22/2024, marking the beginning of week 9

Monday (07/22): Today was my busiest day yet. I spent the majority of today preparing my poster draft which is due at 11:59 pm today. In order to prepare the poster, I needed to get my graphs and results ready so I spent about half of my time working on that. For my research, I was given three polymers to work on but due to the sake of time and results available, I will only be presenting one polymer at the symposium.

Tuesday (07/23): Today was quite similar to yesterday, with lots of repetitions and data analysis. Before heading to the cubicle, I had the weekly OURI meeting which went over resume/CV workshops. It was very useful and I plan on implementing some areas into my resume and CV to make me a better applicant. For our weekly REU meeting, we gave feedback on each other’s posters. My feedback was very helpful and I was able to utilize some of the comments. I also scheduled some more time with the rheometer today so I can acquire the necessary data that I needed for the polymers. However, I wasn’t able to get through all the polymer samples I took because each individual test was more time-consuming than usual and I had someone who needed to use the rheometer after me. In addition, I had an appointment at  Walgreens for my bacterial meningitis vaccine. The shot was faster and painless than I expected.

Wednesday (07/24): Today, I continued working on my final poster. This step has been a lot harder than I was expecting and I think the main problem is trying to identify what to include on the poster and what not to include. I also don’t have all the data I need yet so it has been pretty difficult trying to work on it when it all revolves around the data. This is also my first time making a poster. But all in all, I think the main problem is my slight dislike of posters. I prefer using a presentation rather than a poster because I find that easier to organize. In addition, I find posters to be quite limiting due to the many specific requirements that it requires but I’ll get over it. It’ll all be done in no time.

Thursday (07/25): Another day of working on the poster. I have made quite a lot of progress today. I reorganized the structure of my poster compared to what I had on the draft and I organized the pictures to ensure they were the same sizes. I also worked on reducing the amount of white space that I had on the poster. To finish up the remaining data, I scheduled some time with the rheometer today and tested polymer 3 on shear rheology.

Friday (07/26): Last day of the week and another with the rheometer as well. Today I spent a majority of my time getting data for polymer 3 with no brine in it. I made some more progress on my poster as well by adding more images but I’m still missing some data which I am computing in excel and that takes a while but so far so good. I plan on working over the weekend and finishing by Saturday. Here’s a peak at what it looks like so far.

Hello World,

This week has been full of progress, data collection, and hours at my cubicle. Due to the increase in the work I had this week, I couldn’t organize my blog daily and write as each day happened so I’ll summarize each day to the best of my ability. On Monday, I read some documents that had been sent to me from my mentor a week prior. The documents were very insightful and helped me understand more about my topic, polymer flooding. After a while, the optical tweezer handler came up to my lab and we went over data analysis from my previous experiment and what that looks like. Although not as complicated as the machine itself, the data analysis section from the optical tweezer was intimidating at first but I was able to get the hang of it by Thursday. I also worked on my abstract based on the feedback I received from my mentor and Dr Faiza.

On Tuesday, I scheduled a time slot with the rheometer. I prepared some polymers as my mentor requested. For these polymers, they were made without brine. It only consisted of di water and each individual polymer.  The polymers required two hours to be completely dissolved in the water so the last polymer was made on Wednesday. I was able to test the other polymers that had already been created, which gave me more data to use on my poster.

On Wednesday, I completed the preparation of the polymers. I also used this time to analyze the data that I had received from rheometer on Tuesday. I forgot to take my flash drive with me to the rheometer so I had to transport those data into excel manually. This was a  lengthy procedure but I was able to complete it on Thursday.

On Thursday, I worked on my presentation. I forgot to note that I had started this presentation on Monday and had been slowly working on it all this while. This presentation will be an extensive info session on what my research session. It’ll help make it easier for me to put together my poster since I’ll already have the overall information, I’ll just have to handpick what to put on the poster. I also continued analyzing the data that I had received from the optical tweezer. I had to manually import the data into excel as well. On Friday, I finished off all the data that I had received from the optical tweezer. The results didn’t come out quite as expected and looked funky so I will reach out the instrument handler about my error.

