Name: Linda Wiratan

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: UMBC Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Position Title: Research Assistant

Major(s)/Minor(s): B.S. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Expected Graduation Year: May 2019

Briefly describe your internship, co-op,  or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

I am a member of Dr. Ptaszek's organic chemistry research group (at the UMBC Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry), whose focus is on the development of hydroporphyrins (chlorins and bacteriochlorins) for a wide variety of optical and photochemical applications, particularly photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT is a prospective cancer therapy that involves the use of a photosensitizer (light-activated probe) to localize within and kill cancer cells through the formation of toxic species. Hydroporphyrins are relatives of the familiar compounds heme and chlorophyll, and their properties can be tuned to give them potential to become PDT probes.

My daily responsibilities are carrying out experiments pertaining to my specific research project, which examines the dependence of specific hydroporphyrin properties on solvent polarity. I typically measure absorbance and emission scans for a variety of hydroporphyrins in different solvents, analyzing the data using Excel and Kaleidagraph. I look for correlations between solvent polarity and quantum yields of singlet oxygen and fluorescence.

The greater goal of my research is to help identify characteristics of hydroporphyrins that may contribute to the development of PDT probes that are more selective and sensitive in cellular environments. While measuring and graphing data may not seem like much in terms of demanding lab work, it can be very time consuming and requires meticulous tracking of volumes and careful protection of solutions from ambient light. I'm happy that my hard work paid off, though; I am an author in a paper being submitted for publishing right now, and I'm waiting on the acceptance of an abstract I submitted in order to present in the ACS National Meeting this fall!

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

I was actually a senior in Centennial High School when I obtained this research position. I was a student in Biotechnology Academy, a two-year G/T biotechnology career preparation program offered by the HCPSS Applications and Research Laboratory. Through this program I learned fundamental biological/chemical research and laboratory skills that allowed me, in my second year, the opportunity to find a position in a real scientific research lab. Among the options I had, I was most interested in Dr. Ptaszek's lab because I had no real knowledge of organic chemistry research and it sounded interesting. Dr. Ptaszek accepted me in October 2014 and I have been a lab member ever since.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I enjoy the challenge! As a freshman with almost no background in organic chemistry or quantum mechanics, it has been an intense journey to bring myself up to speed on the fundamentals of these topics, along with familiarity of the past few decades of hydroporphyrin research. It is immensely satisfying when I am able to explain to myself in minute detail why certain observations are the way they are, and it is even more rewarding when I am able to discuss my research with professionals in organic chemistry fields. There is still a great deal of information that I have not yet been able to understand, so it is also a humbling experience to admit that this challenge will be one I cannot master anytime soon.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I hope that the greatest contribution of my work will be to the improvement of photodynamic therapy and related "light-utilizing" cancer therapies, which have the potential to be minimally-invasive and non-toxic treatment options. One way to improve PDT probe specificity is to develop ones with behaviors sensitive to certain intra-cellular regions; this is what I am trying to address with solvent polarity dependence, as a cell has regions of differing polarities. The international interest in the advancement of PDT probes has grown steadily over time, so research in this field really has an impact on prospects for tightly regulated therapies in the future.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

To a student (shout out to all the freshmen doing research!) interested in doing research but with little background knowledge of the topic the research lab focuses on: it can be done! There is a lot of implicit personal accountability for being able to understand what the research is, how and why it is being done, but it is far less of a burden if you are genuinely interested in the research instead of just adding a "professional experience" to a resume. Have confidence in yourself and know that you can only go so far as you are willing to try.

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Name: Emily Kranking

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Port Discovery Children's Museum

Position Title: Education & Community Enrichment Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s): Media & Communications Studies, Creative Writing (minor)

Expected Graduation Year: May 2016

Briefly describe your internship, co-op,  or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

What is great about my job is that I'm working with children, but still doing real-life projects that apply to my career. For example, in the morning, I do fun activities with the kids, such as making bookmarks or jewelry with them. Then afterwards, I would be writing a script for an exhibit, thinking of new ideas for activities, designing new signage, or researching facts for an exhibit.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

I went on the Port Discovery website and downloaded an application. I heard back 2 months later for an interview and got the job a couple of weeks later!

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

The flexibility of the work. I love kids and I have wanted a job that involves working with them. But, at the same time, I wanted a creative job that can put brand new works in my portfolio. With this internship, I can do everything that I love. I can send in professional scripts & copy written stories and designs when I apply for jobs and internships for post-college while I build up my relationship and leadership skills while entertaining kids.    

