David Kramer '22 is a Lehigh Chemical Engineering alumnus who is currently attending Colorado School of Mines as a PhD candidate in Dr. Ning Wu's research group. Before he settled into the Rocky Mountains, it all began with his mere interest in science at a young age. As his passion grew, he soon realized how it can be applied to solving real world problems both predictably and efficiently. He looked no further than chemical engineering, which offers a broad range of different career fields.
During his undergraduate experience at Lehigh, he worked as an REU with Professor James Gilchrist, which was focused on manipulation and locomotion of colloidal systems with magnetic fields.
He reflected on his prior summer research project in the Gilhrist Lab as the Alumni Experiential Learning Awardee. The specific topic was related to Janus particles and how they can be utilized to enhance transport through a porous medium (like soil). To test these properties, he created samples in which the substrate was gel beads. The particles were “rolled” through the sample via a wheel with four bar magnets attached to it, which was suspended above the sample. The apparatus applied a torque to each Janus particle within the sample, causing them to move, when ordinarily, they would remain stationary. His group was were able to prove that this indeed is an effective method of enhancing transport in porous systems- and this type of research has implications in various fields, such as in medicine- where “microrollers” are already studied as a method of medicine delivery, environmental applications, like cleaning up hazardous waste spills, and even in reactor/catalyst design.
"This research was incredibly rewarding, as I could immediately see the effects of any manipulations to the system and I gained invaluable experience" says Kramer. "Doing this research at Lehigh gave me direction."
Today, he has mined his way back to Lehigh's campus to share his continued passion for research with current undergraduate ChBE students. When the time came to close his chapter at Lehigh, he wanted to continue his research. "My experiences at Lehigh made the transition from the Lehigh Valley to the front range of the Rocky Mountains seamless and it's never too early to start thinking about your next chapter too."
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