Hello World,

This week has been off to a rough start. Hurricane Beryl brought with it tons of destruction to the Houston area. On Monday, my power went out and I didn’t really think much of it until my sister informed me that it might take multiple days for the power to be restored. There was no service so the whole house was in a a state of boredom. I played a few chess games, scrolled through old pictures, and took multiple naps all just to keep me from going insane. All in all, it was still bearable.

On Tuesday, not much changed. I went through the same old routine. Luckily for us, we had a family friend who still had power so we were able to stop by and get some juice on our devices and flashlights. I took a nap in the afternoon and woke up sweaty, not visibly but I felt it internally. The heat was awful. Upon receiving the email that Rice was open on Wednesday, I decided to get some gas to prepare me for my drive to Houston. I was able to find a HEB but waited in line for what felt like forever.  I had 57 miles when I arrived at the HEB, but by the time I got to the pump, about 21 miles had been exhausted. Luckily, when I arrived at home, the power had been restored which brought a smile to my face.

We had a gas stove so we were able to cook all this while. We also had access to running water, making the whole process much more bearable. Given our situation, I am very grateful for all the amenities we still had access to because I know that some didn’t have access to their stove and/or running water. My heart goes out to all those who are still waiting for their utilities to be restored.

Wednesday (07/10): Today, the campus was open so I decided to use this opportunity to catch up on some missed work. The drive to Houston was quicker than usual due to the fewer vehicles on the road. I spent the majority of the day working on my abstract draft. I also schedule some time with the rheometer for Thursday and the optical tweezer for Friday. Quite a busy week ahead.

Thursday (07/11): To start off my day, I had the rheometer in which I tested for amplitude & frequency sweeps. This lasted for the whole duration of my allotted time. For lunch, I went to the Siebel servery to get some grub with a few friends from other REUs. After lunch, I went to my cubicle to prepare for my next test with the rheometer, Shear Rheology. However, I wasn’t able to complete my test due to an issue with the machine. At certain shear rates, the machine would start making noises. I am not sure if this was a human error on my part or if it’s a machine error. The instrument handler said that he would take a look at it to see if it needs recalibrating. Back at my cubicle, I spent the rest of my time processing the results that I got from the amplitude & frequency sweeps on Excel.

Friday (07/12):  Due to the error from yesterday, I decided to not schedule a time with the rheometer today so that’ll give the instrument handler some time to check it out. Operations will begin on Monday. I spent most of the day with the Optical Tweezer. I was able to bring in my sample and have it tested by the instrument handler. Although I have been trained on it, I don’t feel confident using it myself quite yet as the machine is very complicated and delicate. Once I was done with the optical tweezer, I went to my cubicle to read up on some documents my mentor shared with me.

Hello World,

Another week is upon us. Last week, I got through some of the polymers that needed testing so I’m hoping that by this week, I will be able to get through all of the polymers. It is a short week since we have Thursday and Friday off, so we’ll be in week 7 in the blink of an eye. Time is moving so fast and I feel so behind. Also, Happy New Month.

Monday (07/01): Today was a very busy and productive day for me. To start it off, I had the rheometer scheduled from 10:30 to 12pm. I was planning on getting data for shear rheology but the APS system which is used to control the temperature wasn’t working due to a low tank level so I had to adapt and change my plan to focusing on viscoelasticity instead. I did one polymer today and the results were pretty good. At 1pm, I had another session with the optical tweezer. It was more hands-on as I got to prepare a chamber and fill it up with samples. The Optical Tweezer is still a bit intimidating to me but today’s session helped me become more familiar with how it works. The distinction between the Optical Tweezer and the Rheometer is that the rheometer tests the overall sample whereas the optical tweezer can test selected areas of a given sample.

Tuesday (07/02): Day 2 of being occupied with the rheometer. The tank was filled so it’s all good and ready to go. To start off the day, we had the group meeting with Mr Cushing and our guest speaker Dr Lynn Frostman who had a degree in Chemical Engineering and serves as the VP of a startup company known as Syzygy. The presentation was very informational and it provided a lot insights on what startups are and the qualities they require. After that, I went to my cubicle to continue my rheology project. My mentor was around so I touched base with him on what to do with the data I had gotten from the rheometer. Today, I spent some more time with the rheometer, approximately 3 hrs. which is the most yet. I was able to do the shear rheology of three other polymers which is pretty good. To round it off, I exported the data to excel where I plotted the data onto a graph.