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

Definitely by working with the kids. Kids get excited about everything that comes to them. When you give them something, they get so focused on it and they love to show off their creations or say how fun they are having with big smiles on their faces. You can just tell how happy they are.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Be patient when you are waiting to hear back. The hiring director might email you in an hour or even in a few months. Just breathe.

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Name: Emily Schultheis

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Position Title: Researcher

Major(s)/Minor(s): Chemical Engineering

Expected Graduation Year: May 2016

Briefly describe your internship, co-op,  or research opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

The best part of this experience has been learning how to use a plethora of equipment around the UMBC campus. Initially, I was introduced to an acousto-optical tunable filter (AOTF) set-up. Troubleshooting this apparatus required me to become familiar with optical table equipment, light filters, and signal generators. I also interacted with a local company in Hunt Valley, called Brimrose, that manufactures AOTF devices. Eventually, I visited their headquarters in person during which I became acquainted with the CEO and toured the facility. I then spent several weeks performing typical chemistry tasks; these included the safe handling of caustic and/or carcinogenic chemicals, use of high-heat furnaces, centrifuging, and various ways of grinding things into fine powders.

I learned how to perform physical vapor transport (PVT), a mechanism by which I placed heavy metals into an extreme vacuum until they sublimated. The pressure in the chamber was raised again, so that the material deposited in a film on the substrate. I was excited to discover that I could apply my chemical engineering theory to this apparatus. Immediately upon learning about the process, I pulled out my Fluid Dynamics and Heat & Mass Transport textbooks in order to reduce the Navier Stokes equation and reference mass transport theory. This derivation resulted in the Poiseuille equation, which we had learned only briefly in class in a previous semester. It was incredibly satisfying to realize that all the hard work we've invested into learning abstract concepts in class is actually worth learning. Those abstract concepts become shockingly practical in the face of research.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

While taking the required physical chemistry lab, CHEM 311L, one of my TAs gave me my mentor's contact information and told me that my mentor was looking for an undergraduate intern. My TA recommended that I might be a good fit, and I'm glad it's worked out so well thus far. I had not heard of my mentor before this, but was pleasantly surprised to find that his research specialized in material science: particularly crystal growth, which seemed intriguing.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

There was one instance during which my lab-mates and I transported a scanning electron microscope (SEM) into its new home in the TRC. This piece of equipment appeared to weigh several hundred pounds. Moreover, due to the absence of a permanent ramp anywhere on the exterior of the TRC, we soon realized that it needed to be lifted up several small flights of stairs, all at right angles to one another. Several of these stairs were loose and the severity of the sun was no help either. However, we employed our collective knowledge of mechanical engineering to fashion a makeshift ramp out of plywood (which broke during the process), and were successful in transporting this surprisingly dense and precariously connected piece of equipment inside the TRC laboratory. After this experience, my lab mates and I developed a renewed sense of cohesion that only hard physical effort and free Subway sandwiches could have catalyzed.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I hope that my research will contribute to my mentor finding a lead-selenide based material that will be used in high operating temperature (HOT) infrared detectors for mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) sensors. These would have potential military applications. This advancement would reduce the need for cryogenic cooling, presently required in mercury-cadmium-telluride based systems. Eliminating cryogenic cooling would reduce expenses. Furthermore, lead-selenide materials would be much easier to grow.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Whenever there is a dull moment, it is always a good idea to observe peers' projects and see if you can help them. In moments that I could have otherwise spent wasting time, I tried to talk to other people in the lab about their research. On occasion, they invited me to assist in their various experiments. Through active networking with my peers, I learned how to perform chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which can be used to make diamonds (though not in our lab at the moment). I also learned about the Bridgeman Method, used to synthesize crystals. Finally, I learned about a brain-manipulation device that uses induction to adjust neuron firing.

The quality of internship experiences is primarily dependent on what you choose to do with your free time. There will always be lulls in work, but choosing to use these lulls to find more work is always the most satisfying. If this free time is wasted, it's easy to get trapped in a cycle of never having enough to do. Having free time seems nice, until it becomes a habit. Then, it merely results in boredom and a nagging sense that there are better uses of your time. If you don't actively seek out tasks, then it's likely you won't get the opportunity to learn anything new. Thus, when you're on the clock, it's most important that you always continue doing something - even if this something is a task as humble as scrubbing dishware, transporting gas tanks, asking a professor/graduate student in a different department for a tour of their labs, or chatting with a colleague in the hall about the current status of their research with the intent to give them a hand. Internships are always what you make of them.

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Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Friday!