Saint Michael's College

Dominic Perroni '10, chemistry major from Manchester, N.H., spoke in early fall about the research he helped conduct this summer at University of Connecticut through the REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Perroni is one of three Saint Michael's chemistry majors to have valuable NSF-funded summer laboratory experiences out-of-state this year. Katelyn Billings, also a junior, worked at the University of Connecticut in pharmaceutical-related chemistry while Dereck Dennings was at the University of Kansas.

Chemistry Professor Josh van Houten said Saint Michael's students have used NSF grants for summer lab experiences for decades, but the funds seem more available in recent years. Host institutions administer the grants, but Saint Michael's professors frequently use informal inside connections to make the best experiences happen.

Most of the department's professors and perhaps 20 fellow science students filled the room for Perroni's self-assured and often humorous narration of a PowerPoint presentation. He answered challenging technical questions throughout from the professors, which Van Houten said is normal for any regular Saint Michael's science class.

Perroni said his summer work with UConn scientist Yuxiang Zhou involved polymers, which he described chemically as "long chains made up of repeating units" that are found "everywhere from plastic bottles, car dash boards, ropes, pipes and glues." To illustrate the specifics to his audience of mostly scientists, some of Perroni's slides showed complicated molecular diagrams of the polymers that he worked with.

He used practical examples involving common everyday items like Legos and automobiles to help explain his science, and got off more than a few good lines to illustrate his better understanding of science after his experience. Of one extended procedure, he said, "Basically I found it didn't work, which is what a lot of chemistry is -- you have to fail a lot of times before you know you're failing and not just bad at chemistry."

The reason polymers are becoming a hot topic in the biomedical field, he said, is that they can give very predictable responses to specific stimuli such as temperature or light, which makes them ideal for applications such as artificial muscles, tissue engineering or drug delivery.

During his summer research, Perroni said, he was trained on several highly sophisticated laboratory instruments worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he was trusted to use them alone after only about an hour's training. He said he appreciated the professional respect other scientists in the lab showed him even though he was an only an undergraduate.

He said that parties who have shown interest in the polymer research that his lab did ranged from manufacturers of special coating for military goggles to lingerie-maker Victoria's Secret, which wondered about creating a line of bras that change colors.

"I feel the REU program is a good for chemistry majors because it gives you an opportunity to gain lab experience as an undergrad which will help you be better prepared for working in the lab as a grad student," Perroni said. "It also allows students from a small liberal arts college to see/experience what it is like to be part of a huge research institution."