Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University
UW-STOUTKeeping Applied
Science Alumni
Informed
SPECIAL POINTS
OF INTEREST:

New Faculty

Student
Achievements

Almuni Updates

Keeping
Informed
Fall 2009
News from Applied Science
Hello alums! I hope that
all is well in your respective
careers and personal
lives. It has been a busy
semester on campus with
the move into the new Jarvis Hall addition. It is spectacular from my view; I
have toured a few of you
around this semester, and
would be glad to provide a
tour if you are coming
through town. As you can
see from the picture, the
new addition is spectacular
on the outside and even
more exciting inside. Next
fall there will be a grand
opening, and we will be
sending out formal invites
to all of you for this significant event.
We continue to hire new
faculty with Dr. Jennifer
Grant as our newest hire,
by way of the Medical University of South Carolina.
She is a proteomicist by
training, and in the coming
semester she will teach BIO
425-Proteomics; this is
likely the first and only proteomics course taught at
the undergraduate level in
the country. You’ll find
more about Dr. Grant in the
following pages. Also new
to the Biology department
is Dr. Jim Burritt, who
comes to us from Montana
State and is teaching microbiology. More about Dr.
Burritt will be featured in
the Spring 2010 issue.
Dillon graduate, who, like
some of you has plans to
attend pharmacy school
next year. Other alums
have also had some professional success: most recently Andy Smith (class of
2006) had his Ph.D. research highlighted in the
After 38 years on campus teaching thousands of
students the finer points of
instrumentation as well as
environmental and food
chemistry, Dr. Marty Ondrus
of the Chemistry department will retire in December. His enthusiasm in the
classroom will be greatly
missed.
The program continues
to grow and our students
continue to be very successful. This December we
will proudly watch Ashley
New York Times Science
section, because he has
developed a new, more permanent blue pigment that
may revolutionize the dye
industry. Check out Andy’s
links here: Andy’s Video &
NYT Article.
Best wishes to everyone
for a safe and happy
holiday season and a happy
new year.
PAGE
New Faculty: Jen Grant
New to the Applied Science
program, biology department this
year is Dr. Jennifer Grant, who is
currently teaching BIO-101 and
preparing for Stout’s first course
in proteomics, BIO-425, to be
launched in spring 2010. For
those who might not know, proteomics is the study of the structure, function, interactions and
control of proteins, as they are the
main components of the physiological metabolic pathways of
cells. The term was first coined in
1997 to make an analogy with
genomics, the study of genes. Dr.
Grant maintains interests in the
proteomic impact of gender on
the aging of the heart, as well as
investigations into why invasive
plants are so devastating to local
flora.
Having trained at several national protein mass spectrometry
centers, Dr. Grant has harnessed
her expertise in biochemistry to
develop quantitative mass spectrometric approaches to under-
stand the proteomics changes
associated with cardiac and neurological pathophysiology.
She received her bachelor’s
degree from the Oberlin College
chemistry department, and her
PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Pharmacology Department. She maintains active
interests in leadership issues affecting students, scientists and
scholars. Presently, she is cochair of the focus group on undergraduate education in mass spectrometry for the American Society
of Mass Spectrometry.
In her spare time, Jen likes to
hike and explore nature, which is
a plus for a proteomicist interested in novel organisms.
Student Achievements:
Kendra Kilawee’s Sojourn in Spain
In the spring of 2008 I received
an email directed towards all
Spanish minors offering a yearlong study-abroad program in
Palma de Mallorca, Spain. That
September I got on a plane that
began one of the most difficult but
rewarding experiences of my life.
Reflecting back, I would never
change a second of it. All the people I met, the places I
saw and the things I
did hardly came easily,
but together they
changed my view of
many of the obstacles I
face here and helped
focus my interests and
aspirations as I continue my education.
