Innovation at work: ASU students conduct impactful research in health care, machine learning and sustainable infrastructure

Why did you choose the project you’re working on in MORE?

What made me choose my project is its application. I am synthesizing a Janus particle — a special type of nanoparticle or microparticle with two faces, each with different physical and chemical characteristics that endow it with unique properties, such as optical, thermal and electrical properties. My Janus particle will consist of a gold nanoparticle and vesicle-shaped (or onion-shaped) mesoporous silica. The material I plan to synthesize is an excellent health care material that can be used to deliver medication and also serve different purposes in the health care industry.

How will your engineering research project impact the world?

Being able to detect biomarkers for cancer, heart diseases and infections agents will help solve numerous problems in diagnostics and drug delivery. The vesicle-like mesoporous silica has distinctive geometries and are expected to display novel physical and chemical characteristics that will give rise to new technologies in the fields of biosensors, drug delivery, catalysis and biological separation. The fusion of the gold nanoparticles with the mesoporous silica to form a Janus particle may produce a new technology that will be a solution to the limitations in current nanoparticle technology, such as accuracy, damage to non-targeted surrounding tissues and invasive needle placement for biosensing and diagnostics.

What has been your most memorable experience as a student researcher?

The most memorable experience was when I had to synthesize a material and had perfect results the first time I tried, and my professor smiled at me and said, “Good job, Christabel!”

How do you see this experience helping with your career goals?

This research experience is actually in line with my career because it gives me the necessary skills I need, like being very creative and innovative.

What is the best advice you’ve gotten from your faculty mentor?

Every problem is a research idea.

Why should other students get involved in this program?

Students should get involved in MORE because this is a one-time opportunity that enables you to have hands-on experience in the theories you study in class. It is also an opportunity to learn and impact the world in your own little way.

Learn more about Christabel Wireko Arthur’s Spring 2022 MORE project.

How will your research project impact the world?

Considerably large loads and less space in data centers challenge the thermal stability and power density of power converters. The proposed power electronics topology in my project reduces the overall size of loads by 50% and enhances efficiency by around 8% over conventional designs. The amount of energy saved due to potential efficiency enhancements and size reduction of this unit can be equivalently mapped into powering 10 8W rack cooling systems or reducing the size to half of a smartphone.

What has been your most memorable experience as a student researcher in MORE? Did you have a particular “aha!” moment during your project?

My most memorable experience in this program was building the proof-of-concept for my research project. After multiple failures, when the hardware worked as estimated, that was my “aha!” moment.

Have there been any surprises in your research?

Yes, there have been plenty of surprises during the course of my research. One of which was the gallium nitride (GaN)-based devices used in my DC to DC power converter exploding. I discovered this was due to the lesser explored science behind circuit parasitics at a very high switching frequency.

How do you see this experience helping with your advanced degree goals?

MORE definitely provided me with an excellent opportunity, ample motivation and a key launchpad to advance my research as well as pursue a doctoral program after completing my master’s degree.

Why should other students get involved in this program?

Other students should get involved in MORE because it is an excellent platform to advance your research, enhance engineering and technical graduate curriculum by providing hands-on lab experience, faculty mentorship and also provides financial support for your research project.

Learn more about Nitish Jolly’s Spring 2022 MORE project.

How will your research project impact the world?

My current research is focused on studying species of bacteria called geobacter sulfurreducens, which have the natural ability to produce electrical currents. They have filaments called microbial nanowires that conduct electricity to external electron acceptors, such as electrodes. As such, this bacteria is a model organism for technologies like microbial fuel cells and microbial electrochemical cells, which are sustainable ways of producing electricity and high-value chemical products. These microbial nanowires are also widely used and studied in the advancing field of bioelectronics.

Have there been any surprises in your research?

In pursuit of our original research plan, we stumbled across an undocumented structure in the bacteria we work with, so a large part of my research has been dedicated to classifying and studying what this structure is and what function it serves for these bacteria. 

As an engineer, I was only ever expecting to work in application-related research, so to end up contributing to the discovery side of research has been what Bob Ross would call a “happy accident.” Trying to learn about something so new that you can’t even come up with a hypothesis for it has been challenging, but more fun and rewarding. 

What has been your most memorable experience as a FURI and MORE student?

I had the opportunity to travel to California with my lab group and present a poster at the 2021 North American meeting for the International Society for Microbial Electrochemistry and Technology. It was the first conference I had ever attended, and it was an incredible amount of fun learning about the current research in my field and meeting the students and faculty who authored the research so fundamental to my field. I left the conference feeling really inspired to try new things and make progress in my own research.

How do you see this experience helping you with your advanced degree and career goals?

FURI and MORE allowed me to try things I had never done before, and I ended up falling in love with research. They also gave me the opportunity to work on multiple research projects, which has allowed me to understand where my personal research interests lie. The skills I gained and the mentorship I received during these times are what make me confident and excited to continue my graduate education to get my doctorate and hopefully become a professor someday.

Why should other students get involved in FURI and MORE?

Participating in these programs is a great way to see if research is something that you enjoy. The process of writing a proposal and presenting your research at the end of the semester allows you to practice skills that are fundamental to working in research. It also allows you to build strong connections with faculty that you may not have worked with otherwise.

If I could go back and give myself advice when I first started doing undergraduate research through FURI, I would tell myself that you get out of it what you put into it, and trust in your ideas and capabilities. If research is something you find yourself interested in, I would recommend taking advantage of as many opportunities like MORE and FURI as you can. The requirements of these programs truly help you prepare for entering the research world, so putting in the work to learn as much as you can about scientific communication, experimental design, literature review and more during this time will be very helpful in the long run.

Further, entering the world of research can be daunting as an undergraduate, but trust that the ideas and theories about your project that you come up with are worthy of being voiced and explored. Every faculty member I’ve met at ASU has been more than willing to lend a hand, offer an opinion or direct me to someone who can help with anything I have wanted to accomplish.

Learn more about Anna Mangus’s Spring 2022 MORE project.