Student News
National Chemistry Week
National Chemistry Week was on October 15–21, 2023. The theme for 2023 was "The Healing Power of Chemistry." Graduate students Chris Neimeth and Ojas Pradhan gave Caltech Y's RISE Program students a tour of the Ismagilov lab and discussed the interworkings of COVID antigen tests and the chemical mechanics behind them.
13th Annual CCE Seminar Day
Every fall, CCE presents Seminar Day, a full day of short 15-minute research talks given by graduate students and postdocs followed by division-wide poster session and social. Seminar Day allows students to enhance their presentation skills, learn about the research occurring across the various sub-fields, and provides a division-wide sense of community. Speakers are selected from faculty and student nominations.
This year's winners include:
- Session 1: Zac Iton –“Water vapor activated superionic conductivity in ZnPS3”
- Session 2: Qinyu Han –“Mapping protein interactomes in biomolecular condensates in live cells”
- Session 3: Jason Yang – “Navigating protein fitness landscapes: from directed evolution to Bayesian optimization”
- Session 4: Ishaan Dev – “Utilizing leaky ribosomal scanning for compact radio-tunable multi-gene expression from single mRNAs”
- Session 5: Sean Byrne –“Inorganic phototropic grown of Cu2O”
CGSC Plant Party
On November 17, 2023, CGSC hosted a collaborative event named "Plant Party" with USA Scientific and Green Labs, bringing together science and sustainability in a lively gathering. Graduate students and post-docs repurposed plastic pipette boxes as containers for planting succulents, advocating for sustainability and the reuse of plastic waste that is generated daily in labs. Throughout the event, engaging discussions occurred at the intersection of science and environmental awareness, emphasizing the importance of repurposing waste in lab settings and promoting green chemistry. This event exemplifies the success of collective efforts to cultivate a culture centered around sustainability within the field of chemistry. The event was hosted by CGSC (RJ Chadha, DEI rep), Green Labs (Tasha Cammidge), and USA Scientific (Trinity Dodger).
ChE GSC Social and Lab Tours
On November 10, 2023, members of ChE GSC invited the chemical engineering community to an evening of socialization at the Schlinger Patio and an opportunity for students to explore the diversity of chemical engineering research groups through lab tours.