Alumni Spotlight: David Geng
102 Journal of Purdue Undergradate Research: Volume 7
Initially, I took a position in the field of biotechnology working as a manufacturing chemist at Antech Diagnostics, which was located in the Purdue Research Park. The company is a subsidiary of VCA Antech, which is the largest veterinary firm in the country, and that facility produced in-vitro diagnostic products for veterinary use. That position utilized my chemistry knowledge and skills in a variety of ways with regards to wet chemistry techniques, process methodology, and quality control analysis.
0 BS in Environmental Chemistry from Purdue University , 2012
I S D I S T A N T P O L L U T I O N C O N T A M I N A T I N G L O C A L A I R ? : Analyzing the Origins of Atmospheric Aerosols David Geng, Environmental Chemistry How did the research you did as an undergraduate at Purdue impact your current endeavors? What is the value of undergraduate research?
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Currently, I am the lead analytical chemist for
Essex, a Superior Essex Company, located in Fort
Wayne, Indiana. Essex is one the largest magnet
wire producers in the world, and my role is in a
central division laboratory that uses analytical
chemistry techniques to support both internal and
external customers. This position is focused mostly
on polymer science and how the coating on the wire
affects magnet wire properties. Analytical chemistry
is exciting due to the fact that everyday there is
something new and there is always a chemistry
technique or instrumentation to help solve the
problems that arise.
What are your career goals?
My career goals include continuing to build my
technical expertise in the field of polymer science, to
develop my management skills to more effectively
manage my team of technicians, and to continue
striving to provide excellent customer service to all of
those affected by the products my company produces.
INTRODUCTION
Every person on the planet breathes in air that contains
very fine suspended particles known as atmospheric
aerosols. Atmospheric aerosols have been a significant
research topic since the early 20th century when scientists
realized that people could become il from inhaling air with
a high particulate mat er content. Now most research that is
being conducted on aerosols is done utilizing technological
advances in analytical chemistry and computer modeling
to analyze aerosols thoroughly and with more certainty.
It is crucial to understand where aerosols come from
because of the dramatic effect that particulate mat er has
on global climate, local air quality, and personal health.
The effects of atmospheric aerosols on global climate have
been studied since the 1970s, and research has shown
that aerosols enhance the scat ering and absorption of
solar radiation. The physical characteristics of aerosols
independently are mostly negligible, but when there are
tril ions of aerosols in the atmosphere, climatic effects
may occur (Ramanathan, Crutzen, Kiehl, & Rosenfield,
2001). Some climatic effects that could occur include
altering the solar radiation that enters the atmosphere
by the “Twomey effect,” which is the ability of aerosols
to reflect the radiation. Another way aerosols can affect
climate is by modifying clouds by acting as cloud
condensation nuclei, which may have an influence on the
hydrological cycle (Lohmann & Leck, 2005). Though
there is much scientific evidence to show that both of
these physical phenomena are influenced by aerosols,
there is a significant amount of uncertainty in whether
or not anthropogenic aerosols are having a direct effect
on the global-mean radiative forcing when compared
to greenhouse gases (Schwartz & Andreae, 1996). The
second implication of aerosols is the impact on visibility.
The United States has struggled with visual pol ution for
wel over 100 years, since industrialization began emit ing
particles into the air. The United States Clean Air Act of
1963 sought to limit the extent of the air pol ution and has
had a significant impact on reducing visual air pol ution;
however, in other parts of the world, visual pol ution
continues to be a significant issue (see Figure 1).
A more important implication of high concentrations
of aerosols is the detriment to human health (Kinney &
Ozkaynak, 1991). Research has shown that continued
exposure to aerosols can damage respiratory tissues and,
depending on the chemistry of the particulate matter,
may even cause cancer (Avol et al., 1979). Additional y,
fatalities due to respiratory issues increase during times
of elevated aerosol concentration. The primary hurdle
with studying these health effects is that the experiments
I believe that I draw on many of the skills and
thought processes that I developed in undergraduate
research every day. The ability that one gets from
the independent thinking, process troubleshooting,
and scientific exploration is something that is difficult
to teach in a classroom setting but is paramount to
success in industry. I would strongly recommend
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