Chad is a student in the SERCCS program at CHESS.
Chad's research focus is the design of a beamline micro spectrometer which will be a complementary technique for bio macromolecular crystallography.
What is your home institution and your expected graduation year?
I’m currently in transferring in between two institutions: Hudson Valley Community College where I just received my associates degree in physical sciences to University at Albany where I plan to graduate 2025 with a major in physics and a minor in mathematics.
Which CLASSE summer program are you a part of and who is your mentor?
I’m in the SERCCS program, and my mentor is Stephen Miesburger.
What is the research you are engaged in and what have you accomplished so far this summer? What are you hoping to accomplish by the end of your project?
I’m currently engaged in the research and design of a beamline micro spectrometer which will be a complementary technique for bio macromolecular crystallography. So far I’ve been able to model how light will travel through the components of the design and predict important parameters of the micro spectrometer. With that I came up with a design and parts list along with to-scale mechanical drawings. I was then able to test and compare my theoretical work to experimental results based on a micro spectrometer that my mentor previously made that uses the same general design. By the time I leave I hope to create a fully detailed way that after I leave and the parts come in, my mentor can look back at my work and just put it together and have it work as intended by my design.
What are the impacts of your research for the general public?
Well, the intended use of the micro spectrometer is to help further understand link between structure and function of bio macromolecules compatible with the two techniques (i.e., spectroscopy, and crystallography). As well as help assess the validity of solved structures and improve upon technique accordingly. This allows biochemists and pharmacists to better understand the molecules they are working with, which can lead to drug development and biological/medical insight.
What are you enjoying most about this research/summer experience?
I really enjoy physics and math and have fun when trying to model physical phenomena. I also like being helpful. So, I’m really enjoying the ability to apply what I’ve learned about optics in physics and mathematical modeling to research that has the potential to improve the capabilities of the bio macromolecular crystallography studies at CHESS.
What are you finding the most challenging about this research?
I think the hardest part of this research was finding out what I needed to know outside of basic parameters given by manufacturing companies. Which allowed me to come up with designs and a model that predicts/achieves the performance necessary of the micro-spectrometer.
How has this experience changed your view about being a researcher?
Coming from a community college where there isn’t much active research going on, I didn’t really have much of an idea of what someone in research does on a daily basis or how a research community functions. I think after the time I spent here at CHESS I’ve grown to understand what its more or less like to do research daily. Also, how it takes whole communities to advance modern science, and in the same breath how important an individual can be to a community. Really the importance of expertise and the diversity of it within a community.