This summer I spent 10 weeks with the Scanlon Research Group as a summer research intern. I, Nathan France 24’, and Will Lyons 26’ conducted computational chemistry research under the supervision of our advisor Dr. Scanlon. We worked on multiple projects dealing with different areas of computational chemistry such as catalysis and the rotation of molecular machines. This internship provided me a great opportunity to further my knowledge of computational chemistry I learned in the spring and gave me a way to apply all the chemistry knowledge I have learned in the last three years.
This was my first experience working in a research laboratory. I had never thought it was something I would enjoy or get much out of. I can say I was gladly proven wrong. I really enjoyed learning something new each day that we could implement into our research. Not just learning different methods but also using what you’ve learned to complete procedures and interpret data was a really satisfying part of research. I also got practice with working in a group and helping or relying on others when it was needed. Nathan and I both helped Will understand chemistry concepts he hadn’t learned yet as an incoming sophomore. I also got experience working independently without supervision which requires avoiding procrastination and having some autonomy.
We also had the chance to attend the Midwest Undergraduate Computational Chemistry Consortium’s (MU3C) summer conference at Michigan State University to present our findings from this summer. Nathan France and I delivered a talk on Structure and Rotation of Metal Coordinated Trapezoidal Macrocycles that taught me a lot on making an educational slideshow and presenting it. We also got to see a lot of other interesting talks from other undergraduate students and established computational chemists. At the end of the conference, we got a tour of Michigan State’s rare isotope beam laboratory which was an awesome opportunity.
Finally, I would like to thank the Wabash College Chemistry Department for setting up this internship and anyone involved in funding it. I would also like to give a special thanks to Dr. Scanlon for making this a great summer.
