June 03, 2008
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Four Western Kentucky University chemistry majors -- Robert Derrek Brown of Bowling Green, Ashley Jolly of Glasgow, CarrieJo Pruitt of Bee Spring and Dino Sulejmanovic of Bowling Green -- and professor Eric Conte are conducting chemical research this summer at National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) in Taichung, Taiwan.
The visit is part of a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation’s Office of International Science and Engineering. Collaborators are Dr. Conte from WKU’s Chemistry Department and Professor Shing-Yi Suen from the Chemical Engineering Department at NCHU.
The group’s research topic is the investigation of synthetic membranes having attached surfactants. These membranes may be used in the future for pollution control or determining biomolecules in various samples. In addition, students are taking a course in Mandarin and will visit scenic sites in Taiwan such as Taipei and Tarako Gorge National Park.
For the past three summers 11 WKU chemistry majors have visited NCHU and in exchange two NCHU graduate students visit WKU each fall.
During the 10-week research experience, the students’ expenses are paid in full and they receive a $3,500 stipend.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Chemistry Department at (270) 745-3457.
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