Category: Fall Semester 2024

Angelina Rogatch, BMC ’25

The Surface Chemistry of Quantum Dots

Semester: Fall 2024

Faculty Advisor: Xuemei M. Cheng

Field Site: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Field Supervisor: Eliza K. Price

Praxis Poster: 

Rogatch, Angeilna - Praxis_Poster_Final

 

Further Context:

This semester, I worked remotely with the Tisdale Lab in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. My project was an extension of my on-site MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) internship. The Tisdale Lab focuses on developing nanoscale materials and exploring their applications in energy conversion and optoelectronics.

Our work centered on a novel material called quantum dots (QDs) – tiny semiconducting crystals so small that they exhibit quantum effects, resulting in size-dependent properties. This unique characteristic allows quantum dots to be tailored for specific applications, making them valuable for technologies like QLED displays and solar cells.

A quantum dot consists of an inorganic core surrounded by surface molecules. To expand engineering control over QD properties, techniques for exchanging these surface molecules are actively being developed. However, the limited understanding of QD surface chemistry hinders efficient nanomaterial design and functionalization. In this project, we compared QD systems prepared using different methods to better understand their surface chemistry and guide the development of more effective surface molecule exchange techniques.

We synthesized the material following a specific experimental procedure and then replaced its surface molecules. Then, we incrementally added either the original or new surface molecules and monitored changes using magnetic resonance spectroscopy – an analytical technique that provides insights into the structure of molecules. Additionally, we developed a MATLAB script to analyze the data more efficiently, extracting valuable quantitative details about the material.

The insights gained from this analysis helped us evaluate the effectiveness of the molecule exchange process and improve the experimental methods. Ultimately, the results of this project aim to improve molecule exchange techniques for customizing QD surfaces, paving the way for advanced material designs and broader technological applications.

Through this project, I had the opportunity to refine my computational skills and apply them to a clearly defined research problem. I also connected with graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at MIT and received valuable scientific and career advice. Additionally, I enhanced my science communication skills by presenting my work to audiences with varying levels of expertise. I am deeply grateful to my research mentors, the Praxis Independent Study course staff, and my Praxis faculty advisor for this incredible opportunity!

Alexa Fraiman, BMC ’26

Environmental NGOs and Action

Semester: Fall 2024

Faculty Advisor: Don Barber

Field Site: Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project

Field Supervisor: Turning Green

Praxis Poster: 

Alexa Fraiman Praxis Poster Fall 2024_Final

 

Further Context:

Something I’ve done often with Turning Green is summarize how an experience was in five words, so I wanted to share that my Praxis with Turning Green was inspiring, encouraging, growth-inducing, interdisciplinary, and community-oriented.

My focus throughout the semester was on Project Green Challenge (PGC), which is a 30 day climate action journey with different eco-themed challenges each day. It empowers high school, college, and graduate students to continue their climate activist journeys. The top 14 participants become finalists at the end of October and travel to California for the PGC Finals in November.

While PGC took place in October, preparation work for the challenge started over the summer and continued through September. To give a little background, each day of PGC focuses on a different environment topic and includes an overview of the topic, three different levels of challenges for students to choose how engaged they want to be, and resources for students to expand their knowledge even further if they’re interested. As an intern who came back to Turning Green for my second summer, I got the opportunity to edit each challenge and make suggestions for rewrites. I also worked on adding new climate resources for each day so students had updated places to go if they wanted to learn more. Many stages of editing happened before the challenges could be uploaded to the website and ready to go live on October 1st. One of my favorite parts of the editing experience was getting to suggest new ideas for the different levels of the challenges, which is where participants take what they learned about the day’s topic and apply it in a creative, hands-on manner. An addition I am particularly proud of is having participants make their own (short) podcast. They listened to Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s podcast Is Water Alive? of which my favorite quote from it was, “What would it look like if we really lived as if we loved the future and all the possibilities it holds?”. I hope all the participants of PGC and you reading this are just as inspired by the quote as I am!

Another aspect of the PGC journey that gave me a new perspective on environmental topics, education, and outreach was getting to read all of the participants’ submissions to the challenges. It was refreshing and filled me with hope to see young people making artwork promoting environmental awareness. While there is so much negativity and fear, rightfully so, around the environment, these students are empowering others to take action by demonstrating what using our voices can look like. It brought a new freshness to not only how I approach my school work, but also how I think about our + the environment’s future.

Similarly, I got to engage with students on social media, talking to them directly about what stood out to me about their work. I loved getting to talk with students from around the world and encouraging them to keep going with the amazing work they were doing in PGC. These kids truly are next generation leaders! I also wanted them to know that we all were there for them throughout their PGC journey.

In addition to using social media to connect to PGCers, I also worked on designing and creating newsletters to go out to all those engaged with Turning Green. As I mentioned in my poster, each format of communication I was involved in required a different style of writing. It was a growing experience for me to practice writing in different styles, especially in ones that are so different from academic writing. Newsletters were a great chance to share a recap of what happened in PGC throughout different times of the month and highlight the work of the students participating.

In culmination of all the outreach, writing preparation, reading participants’ work, and meaningful interactions we got to have with them, November was time for the PGC Finals! 14 top participants were named finalists and flown out to California for an environmental summit! I am grateful to have the opportunity to be an ambassador to a finalist and look forward to helping her with her Climate Action Project (CAP) that she will present in April during PGC Finals Part 2. As a student myself, I learned a lot workshopping through ideas and encouraging her before she went on stage to talk about her CAP idea to the other PGC Finalists.

This Praxis journey, my interaction with those at Turning Green, and with the students participating in PGC reminded me of the value that comes from trusting ourselves. When we feel empowered to take action, and come together with others to do so, that is when real change happens. Our voices have power just as our actions do – I’ve been reminded this semester to never forget that!