Saida Holder, Chemistry at the University of Houston Week 1

Hello! My name is Saida Holder, and I will be attending the University of Houston for the next six weeks! I attend Olathe High School in Olathe, Colorado, and flying all the way out to another state (a city at that) is incredibly exciting! After being in a rural area my whole life, a big change like this is incredibly special.

I will be creating a solution, and starting the process for making a special, highly conductive, transparent, and very useful material. I will be working with basic principles of Chemistry, such as dilutions and molar stock solutions.

I flew out of Montrose Regional Airport on June 3rd, 2023, and made my way to the very humid and hot city of Houston. I was accompanied by another student from Montrose High School, Tiffany Wu. We had to traverse the airports and make our way to the University of Houston with only Google Maps to guide us. We successfully made it to the campus hotel, and that night we ordered fast food before passing out from our long journey.

June 4th, 2023, Tiffany and I made our way to the dorms early in the morning and were surprised to find out that we would not be in the same rooms as each other. We met the other students we would be working with for four weeks, and while it was awkward at first with their parents accompanying them, we got to know each person, even if it was incredibly brief. When Tiffany and I realized that we needed to bring our own bed sheets, blankets, pillows etc.. We nearly panicked. Our RA, Jose offered us a ride to Target or Walmart so we would be able to pick up our bedding for the weeks ahead. Another parent with one of the interns we would be working with also offered to take us to Walmart since they also needed to get something for their son, which was incredibly kind, and we were so grateful that we were able to grab what we needed. This day was mostly putting everything together and getting acquainted with our new roommates that would be alongside us until their program ended.

Very cool snail I saw on the sidewalk (I have never seen a snail)

University of Houston Student Center South

June 5th, 2023, This day we attended six separate seminars, each one about a specific professor’s focus for whichever student they would be assigned. The group we were with, named Welch, were able to pick their top three presentations and then get assigned a professor to work with for their duration of the internship they were attending. Tiffany and I, were put with Professor Baldelli as part of the Pinhead internship. Right before the last three seminars we had to attend, we got to see a glass blowing demo, which was fascinating to see. This day was very tiring, due to the sheer amount of information we were being given all in the span of eight hours. I enjoyed each presentation, and even learned quite a bit during them.

June 6th, 2023, At 9 am we were to meet Professor Baldelli in the SERC (Science Engineering Research Center) to go over the projects we would be working on over the summer. The Welch students were given their professors to work with, and one of them was also given the opportunity to work with Professor Baldelli as well. After this meeting, Professor Baldelli went over what we would be doing in the lab, and what each of our roles would be in this specific process he would have us doing. We would be making ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) films in a much more cost-effective way, then the method previously used by distributors. ITO films are incredibly useful due to their high conductivity and transparent appearance, since there aren’t a large amount of conductive yet transparent materials. We started our research in the lab, and got our desks set up so we can work as we need. This was mostly a day of learning new things in the lab, and what our procedure should be starting from then.

June 7th, 2023, We started off the day by going to the Library, and filling out checkout papers so we would be able

A keychain I found in an old desk while making room for lab space!

to check out any books we would need, or like to read during our stay at the university. We were told about all of the options available to us for learning materials. After this meeting we returned to the lab and began researching and studying the paper we would be following in order to create these ITO films. I created a list of materials I would need to accomplish this, and which processes were absolutely necessary for success. I went ahead and researched many of the processes in the paper that I did not know, or understand. Professor Baldelli had a different way to approach many of these methods, so my research was not necessary. Even so, it was helpful to know some background information so I wouldn’t be completely lost. Later on, we had a presentation on Superconductivity, which was incredibly interesting. Superconductivity is essentially energy being able to flow without resistance in a field at incredibly low temperatures. Liquid Nitrogen was used for this demo, and it was incredible to see the metal bar they showed move almost effortlessly.

Superconductor Demo

June 8th, June 9th, and June 10th, was our research time in the lab. I had begun cleaning beakers that I needed for my solutions, and doing several calculations to make the correct molar solutions of each compound that we desired. We struggled with a few different issues, such as not having the correct amount of Indium Nitrate for our desired volume, and the Tin Chloride not coming in on time. We used what we had, and eventually ended up borrowing some chemicals from other labs for this experiment. I had broken a few glasses in the process of cleaning, but all was good in the end. I even got to break some microscope slides for our experiment (since we would have to dip the glass into our solution). After breaking the glass, I cleaned them and wrapped them in tin foil for us to hopefully use in the following week. I calibrated an incredibly finicky furnace, and it reached the temperature we would need once the slides were coated in our solution. (600+ Degrees Celsius!) The most grueling part of this week was trying to get our dipping machine to go the speed we need it to for our experiment. The dipping machine will slowly pull the glass slide out of the solution, and while that is happening, the solution will evaporate and create a layer of ITO on the glass. This dipping machine did come with a manual, but I struggled through every part of it, as I could not figure out how to correctly change the speed to what we needed. I contacted the company, and they promptly responded, giving me a teams link for the following day (June 8th). The person I was talking to helped me fix my issue, and now I have it running at the speeds we need. This was a great victory for me, and I was so incredibly relieved when it started working properly. While it may look like we have not made much progress, an immense amount has been done towards our goal this week, and I am incredibly excited for my future days in the lab.