Wednesday (07/03): Sadly I didnt have a chance to use the rheometer today but I was productive in other means. I finished transferring the data that I had received into plots that I plan on using for my poster. I spent some time working on college stuff as well as I am still trying to decide where I would like to transfer to. I also began working on my abstract which is due very soon. After all of that, I took a break and went for a cubicle as I had been sitting for quite a while. When I came back, I went over the plots with my mentor and so far it’s all good news. I do have a bit of tweaking to do in one of the plot but it’s all part of the process. Next week, I plan to complete all the data I need for my Polymer. I have five more polymers left so I should be able to get it done. Until then.

Cheers,

Samuel Ogunsola

Hello World,

Wow, we have reached the halfway point. I knew it was going to arrive but I never thought it would happen this fast. I guess it’s true when they say time flies when you’re having fun. The date is 06/24/2024 marking the beginning of Week 5. I look forward to working with the rheometer more and getting some data that is needed for my research. The goal for this week is to get the data needed for all of the Polymer types.

Monday 06/24: Big day for me, I had the rheometer all to myself without any help from my mentor (physically). At first, it was a bit scary because I was scared that I would damage something or spill my polymers but that was just imposter syndrome talking. I was able to test two polymers without any spill or damage (yay). Reading the data was a bit challenging but with the help of my readings and the book given to me by my mentor, I was able to slightly understand what it all meant.

Tuesday 06/25: Today was quite a busy day for me, the busiest I’ve been so far. I had some time with the rheometer today and I was able to get through three more polymers, making it a total of five so far (whoop whoop). The process of getting the data went a lot easier compared to yesterday. I’m starting to become more familiar with the rheometer. For the optical tweezer, I haven’t gotten any chance with that yet but I look forward to getting some time with it next week. For lunch, I went to Taco Bell because I wanted to start conserving money. I’ve been spending way too much money on food. I was able to get a combo meal for $7  which was pretty good.

Wednesday 06/26:  Another day with the rheometer. Today, I tested the shear rheology of the polymers. I was only able to get through one polymer because I wasn’t quite sure what the data meant and how to interpret them so I returned to my cubicle to do some more research. With the help of my mentor and some internet search, I was able to understand a bit more how to perform the procedure. Tomorrow I will return to the rheometer to test for shear rheology of the polymers. Using a system called the APS system, I will observe how changing the temperature affects the viscosity of the polymers.

Thursday 06/27: I spent a bit more time today with the rheometer testing for the shear rheology. Knowing what to look for, I felt pretty confident in the data I was getting. As the temperature increases, the viscosity of the polymer that I tested decreases. I was only able to test one polymer because on my second testing, I made a little mistake, forcing me to disconnect everything and report the issue to machine handler through FOM. Other than that, I’d say it was a successful day of experiments and the data that I got looked pretty good. Once my mentor gets back from his conference, I will report the data to him and see what the next step is.

Friday 06/28: I wasn’t able to schedule a time with the rheometer  so I spent most of my time at my cubicle. I spent most of the day working on some college stuff and then making changes to my presentation. For lunch I went to the Wiess servery and it wasn’t too bad. Not a lot of appealing options today but still enough for me to have a good lunch.

Overall, I would say this week was a success. Although, I wasn’t able to get through all of the polymers, I was still able to get through a significant amount of my polymers and it’s all starting to make sense. Until next week.

Cheers,

Samuel

Hello World,

The date is 06/17/2024 which marks the beginning of week 4. I wasn’t expecting things to move by so fast because it feels like I just started last week, but there are 6 weeks left which sounds like a lot but at this rate will be gone in the blink of an eye. This week looks very promising as I can finally get more personal hands-on experience with the big boy machines. I have one more training session scheduled for tomorrow and then I’ll be off to the wild to do great things.

