Honors Chemistry student teams pair up to develop biodiesel, test toxic chemicals in the lab
By Abby Goers, UW-Stout
Menomonie, Wis. - At University of Wisconsin-Stout’s STEMM Student Expo, hundreds of first- to senior-year science, technology and engineering students will debut their applied research and projects from 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, in the Memorial Student Center second floor.
From research to prototypes to solving problems for an industrial or community partner to creative activities, it is an opportunity for students across the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Management to collaborate on projects and discuss their research with each other, faculty, industry partners and university and community members.
Among the STEMM students will be 23 Honors Chemistry first-year students, who worked in teams to develop and complete their own chemistry lab projects, including one team of brothers who created a biodiesel and another team who tested how different lab chemicals can damage clothing, equipment and event skin.
The STEMM Expo is one of a number of signature events taking place this week, which also include the Stout Game Expo and the School of Art and Design Senior Show, which showcase what distinguishes UW-Stout’s polytechnic model of education.
The Stout Game Expo, western Wisconsin's largest game developers’ event, will feature the works of about 250 students from 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 11, in the upper level of the Memorial Student Center.
During SGX, first-year to senior students in game design and development-art; and the game design concentration in computer science debut original, playable tabletop games, board and card games, conventional video games, virtual reality experiences and rhythm games.
The SOAD Senior Show celebrates more than 100 students’ works in graphic design, video production and animation, industrial and product design, interior design, game design and studio art. It is from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13, in Applied Arts and Micheels Hall.
Metals, comics, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking and photography exhibitions and sales by students will also be throughout the building.
Biodiesel and toxic chemicals in Honors Chemistry
In the first-year Honors Chemistry course, Professor Marcia Miller-Rodeberg gave the students free rein to decide what their projects would be for the STEMM Expo.
“The point of these projects is to give the students to opportunity explore things that are interesting to them and learn how to conduct experiments,” she said.
Connor Tieman and Carter Tieman, lab partners and twin brothers from Thorp, designed an experiment that would teach them about a specific field in chemistry.
“We decided to create a biodiesel – a renewable energy mostly composed of canola oil,” said Connor, a mechanical engineering major. “We became interested when researching renewable energy and the chemistry behind the process. We delved deeper and discovered that we could make our own, given the right materials.”
In their project, Blazing Biodiesel, they pursued developing a functional biodiesel that would perform as effectively as possible.
“To start our experiment on day one, we heated the canola oil, dissolved methanal and sodium hydroxide into the oil and allowed the solution to separate for a week. On our next lab day, we took samples of the biodiesel, the newly separated glycerol, and the stock canola oil and carefully combusted each sample to test how well they combusted,” said Carter, environmental science major.
They think the STEMM Expo is the perfect opportunity to implement their ideas. “Participating in the expo is allowing us to creatively engage with projects that allow us to have self-directed learning, which leads to a deeper understanding and the satisfaction of completing a project,” Connor said.
Lab partners and mechanical engineering majors Lauren Barclay and Allie Turany wanted to determine how skin, different fabrics and personal protective equipment hold up against common chemicals used in an average chemistry lab.
“In most chemistry labs, the instructor will issue a warning when strong chemicals are being used and will typically require the use of gloves and eye coverings, as chemicals can eat through clothing and should be used carefully,” said Barclay, of Prior Lake, Minn. “This made us think, ‘How toxic are these chemicals, and what would happen if they spilled on your skin or clothes?’”
For their project, You Vs. Toxic Lab Substances, they tested whether what they’d heard was exaggeration or truth, having never experienced a chemical spill or accident themselves.
They used common clothing materials, rubber gloves, and untreated and untanned squirrel hide as a substitute for human skin, placing each in beakers of various acids with high molarity.
“We hypothesized that the cotton and the gloves would fare the best in terms of testing, since they are used for PPE. The synthetics – a half cotton blend and full polyester – were likely to have worse results, or lose more mass, than the cotton since it is a cheaper alternative and made with plastics. The skin was most likely to have detrimental results,” said Turany, of Cornell.
Barclay and Turany look forward to seeing the diverse range of projects displayed at the expo and learning about their peers’ studies in different majors and classes.
“People attending can learn a lot about many different topics. We put a lot of work into completing our projects. We would love to show them off to those interested,” Barclay said.
UW-Stout’s Robert F. Cervenka School of Engineering offers six undergraduate degrees, including computer and electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering, plastics engineering, engineering technology and packaging, as well as four minors and a master’s in manufacturing engineering.
Along with the environmental science major, UW-Stout has undergraduate programs in biology and in applied biochemistry and molecular biology.
UW-Stout, a member of the Universities of Wisconsin, is Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University, with a focus on applied learning, collaboration with business and industry, and career outcomes. Learn more via the FOCUS2030 strategic plan.