GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Thiel College student Amber Martin ’17, a biology major from Allison Park, Pa., presented at the spring 2016 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in San Diego. Martin spoke on the transient absorption spectrometer she built with Associate Professor of Chemistry and Department Chair Christopher Stanisky, Ph.D.
The transient absorption spectrometer measures the rates of fast chemical reactions. Martin hopes the spectrometer will benefit the Department of Chemistry and the College as other students and faculty use it to conduct experiments.
“My trip to the ACS conference was an amazing experience,” Martin said. “I shared my research with thousands of people from across the world. It was fascinating being able to relate to the other students my age who were interested and cared about the same things as I do.”
The spectrometer was constructed as part of the Greenville Neuromodulation Center (GNC) Faculty/Student Research Institute project last summer. In 2015, Thiel College alumni Fred Haer ’65 and his wife, Jill (Shackett) ’66, pledged more than $400,000 to fund the institute from 2015-2017. The institute concentrates on connecting science and the liberal arts at Thiel College and is open to all faculty members. The institute also funds travel so students and faculty can present their research at conferences.