Alumni Spotlight: David Geng

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research, Aug 2017

David Geng published an article in volume 2 (2012) of the Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research during his time spent completing his baccalaureate degree. Since graduation, he has moved into a successful career in industry.

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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? - 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 (...truncated)


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Alumni Spotlight: David Geng, The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research, 2017, Volume 7, Issue 1,