Monday 06/17: Today, I got the chance to shadow a graduate student who was also conducting research in Rheology. We went to the building where the Rheometer was located and she fired up the machine to conduct her research. I got the chance to help a bit which helped me become more accommodated to the machine. The whole process took a while so I decided to go to lunch after we were done. For lunch, I went to West Servery to try something new as I’d heard good things about this servery. Unfortunately, I went at a bad time as they were packing up the food, possibly preparing to start making dinner. I was able to get some pizzas and pasta. It tasted pretty good so I was satisfied regardless.  After lunch, I went back to my cubicle in preparation for my meeting with my PI. The meeting went well and provided me more insights and guidance on what my research is.

Tuesday 06/18: Today was quite a busy day for me. To start, I had my second session of the optical tweezer training which ran from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm. There was a lot of information on how to use the optical tweezer. I feel a bit overwhelmed and unqualified to use such a complex machine as this but I believe it’s just another case of imposter syndrome that should pass over soon but I’m not quite sure when soon is. For lunch, I went to the West Servery again to try my luck and luckily I was able to get there at a good time but the options of food disappointed me and I’ve heard so much good stuff about West Servery. Their pizzas were pretty good compared to Seibel’s. After lunch, I went to back to my lab where me and my mentor prepared a sample for testing with the Rheometer. The rheometer was another complicated beast of its own but a beast I could tame within a few days.

Wednesday 06/19:  Today was a holiday so I didn’t do anything today. I spent majority of the day rotting in bed and enjoying the break. It felt really nice to take a day off and just relax. Being in the lab continuously can be overwhelming and draining so having the day off was very much needed.

Thursday 06/20: Today was a pretty chill day,  I spent the first half of my day at my cubicle, reading and processing the data that I had received from Tuesday’s time spent with the rheometer. Still trying to wrap my head around it all but I’ll get there eventually. Around 2pm, my mentor showed me some other machines that I will be utilizing in my research. Lots of fancy and complex machines. I was supposed to work with the Rheometer today but I didn’t have my card at hand so I wasn’t able to access the room where the Rheometer was located. Sadly I wasn’t able to work with the Rheometer today so I will reschedule for another day.

Friday 06/21: Today was a very exciting day, the field trip. We were taken to the City of Sugarland Surface Water Plant Facility. The drive was honestly shorter than I was expecting. When we got there, we had to sit through a presentation which was very informative. What I found most interesting was the Membrane Filtering process which works in the microscale. I didnt get to take a picture but the demo that was shown to us looked pretty cool. After the presentation, we went outside and got a tour of the facility. I never thought the process of water filtration was so complex. It’s so cool how they can filter out even the dirtiest of waters to something that can be drinkable. After the trip, I went up to my cubicle to finish up reading about my project.

Hello World,

The date is 06/10/2024 marking the beginning of Week 3. Last week, I was able to get my SEA training scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday so I am looking forward to that. My goal by the end of this week is to get some level of familiarity in the lab.

Monday 06/10:  Today was very similar to my other days. After I got off the shuttle, I went to my cubicle and began researching my topic more in preparation for the upcoming training. For lunch, I went to the servery where I got a variety of food and was later joined by Mahmoud. We both conversed about our different projects and other aspects of academia. Back to the cubicle, I continued my research. Although my current hours are not up to 8 hours, I’ve become more used to working 8 hours at a desk compared to when I first began. It doesn’t seem as daunting anymore and as I start to work in the lab, I have a feeling that there may be days when I will have to go past 8 hours and I feel prepared for that.

Tuesday 06/11:  Starting off the day, I had the workshops. This session focused on inclusivity and diversity with many scenarios given to us so we can understand the concept. We then headed to GRB  212 where our second meeting took place. Here, we learned about Entrepreneurship, met Dr Carolyn Nichol, and got our second stipend from the program. After this, I headed to get lunch at the servery along with a few others. Since I had my training at 1pm, my mentor had asked to meet up by 12:45 so I left the servery a bit earlier to head back to my lab. Upon arrival to my lab, I received an email from the trainer that the training will have to be rescheduled to Thursday because some issues happened.  This bummed me out as I was looking forward to the training but I understand that things happen. I continued my daily routine of research on my computer and learned more about the Optical Tweezer, the machine I will be getting trained on tomorrow, Wednesday.

