May 29, 2023
Welcome our 8 FY2023 NSF REU fellows on UofL campus! Bettie Johnson Hall will be home for you for the next 10 weeks
May 30, 2023
Scavenger hunt around campus. Sorry kids Tik is a horrible selfie-er! We will update pics of Group 3 from Amy's and Kevin's phones.
May 31, 2023
Orientation, getting the Cardinal card, safety training by Ms. Lillian Seitz (DESH), cleanroom tour by Dr. Mike Martin, getting to know Civil & Chemical Engineering Departments by Dr. Jerry Willing & Dr. Zhihui Sun (our headmaster!), and EndNote/ChatGPT tips/tricks by our lovely Engineering librarian, Ms. Sarah Drerup
Dr. Mike explained the microelectronic fabrication in the cleanroom and how MNTC facilities enabled that
Dr. Willing and Dr. Sun showed AFM facilities and high-bay area in Engineering buildings
Sarah explained how to use ChatGPT to facilitate research and homework. Don't use ChatGPT to do your homework, kids
June 8, 2023
1st group meeting. Our talented REU Fellows told us the rundown of their projects. We blamed Tik for taking blurry pictures. So we only had 3 pictures
Kevin, Evan, and Noah told the gang where they were heading 😊
June 9, 2023
Laura Fernandez and Dr. Ning Sun from ABPDU/LBNL told us about "Life after college" , "What classes were important in the national lab?" , "Activities at ABPDU" & "Women in STEM."
Evan and Amy asked our speakers tough questions at the end👍
June 21, 2023
Do One: Our REU fellows worked with assigned graduate students based on their top 2 selected projects.
Noah, Leah, and Kevin were trained to use TOC analyzer, HPLC, and GC/MS.
Evan and Amy broke plastics into monomers and made mambranes
June 18, 2023
Mammoth Cave National Park field trip. We joined Dr. Jeager's NSF REU group on the trip down the earth ---not too low; just inside the cave. We learned about bats, their diseases, and hideouts during wars.
The park rangers were briefing tour participants about what not to do in the cave. Matt Mulvehill kindly drove his SUV with REU fellows. We heard that the car ride was a good workout
Noah made a souvenir with his nickel. We had a group picture with the park sign.
June 23, 2023
Mr. Cameron Tally and Mr. Greg Forge at Rabbit Hole Distillery, Louisville, KY, gave our group of REU fellows, graduate students, and PIs a tour of their Bourbon distillery. Unlike other Bourbon distillery facilities, Rabbit Hole is built in a cathedral style. Unit operations are built upward - very cool. We walked on the grain delivery system, got to see the digester tanks, and gigantic distillation column.
July 14, 2023
Mr. Rontrel Johnson, Mr. Gianny Malemusa, and Ms. Randisha Carter from Michelin told our REU fellows about life in the real world and what they looked for in the job candidates. Beyond technical skills, they wanted candidates to have soft skills.
July 25, 2023
Maia and Mara were on a field trip to sample water from Ohio river
August 4, 2023
Teach One. 8 REU fellows, 5 graduate student mentors, and the PI team joined other 250 undergraduate students working on research projects around the University of Louisville campus to present their 10-week findings to the public. Parents, guardians, and local science enthusiasts came and asked our students questions about their projects.
They dressed up professionally. Their presentations were remarkable! 2 visitors came to tell the PIs that our REU fellows had done a marvelous and herculean job for only 10 weeks. They knew their science. They explained their work effortlessly 😊.
The organizers were very proud of what they had accomplished in 10 weeks 🥹.
Breakfast at the WS Hall. Thank you, Amy, for muffins 🥐🥞🍩
Our REU fellows entertained the crowd.
The organizers thanked graduate student mentors for being such a wonderful role model and resource for REU fellows.
October 15, 2023
We had concluded our 1st cohort of 2023 NSF REU fellows in the Departments of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Louisville. Our REU fellows came from various backgrounds and colleges nationwide to work with us in linking industrial waste, circularity, and sustainable society. Their progress over the past 10 weeks was remarkable 🎉🎊.
We are currently working on several manuscripts based on the findings from their 10-week research projects. Their hard work and dedication have enriched their research experiences and provided us with new research ideas and ways to improve our next cohort.
As we bid farewell to this talented group, we are proud of their achievements and look forward to their exciting next chapter 🎓.
We would like to thank our lovely NSF program director, Patricia Simmons, Division of Engineering Education and Centers, and Directorate For Engineering for making this valuable training opportunity possible.
We would like to thank our graduate students. You had your own research projects and still helped mentor REU fellows. You were rock stars!
If you have any questions about our REU programs, please reach out to the program organizers: Zhihui Sun, Jason Immekus, Valerie Clay, and Noppadon Sathitsuksanoh