a summer_... • ot \eatn\n9 All the physiCS formulas and chem1cal equations meant more than writing on the chalkboard for a few chemistry majors. For some students, "polymer" and "nitride" were passwords to new, practical inventions. During the summer of 2010, five members of the Gedanken Society, an organization for Chemistry and Biochemistry majors, participated in research projects around the country. Seniors Sarabeth Shock and Andi Hardman, copresident of Gedanken, were the first recipients of the Harding chemistry department-sponsored research grant Sophomore Constance Lents, junior Stephen McBride and pharmacy student Jay Hungerford also contributed to their own projects. Dr. Burt Hollandsworth assisted many of them in selecting a program to work with and also mentored them along the way. "The goal of the Gedanken Society this year is to get more people involved with doing research and to help them realize how valuable an experience it is," Hardman said. "We intend to collect all the data from these projects and publish it in Harding's Gedanken Journal." Hardman's project was the first step in trying to reach a super conducting polymer using the properties of polysulfur nitride crystals. "These crystals were discovered by mistake in 1910 and the fact that they lose very little energy when a current passes through them makes them very interesting for coating on substances for companies like NASA," Hardman said. "However, the crystals alone are explosive. The long-term goal of this project is to incmporate the properties of these crystals into a polymer that is safe and cost effective." McBride and Lents worked alongside Central Michigan University's Dr. Brian Pate through the "Science of Advanced Materials" program, which also selected nine other undergraduates from across the country. "My re.search was focused on finding a consistent way to make conductive substances (polymers) that could eventually raise the cost efficiency of many renewable energy sources," McBride said. Planning a research project from start to finish provided priceless knowledge that could not be learned in the classroom alone. "The most valuable experience I learned from this is the ability to think about a project and develop my own path to get there-with advice from Dr. Burt of course," Hardman said. "With research, you've got the freedom to do what you need to do for your project to succeed and you gain the confidence to be able to do it with the skills that you learn from the research and the undergraduate cou1·ses." The research project also allowed the students to make connections with great minds from all over the U.S. "Aside from the chemistry and physics knowledge, it was a fantastic experience getting to meet and know CMU staff and fellow undergrads from all over the country," McBride said. Overall, the students were grateful fort heir experiences and felt privileged to have been given such a unique opportunity. "Iam very blessed to have had the opportunity to research here at Harding because Ifeel more confident in my abilities and I feel like I will be able to succeed in the real world of chemistry," Hardman said. "I know now not everything works or turns out the way you want it to, especially when you are trying to make a new compound, but there is always somewhere to go from there. It might be starting over, but I've learned that if you keep trying and put your brain to work, you'll be successful in doing something. It just takes time and dedication." jessica Boyd science 237
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