Palma de Mallorca
is the capitol city lo-
cated on the largest of the Balearic Islands in the middle of the
Mediterranean Sea. The two major languages are Spanish and
Catalan and even though I studied
Spanish for five years, I felt completely out of my element once I
stepped off the plane. Thankfully
I had a friend from Palma who let
me sleep on her couch as I
searched for an apartment. She
helped me buy a cell phone and
guided me as I tried to figure out
how to adjust to life in Palma. I
never thought that simple everyday tasks like buying toothpaste,
ordering a coffee or going grocery
2
A Sojourn in Spain cont’d
shopping would be so mentally
exhausting. When I met many of
the other students who were
studying abroad at the university, I
was relieved to learn that we all
felt the same about being there:
completely and utterly lost. Not
only was I trying to adjust to a life
completely different from what I
was used back in the American
Midwest, but I was trying
to adjust to speaking and
understanding Spanish
every day. Sticking with
the other German, Italian,
Dutch and Austrian students made me feel like I
belonged there and it began to feel exciting and
fun instead of so frustrating. One of my favorite
memories of being in
Europe was just sitting in
a restaurant and realizing
that I was surrounded by friends
from all over, but we all had to
speak the common language that
everyone knew, which at the time
was Spanish. I began to book
plane tickets with new found
friends to other parts of Europe so
I could take advantage of the time
I spent there and travel as much
as I could. From September of
2008 to June of 2009, I traveled
around Bavaria in Germany, spent
New Year’s Eve in Barcelona,
Spain, learned to ski in the Alps of
northern Italy and got to experience the infamous double-decker
busses of London, England.
Some of the classes that I took
while attending the University of
the Balearic Islands were microbiology, biochemistry and molecular
cell biology, all taught in Spanish.
I was trying to fulfill some of my
missing credits, but found out after my first semester exams that I
really wasn’t catching on to the
material as well as I thought. After going to the classes, translating notes and lectures and then
trying to take the exams, I felt like
I had been attending the wrong
class the entire semester. It was
as if I hadn’t studied a thing as I
read through the exam and only
recognized less than half of the
questions being asked. It was
after those first semester exams
that I realized the reason my
classes were so small was because most of the students who
were registered didn’t go to class-they simply studied on their own,
memorized information and then
hopefully passed the exam at the
end. This was an aspect of many
European universities that American students have a hard time
adjusting to. Coming from Stout, I
was used to mandatory attendance at classes with the application of that knowledge to the associated laboratory. In the biology
PAGE
program at UIB I felt that many of
the students were excellent at
memorizing and taking exams, but
in the laboratories, which were
one-week sessions for the entire
semester class, I could see that
many of them did not understand
a lot of what we were working on.
I was fortunate to be in labs at UIB
that covered material I had practiced at Stout like DNA electrophoresis, so the language
barrier was less of an issue
and I could follow along relatively easily.
From arriving in Spain, to
traveling around Europe, and
studying at the University-- all
provided me with experiences that will forever be in
my memory. Whether good
or bad, when all put together,
the obstacles and feelings I
had throughout those two
semesters are difficult to explain,
but have made me a much
stronger person. I am now proficient in Spanish, understand
many science terms in the Spanish language and have international friends that I hope to someday visit. I would never take back
a second I spent in Mallorca and
hope to someday return to Europe
for another extended period of
time.
3
Student Internship:
PAGE
Heather Schrader - Getting Fired Up at NIST
Every summer, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) accepts a select number of undergraduates for their Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). These students are given the opportunity to do hands-on
ISO/TS 19 700 Furnace
research in a national laboratory setting. Each student is placed in one of the ten NIST research laboratories and paired with a NIST employee who becomes the student’s advisor and mentor. Students
assist their advisors in whatever research
his or her advisor is conducting. This past
summer, I was selected to work in the Building and Fire Research Laboratory under the
supervision of Dr. Nathan Marsh.
The summer began with lots of safety training, reading up on the research I would take
part in, and organizing data that had already
been collected. After I had completed all of
the required safety training, I began to help
Dr. Marsh in his lab. Our research was broken into two parts. The first part consisted
of the validation of the ISO/TS 19700 Tube
Furnace. In the second part, cables used in
nuclear power plants were supplied to us by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We were asked to
determine what gases were produced if the cables
were ignited, what the concentrations of those
gases are and what effect the gases would have on
plant operators and staff.
To determine the gases and concentrations produced when the cables ignite, a cable was placed
in the ISO/TS Tube Furnace and the gases collected in a dilution chamber. The concentrations of
gases were measured using Nondispersive Infrared
(NDIR) and Forurier Transform Infrared (FTIR) sensors.
