About Me: I am a current rising senior at WPI studying Chemistry with a minor in STEM Education. I recently completed my student teaching this past semester in 8-12 Chemistry! I am interested in designing interactive chemistry labs, and am looking forward to working on my Major Qualifying Project (MQP) involving chemical education at the collegiate level this fall.
Outside of academia, I love to read, listen to music, and spend time outside in the sun. I can also be found across campus working with VOX Musical Theatre here at WPI, as well as my involvement in Greek Life.
About the Lab
The Big Picture: The research domain for this project is in sustainable energy and waste removal. The big picture of the Timko lab began with a multi-year grant to convert wastewater treatment sludge into a form of renewable energy called biocrude oil, via a chemical process called hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). As part of this process, it was determined that per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) were destroyed.
Project Title: PFAS Analysis of HTL Products
Project Overview: HTL results in three phases – solid char, aqueous solution, and biocrude oil. The focus of the subgroup that Tiffani and I will be researching is to what extent is PFAS effectively removed from the samples, and in which component(s) does PFAS end up in after the HTL process. The process by which this will be measured has already been developed by Sadie Green and Geoffrey Tompsett, and it will be the responsibility of Tiffani and I to analyze aqueous and char samples.
Weekly Updates:
- Week 1:
After onboarding and introductions, we were given a tour of the chemical engineering labs. We were sent relevant scientific literature and SOPs to review in the beginning part of the week. In the later half, we started working with and practicing the procedures for analyzing each of the HTL product components, as well as preparing standards. The primary instrumentation used to analyze the products is currently under repair, and we need to wait for it to be back online before we can start creating calibration curves.
- Week 2: To be determined!
- Week 3: To be determined!
- Week 4: To be determined!
- Week 5: To be determined!
- Week 6: To be determined!
Final Deliverables
Final Poster: Coming soon
Lesson Plan: Coming soon