Week 1

            This week was a lot of setup and review.  I got to meet everyone in the lab, and got my cubicle and computer.  My project this summer is to make a sensor for detecting iron nanoparticles in solution.  This week I looked at past methods that have been tried, and compiled their data and methods.  I also started work on an electrochemical method that shows some promise.  It is a simple eH measurement in solution, but so far the results have been favorable and I haven’t even broken anything yet!

            Sadly many of the instruments are very finicky.  Sometimes they just don’t feel like working, which can be frustrating when you’re trying to validate your results.  The upside is that many of the electrochemical methods can be very sensitive as well. These next two weeks I will be in Honduras, but when I get back I’m hoping to work on tightening up my procedures to control variables.