Shelley, Crocker Pursue Chemical Research in Taiwan

by Andrea Eastes, Academy Avatar

For many Gatton Academy students, the previous summer was a global experience.  With programs in China and the United Kingdom, students engaged other cultures as a group.  Other students pursued their own paths in additional locations around the globe.

Seniors Ellis Shelley and Michael Crocker added Taiwan to the long list of places visited.  During their time there, both were involved in chemistry research for ten weeks. The program was organized by Dr. Eric Conte of the Department of Chemistry at Western Kentucky University.

The program was part of a NSF International Research Experiences for Scientists program at the National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan.  This program, on the same level as an REU, offers students fully paid travel to Taiwan, food, lodging, and a stipend.

Michael Crocker was involved with research on synthesizing a polymer that can form a honey-comb shaped membrane on a substance then try to coat silica gel particles with that membrane.  Coating the silica gel was in effort to modify the end group from OH to C18.  Changing these properties enabled his group to attempt to purify phenol and bisphenol from water.

During his time in Taiwan, Crocker worked with another WKU student, Helen Thompson, and many Taiwanese Master’s and Ph. D. students under the same professor.

Shelley participated in a different research project.  His work entailed optimizing protein purification methods using IMAM (Ionized Metal Affinity Membranes). Dr. Suen, the head of the Chemical Engineering Department was the main person Shelley worked with during his time overseas.

Research wasn’t the only thing that Michael and Ellis did while they were in Taiwan though.  Crocker explained the pair also had the chance to visit locations throughout the country. “We were able to travel all through Taiwan from the large cities like Taipei to mountain hiking in eastern Taiwan.”

Ellis also added that his favorite part of the trip “was the friendships I made while there and the opportunity to experience a culture so much different from my own.”

Taiwan not only exposed the students to a different culture, but to how having a job in the field would be like.  Shelley explains that it was as if he had “lived the life of a chemical engineering graduate for two months.”

Both were able to gain experience in the lab and work with equipment such as a SEM (scanning electron microscope) and IR.  Crocker also said that doing original research at a very prestigious institution with students working toward their masters and Ph. D. degrees was very rewarding.  Shelley also found the program quite rewarding, in fact, he and his two partners plan to publish their research later this year!

Crocker summed up the experience in an appreciate for learning more about diverse cultures. ’’I really enjoyed Taiwan. It was very different from the United States, and all of the differences were very eye opening for me,” he said.

The students found the trip not only to be an amazing research experience, but also a chance to learn about and become immersed in another culture as well as learn about graduate lifestyle.