Howdy Howdy and welcome to the Winter 2024 ChEGS newsletter! Changsu and Libby welcome Bridget Price to the editorital team with her inaugural newsletter. Join us as we get to know graduate coordinater Kate Fanis, hear about how AICHE went this year, get some winter fun time suggestions, recap recent events and end with a wrapped 2024 crossword!
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Staff Highlight: Kate Fanis
Kate Fanis, as I'm sure you know, is our graduate coordinator. She graduated from Illinois State University in 2007, and began working at UW Madison on December 4th, 2018 - a day which will always be remembered :D
What brought you to UW-Madison?
My sister went to UW for her MS in Chemistry so I visited a fair amount when I was in college. After I graduated and went through AmeriCorps, I decided I wanted to move up to Madison. Been here since 2010!
We all see the amazing work you do for the department, but what are some of the more behind-the-scenes aspects of your job?
At any given time there are usually a couple different conversations happening at different levels- with individuals, or the department, or the College, Grad School, or Univeristy- about any number of topics that would affect grads as a whole within the next year. It’s the job of every graduate coordinator to stay up to date on all of these things. We need to keep our departments aware of what’s going on in the Grad School or what we’re hearing from the Colleges we work in. And we as coordinators work together to make our voices heard on what we think will be best for everyone.
What's your favorite part of your job?
You guys! Working with grads from beginning to end and seeing you all grow academically and professionally. I started here in December of 2018, so my first round of grads I recruited for fall 2019 have started graduating. I’m so proud of all of you! Definitely bittersweet though. When you work with people for 5+ years you miss them when they go.
What advice do you have for us graduate students (new or old)
Take care of yourself first and your community next. You can’t accomplish anything academically or in your research if you don’t take care of yourself. And when things are hard to get through, you’re going to need your friends and community to help you out. So invest at least some of you time in friendships, not just in research. Also, never underestimate the power of a regular sleep schedule. :)
What hobbies do you have outside of work?
I’m big on hiking and reading. I’m just 8 miles away from getting to 200 miles on the Ice Age trail, one way. So that’s the goal before the end of the year.
Current favorite show/movie?
I’m currently watching “My Lady Jane” on Prime with a friend on our weekly hangs and it is delightfully irreverent and fantastically ahistorical. Definitely recommend for ridiculousness.
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Graduate Students at AIChE
We are thrilled to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of our graduate students, who showcased their research at the 2024 AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers) Annual Meeting in San Diego. Congratulations to our talented students for their remarkable contributions! To inspire future participants, we interviewed one of our presenters, Lisa Je (from Van Lehn and Zavala group), who shared valuable insights and tips for navigating this prestigious conference.
Who do you expect to meet at AiChE events?
I expect to meet potential recruiters, collaborators, and fellow chemists/chemical engineers/material scientists within my field
What has surprised you about your experience with AiChE?
AIChE is incredibly big but very welcoming
What are your tips for preparing an effective presentation?
I would prepare your presentation with your PI and fellow group members who previously have presented at conferences before. I would do a practice talk several times in front of group members and get feedback from them. For poster making, I would print out a regular 8x11 and check if any figures are pixelated and everything is legible.
How should one handle questions during or after a presentation?
Normally for talks, you'll have time for 1-2 questions. Do your best to answer it. If you don't know, explain why you can't reach a solution and offer to chat offline with the questioner.
In your opinion, which organization hosted the best reception?
I think the MAC receptions (LGBTQ for example) is always a great time to meet new people and learn about their research
Did you visit any interesting places near the conference venue?
This year at AICHE, I visited CBU (California Baptist University) and that was a very nice campus and I got a small campus tour
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Getting through the Winter
By: Bridget Price
As you all may have noticed, the warm and sunny days of summer have been replaced with cold and blustery weather, indicating that we are beginning our march into the depths of winter. Whether this is your first winter in Madison or you just need a change of pace, the editorial team wants to suggest some fun winter activities that won’t make the next four months seem all that gray.
Outdoor Activities
What better way to enjoy winter than to embrace the freezing temperature and heaps of snow and go ice skating and cross-country skiing? The city of Madison maintains numerous outdoor ice rinks throughout the city. Some rinks, such as the Vilas rink, have skate rentals available. If temperatures do not get low enough for good ice or if you want to be protected from the elements, you can also go skating at the Bakke, which has skate rentals and opportunities for lessons through Rec Well. Similarly, the city also grooms some trails for cross-country skiing. Elver Park has ski rentals available, but if you are really committed, you can probably find somewhere to buy skis!