This experience was invaluable to me. It gave
me a hands-on experience that is difficult to rival. I
received instruction from some of the best scientists in the nation and was able to work with instruments that are not typically found in college laboratories. It gave me practice in all portions of scientific research, from reading and literature research,
to running experiments and recording data, and
finally to interpreting that data and drawing conclusions.
I had much fun on this adventure. In the simplest of terms, I spent the summer burning things
and getting paid for it! I made new friends, visited
historic places and sites of national interest and
generally had a blast living in an extended stay hotel, living with my suite-mates, and being independent. I highly recommend the NIST internship experience and would be very willing to participate
once again.
4
Alumni Updates:
PAGE
Matt Prissel: Biomimetics in Montana
Hello to former class of 2005,
fellow AppSci alum, and current
AppSci students. I’m Matt Prissel, a Sales and Support alumni.
After graduating in 2005, I
moved out to Bozeman, MT to
begin graduate work in chemistry at Montana State University.
There I began a PhD in Chemistry, specifically in biomimetic
nanomaterials, under the guidance of Dr. Trevor
Douglas and Dr. Mark Young.
The research in the labs of Douglas and Young is
almost as varied and unique as the students and
researchers involved. The work can be distilled to
describing it as using protein cages (think a nanosized container made of protein) to template the synthesis of novel materials, encapsulate and deliver
therapeutic compounds, or build nano-sized hierarchical structures. The possibilities indeed are endless. Already applications in drug delivery, alternative energy, vaccination against pulmonary infection,
ultra-capacitance, and even understanding problems
in astrobiology have been/are being pursued.
In my research, I focused on using protein cages
to template the synthesis of novel catalytic materials.
Using proteins as platforms to synthesize inorganic
materials turns out to be very important in that this
approach provides the ability to do what biology does
inherently well, and humans have an incredibly difficult time doing - that is to synthesize inorganic materials at ambient conditions. Think about materials
such as bone and teeth, sea shells, or eggs--biology
makes all these readily and uniquely. Conversely,
interesting man-made materials such as quantum
dots currently involve the use of nasty solvents, and
high temperatures. What if one was able to make
discrete sizes of quantum dots using proteins in an
aqueous, one-pot synthetic scheme? That would be
cool! And, as it turns out it is possible, and it is cool!
The proteins used my research are a ferritin from
humans or horse, and the viral coat protein from
Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), which infects
cowpea plants. Ferritin is 12 nm spherically shaped
protein, with cubic symmetry, composed of 24 identical subunits; it functions in biology to store iron in the
body or host organism, protecting it from oxidative
stress. The CCMV coat protein used is void of any
nucleic acid (it isn’t infectious) and is one of the most
studied viruses. It is also spherical in shape, possessing icosahedral symmetry, is 30 nm in size, and
composed of 180 identical subunits. What these
cages give is the ability to control size and shape at
the nano size regime in an incredibly controlled manner. We used these protein cages to synthesize iron
oxides, polyoxomolybdates, and molybdenum sulfides. These materials are interesting at the nano
size because of the catalytic properties they take on.
Processes such as hydrogen evolution (fuel cell applications), photocatalysis, photochromism (auto-
dimming mirrors) are all possible. Polyoxomolybdates have anti-tumor properties. These protein
cages filled with polyoxomolybdate could one day act
as targeted nano anti-tumor agents. Applied Science
at Stout provided me the scientific background,
support group, and technical skills needed to succeed in a high-tech, high paced research setting.
Of course, being in Big Sky country, I’ve also made
good use of the mountains by skiing Big Sky,
Moonlight Basin, and Bridger Bowl every season, and
enjoying Yellowstone National Park. It’s a great place
to live!
5
UW-STOUTKeeping Applied Science Alumni Informed
.
The goal of this newsletter is to keep alumni in touch
with the Applied Science program. Please update your
contact information so that we can keep in touch with
you in upcoming newsletters. Share this with your other
Applied Science alumni that you are in contact with, we
would love to keep them informed also. Please mail
these contacts to the address on the below or send your
updated information at apsc@uwstout.edu. We would
love to hear from you!
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Name: ______________________________________
Company/School: _____________________________
Address: ____________________________________
UW-Stout Applied Science Alumni Informed
P.O. Box 790
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Menomonie, WI 54751-0790
Applied Science Program
University of Wisconsin-Stout
P.O. Box 790
Menomonie, WI 54751-0790
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