The SURF program is designed to give undergraduate student hands-on research experience in a variety of scientific fields.

My research experience was the 9-week NIST SURF program in the summer of 2023.  

 During this, my main project was helping my mentor research the yield stress and frequency dependence of thermoset composite resins.  During this main project, I wrote an abstract, created a presentation summarizing my experience, and presented it in a professional manner and in a professional setting.  During this main project I learned vital research skills. 

While I did not work on this specifically, I also learned from my mentor that other people in the field were working on creating reusable thermoset composite resins; a major benefit of thermoset resin printing is that it requires less energy consumption than plastic filament printing.  However, a major drawback is that most thermoset resins cannot be reused or recycled due to their chemical structure.  The creation/manufacture of reusable thermoset resins will make the practice a lot more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

In my free time, I also utilized the resources at hand.  I read many articles about different water purification methods, such as different water filters.  I was trying to figure out which filters were the most effective and economically feasible, specifically which could be used in developing countries.

In addition to this, we attended weekly "STEMinars" from the other laboratories, and I learned how to use the makerspace.  I helped my mentor rapid-prototype certain parts for a 3D printing machine that was repurposed from a CNC milling machine.

Effective Communication: 

At the end of the program I had to give a presentation that summarized the project findings.  I had to make a presentation that could be understood by peers outside of the discipline, then I had to present it.  I had a lot of information to discuss, but only about fifteen minutes to present it.  Furthermore, I was presenting on a field that not many people had heard about, that being the field of rheology.  I had to explain the background, methodology, and analysis in a short span of time while explaining as much as possible.  I also had to make sure that I only explained what was necessary, and never lingered on any one point too long.

Disciplinary Communication:  

Over the course of the SURF Program, I and my fellow SURFers were expected to create a formal presentation detailing and summarizing our research experience.  As I was working on my assigned research project, I was concurrently documenting my process and working on this presentation, and making sure that I was writing in an effective manner.  I needed to use the language and standard writing format of the discipline, while also ensuring that what I was writing was clear and easily understandable.

Creativity: 

I would attend MML meetings, where I would see how the ideas within the disciplines overlapped and intersected, and the ideas and theories behind them.  These researchers were also happy to explain these connections when I was confused on where this connection was.

Practice and Process of Inquiry: 

To better ensure that I understood every step of the project, I would meet with my mentor, Stian Romberg, to discuss the progress of our findings.  It was a great help in understanding the work throughout the entire process.  He would inform me about what we were doing, why we were doing it, and what it meant in the field.  He encouraged me to ask any questions I had, and instead of always giving a direct answer he would help me come to my own hypothesis.  Creating my own hypotheses on the material’s behavior and experimental results proved to be an effective way to increase my understanding about the work. The project already had a hypothesis on how fumed silica played a role in gelling the material, and an important part of the project was determining the fumed silica content at which the material gelled and became printable.

Nature of Disciplinary Knowledge:  

At the MML meetings, the researchers would gather and discuss their progress on their projects and discuss developments within the field.  Everyone was familiar with everyone else’s work to a certain degree, and I got to see where these different fields intersected and overlapped.

Understanding Ethical Conduct:

As stated above, the project I was working on dealt with analyzing the yield stress of thermoset composite resins.  Essentially, we were trying to figure out when the filament becomes “printable.”  A common drawback of resin printing is that the printed components collapse before they fully cure, which is also the primary reason most people prefer to print with plastic filaments.  However, resin printing does not require the machine to superheat the filaments, meaning that it can be much more energy efficient.  Ultimately, this project was focusing on the benefits of resin printing and trying to eliminate the risks associated with this type of extrusion.