13 Ripon College students attend national meeting for chemists

Thirteen Ripon College students were invited to the national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in San Diego earlier this week.

They are: Maggie Breen-Lyles ’16 of Green Bay, Wisconsin; Emily Cliff ’17 of Mukwonago, Wisconsin; Sarah Conjurske ’17 of Forestville, Wisconsin; Robert Enright ’17 of Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Jeffrey Grinde ’16 of Ripon, Wisconsin; Nicholas Luedtke ’16 of Appleton, Wisconsin; Matthew Paeth ’17 of Weyauwega, Wisconsin; Allison Reinhardt ’17 of Nelson, Wisconsin; Yessra Sankari ’16 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Eugene Schneider ’17 of Oakdale, Minnesota; Chuchen Tan ’16 of Shanghai, China; Soe Tun ’17 of Yangon, Myanmar; and Lincoln Wurtz ’17 of Ripon, Wisconsin.

Schneider won an award for outstanding undergraduate poster presentation.

The students earlier had taken part in ground-breaking research projects and submitted abstracts for consideration and review by an ACS committee. ACS is an organization of chemists looking to advance chemistry endeavors with a vision for benefiting the Earth and its people. National meetings give ACS members an opportunity to share cutting-edge research, learn to improve their craft, expose themselves to new instrumentation techniques, and discover ways to diversify community engagement and outreach.

Some of the attendees’ post-meeting comments:

• Nicholas Luedtke: “Partaking in the national meeting is a wonderful opportunity to present research to an audience teeming with accredited scientists who can offer opinions to advance research and build networking for post-graduation endeavors. The connection between proper scientific research and the education Ripon College offers is important to advertise, and the national meeting provides the opportunity to spread academic awareness.”
• Matt Paeth: “The trip … was an extraordinary experience. Not only did it give me the chance to present the reseach that myself and the others have worked so hard on, but it also allowed for me to see cutting-edge research in so many fields of chemistry and I was given the opportunity to meet a lot of great scientists. It was an experience that has impacted everyone and has given all the students from the chemistry department the opportunity to show everyone what they have been working on.”
• Geno Schneider: “The ACS Meeting trip was an amazing opportunity and a great experience for me. I was able to talk to undergraduates as well as graduate students and Ph.D.’s in all fields of chemistry. Attending talks about subjects I am familiar with and subjects I am not familiar with allowed me to learn new things about chemistry. I was able to present my poster and get great questions from people from many different areas of chemistry.”
• Lincoln Wurtz: “At the conference, I was fortunate enough to listen in on the current progress many leading chemists are making in their sub-disciplines. I was amazed by all the possible research projects these chemists were working on, and I was inspired by their motivation and ingenuity applied in solving some of today’s most complicated problems. This conference helped me understand what a career in chemistry is like. I had the ability to network with representatives from both graduate programs and various industries. Additionally, after participating in a poster session, I gained valuable experience in presenting my own research.”
• Chuchen Tan: “This trip has been an amazing experience. We got to meet many others who are equally passionate about science, and it widened our scope tremendously. The biggest highlight, besides the many inspiring presentations, is perhaps meeting Harry Gray, a renowned chemist who devoted his life to the field and who continues to contribute to the community. As an advice to us undergraduates who may still be wondering where we will be in the future, he said, ‘Do the weekend test. When Friday night comes, if you can’t wait for Saturday so that you can continue to do your work without interruption, then you passed the test and you are doing something you’re meant to be doing.’ Decades have passed since he chose Chemistry, and not once did he look back. Perhaps it is yet a little early for me to decide what to do for the rest of my life, but this conference pulled me closer to the world of science where I want to be. Overall, it was a truly unforgettable week in sunny San Diego.”

Posted March 18, 2016 in Research, Student.

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