We recognize that exercising isn’t the only way to enjoy winter weather. If you are looking for a good way to enjoy the ambiance of the winter weather and holiday spirit, while [potentially] being distracted by how cold your fingers and the tip of your nose are, we encourage you to visit the Henry Vilas Zoo for Zoo Lights from November 29 – December 29. While the zoo is normally free during the day, this event does cost money, but it is cheaper if you get a ticket bundle with three of your friends. If you are looking for a free event, check out the Clean Lakes Alliance’s Frozen Assets Festival on February 8th and 9th. This event has free hot chocolate, ice skating, kite viewing over Lake Mendota, and even the opportunity to run a 5k on the ice (this costs money and is weather permitting).
Indoor Activities
If you are looking to avoid the outdoors, have no fear. You can attend a Madison Capitols Hockey game and enjoy the very best of US junior hockey. Games are fun, tickets are affordable, and as a bonus they have $1 beer nights once a month. If hockey isn’t quite your scene, don’t forget that Madison has numerous museums and music venues. Stop by the Chazen Museum of Art to admire their permanent collections or new exhibitions. Don’t forget they also host many events from films to live music and discussions. You can also
Wintertime is the best opportunity to cozy up inside and acquire a new hobby. If you don’t know where to start check out art workshops run by Wheelhouse Studios in the Memorial Union or the Monroe Street Arts Center. Maybe you want to try your hand at making cocktails
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Events Recap
We sure have had a lot of events lately! Fall of 2024 brought us another bird hike, a hispanic heritige month coffe hour, a haloween bar crawl, AICHE, and several holiday events like our potluck, art night, and the holiday party at the piano bar. Lets look back on the events we got pictures of!
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Congratulations!
Defenses:
We'll be missing a lot of amazing students next semester. One last round of applause for all our graduated peers!
- Beichen Liu: Understanding How Collective Ion Assembly InfluencesElectrochemical Reactivity (Advisor: Prof. Matthew Gebbie, Defended 8/12/2024)
- Leonardo González: New Paradigms of Bayesian Optimization: Harnessing Physics & High-Throughput Experiments (Advisor: Prof. Victor Zavala, Defended 8/13/2024)
- Ryan Cashen: Ionic Liquid Electrolytes for Next-Generation Energy Storage Devices: Direct Visualization of Colloidal Stability and Ion Flux (Advisor: Prof. Matthew Gebbie, Defended 8/14/2024)
- Feifan Du: Modeling Effects of Brain Pericytes on Blood-Brain Barrier Development and Maintenance with Human Pluripotent Stem Cells (Advisors: Prof. Sean P. Palecek and Prof. Eric V. Shusta, Defended 8/14/2024)
- Jack McAlpine: Modulating Ionic Correlations in Salt-in-Ionic Liquid Electrolyte Blends (Advisor: Prof. Matthew Gebbie, Defended 8/16/2024)
- Bryce Connors: Integrating Experimental and Computational Approaches to Design the Composition, Function, and Dynamics of Microbial Communities (Advisor: Prof. Ophelia Venturelli, Defended 8/27/2024)
- Douglas H. Chang: Design of Selective Antimicrobial α/β-Peptides through Predictive Modeling and the Development of Materials-Based Applications (Advisors: Prof. David M. Lynn and Prof. Sean P. Palecek, Defended 8/27/2024)
- Elizabeth A. Appelt: Production, Characterization and Engineering of a Variable Lymphocyte Receptor that Targets the Extracellular Matrix of the Brain (Advisor: Prof. Eric V. Shusta, Defended 8/28/2024)
- Lawrence M. Chen: Interactions of Bacterial Signaling Molecules with Model Lipid Membrane Systems (Advisor: Prof. David Lynn, Defended 9/23/2024)
- Joshua J. Dietrich: Pathway and Enzyme Engineering to Improve Isobutanol Production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Advisor: Prof. Brian F. Pfleger, Defended 11/26/2024)
- Joshua Abraham: Unlocking the Potential of Cyanobacterial Metabolism for Green Bioprocesses (Advisor: Prof. Brian F. Pfleger, Defended 12/05/2024)
Awards
- Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society: Lisa Je
- Outstanding Poster at C3E WCES: Ashley McCullough
- WIC Travel Award Winnerss: Lisa Je, Yun Su
- TA Ragatz Awardees: 1) Sarah Noga 2) Matthew Edgar 3) Stephenie Brown 4) Saam Farzam
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Crossword: 2024 Wrapped!
A recap of the (not sad) events of 2024!