Wednesday 06/12: I had my Optical Tweezer training at 10am today. I left my cubicle at 9:45 am to give me extra time to find the location of the lab. The training went very smoothly. It made me feel prepared and excited for when I begin to conduct my experiments. The trainer, Subash, was very helpful and assured me he would be willing to help me if ever needed help with my experiments. We went ahead and scheduled our second training session for Tuesday of next week at 9:30 am so sadly I won’t be conducting any actual experiments this week. I do have my Rheometer training scheduled for Thursday 06/13 so that will give me a chance to get some hands-on experiments with the polymers. However, I was able to get some time in the lab today with my mentor by helping him with his experiment. I got the chance to use the pipettes to separate metal particles from diluted water. He also offered me the opportunity to help him out on Friday which I gladly took. I’m really looking forward to both the training and the lab time.

Thursday 06/13: Today’s the day, the day that I get my training done on the Rheometer. I started off the day by grabbing some quick breakfasts at good ol McDonalds and then I headed to my cubicle. I spent most of my time working on my presentation that I was going to present to my mentor on Friday. The content of the presentation was a summarization on two articles that I had received from my mentor earlier this week. For lunch, I stopped by the Rice Memorial Center and grab a quick snack and water. I then headed back to my cubicle to continue my readings. Around 1:40 pm, my mentor and I headed down to the Engineering building for our training.  The building looked very new and had that new building smell to it which I believe we all know and love (right?). The training lasted for approximately 2 and a half hours. It made me feel very prepared for the various experiments that I will be conducting.

Friday 06/14: I got to my cubicle around 9 am and began my daily routine but today, I got some time in the lab by helping my mentor with some materials. Around 9:45 am we went to the lab and continued our work on what we started on Wednesday. This was very fun and provided me some hands-on experience on what I will be doing in my own experiments. For lunch I reheated some food that I had brought from the servery yesterday. After lunch, I went back to my desk and finished up the presentation that I had to present for my mentor. Overall today was  very successful and the best day in comparison to the other days.

That’s a wrap for week III. I had a lot of progress this week in terms of getting hands-on experience in the lab. I was hoping to get all of my training done this week but things don’t always go the way we expect it to go. However, I am glad that I got to achieve my goal for this week, albeit not in the way I was expecting. And just like that, week III is over. I look forward to what week IV has in store for me. Until then.

Cheers,

Samuel Ogunsola

Hello World,

At the time of this writing, the date is June 03, 2024, marking the start of Week Two. I forgot to mention this in last week’s post, but I haven’t been able to conduct experiments in the lab yet because I need to complete my SEA training. If all goes right, I could get my SEA training this week so I can begin working in the lab but until then, I will be at my cubicle learning more about Rheology and what it entails. By the end of this week, my goal is to be able to explain what Rheology is a lot clearer than I can now.

Continuing my summarization, I’ve included below how each day went and what I learned highlighted in red.

Monday 06/03:  I started my day by stopping by the RUPD to get my ID fixed because I couldn’t get access to my lab and was issued a new card. I then drove to Greenbriar Lot where I waited for the shuttle to arrive. Upon arriving at the lab, I tried the new card but it didn’t work either. I was informed by my mentor that it may take about 24 hours for my card to work so I will give it another try again tomorrow. Today, I spent most of my hours at my desk learning about new terms such as Thixotropy which is the property of certain fluids and gels to become thinner when a constant force is applied. Not quite sure how to properly pronounce that term just yet but we’ll get there. For lunch, I went to the Rice Memorial Center and bought a sandwich which cost about $11. The sandwich tasted a lot better than I thought so definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking to get something on campus.

Tuesday 06/04: Today’s schedule was slightly different than what my typical day looked like. To start it off, I had the OURI meeting today which occurs every Tuesday from 9am to 10am with today marking the first day. The content covered different mentor relationship and mentor styles. We had several examples where we had to come with  solutions for the given scenarios. Next we had a workshop on how to read literature. The first half was spent going over areas of concerns as well as questions that we may have. This made me feel sort of behind as most people have already begun getting their hands dirty and were working in the lab. However, I did leave with some nuggets of wisdom on how to approach reading literature by realizing that skimming over an article isn’t lazy but rather efficient and encouraged. After that, I headed to my cubicle where I continued my research on Rheology.

Wednesday 06/05: Today was more of a lazy day for me. Starting off the day, I texted my mentor if I could have the chance to work from home given the fact that  I haven’t begun any work in the lab quite work. This saved me hours of commute as well as gave me the chance to finish up some assignments that were coming up on canvas and for my mentor as well. I also did more research on my topic, specifically areas that were already known to gain a better understanding of what’s to come.

Thursday 06/06: The commute to campus today was quite different than what I normally experience. I left my house at 7:10 am in preparation to arrive at Rice around 8:28 am, however, there was a severe accident that caused a delay of 28 minutes. Past that accident, I was also caught in another wave of traffic that delayed my whole commute drastically. This led me to arrive at the Greenbriar Lot at 9:30 am. I then waited for the bus for approximately 18 minutes and realized that by the time I arrived at the BRK, I would have missed the whole presentation so I decided to head into my cubicle. I did more research on the computer and with the help of my mentor, I was able to learn a new term today known as amplitude sweep. Amplitude sweeps generally aim at describing the deformation behavior of samples in the non-destructive deformation range.

Friday 06/07: Last day of the week. Bad news, I wasn’t able to get my SEA training done this week like I was hoping but good news, I was able to get them scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week which means I’ll be able to get some hands on experience any time soon. So far through out this week, I’ve been able to learn some thing new bringing me closer and closer to understanding my project. Today, I learnt that optical tweezers allow for precision active micro rheology measurements. I also gave a presentation on what I’ve learned to my mentor as outlined by the Mentor Compact.

Lots of repetitiveness this week but each produced a different outcome. I look forward to getting some time experimenting with the polymers next week. Until then.

Cheers,

Samuel

Hello World,

The date is 05/31/2024, marking the last day of my first week of REU at Rice University. I came into this REU scared and nervous and after four days the nerves have SLOWLY begun to dissipate. I have learned a lot of new things that I never thought I would learn yet given it has only been four days. Here’s a quick rundown of how my week went

Tuesday: Marked the first day of the REU programs. I had to get up around 5:30 am which isn’t new to me, but it was a groggy morning for sure. I parked at the Greenbriar lot and realized that I would have to walk 22 minutes (according to Apple Maps) to the location of my REU. Luckily, a guy in a white pick-up truck drove up to me and asked if I was lost to which I responded yes, and he offered to give me a ride. Don’t worry, the truck had the words Rice University Parking plastered on the side, so I was confident that I wasn’t in any danger. I was dropped off at Rayzor Hall and enjoyed some light breakfast that was provided. After a long day of valuable information, I left the hall feeling a bit more ready for what was ahead.

Wednesday: Today was day of semi orientations. We had the chance the go through two safety training in order to prepare us for the work we’re going to be doing in our labs. After the safety training I met my mentor Dr Aldo who was very welcoming and introduced me to my project. We had a brief lunch and headed towards the lab, where I will be spending most of my days. Before getting to the lab, he showed a few places on campus to get food.

Thursday: First day in the lab: I spent the first half of my day at a cubicle where I was learning the different terms needed to conduct my experiments. The latter half of the day was spent in the learning different things from lab specific safety training to how to make polymers.

Friday: A continuation of Thursday, I spent most of my time in the cubicle learning about the different terms. I realized that there’s so much that I don’t know about the world of chemistry which is understandable given my degree plan of Mechanical Engineering. Around 3:50, I left the lab to attend the welcome reception that was held about two buildings down from where I was which was very convenient.

My time at Rice so far has made me realize that I might need to learn how to skateboard or invest in a scooter. I’ve also learned a lot of things on my own in such a short amount of time that I’d never thought I was able to do. I look forward to seeing what the upcoming weeks have in store for me. Until then.

Cheers,

Sam