Course Syllabus

Welcome to Chemistry Frontiers!

This is a pass/fail, fun 1 credit seminar course for 1st and 2nd year undergraduate students. Grading is based on attendance and a quiz in the last day of class.

Topics range from learning about 3D printing of polymers and medical devices, to malaria treatments, cell imaging and quantum dots for visual displays (like TVs)! 

Its main purpose is to 
  • inform what research in chemistry looks like
  • show you why and how chemistry is relevant in our society
  • provide you with an opportunity to meet research active faculty at UW, and their students in a relatively informal setting
  • chart a course to how to pursue undergraduate research internships 
This class is also an excellent opportunity to find research positions and interact with chemistry profs in the department (many of who you'll interact with throughout your career at UW).
Each lecture is
  • designed to be fun
  • will be delivered by a different team of {a prof + students}
  • describes the big picture of the research as well as logistical/experimental aspects of what research looks like for that group.
Date Lab (PI/Student) Title of talk Research Area Resource Question
3/30 Velian Introduction to Research in Chemistry Undergraduate research, Internships, Opportunities at UW, What is Grad School see canvas files -
4/6 Nelson Polymers for 3D printing Catalysis, Chemical Biology, Materials, Organic Chemistry This is a 1-hour videothat is extremely well done and interesting as an introduction to polymers. https://www.pbs.org/video/beyond-the-elements-indestructible-ijaqya/ What can you see yourself 3D printing 30 years from now? What types of attributes will be required of the material?
4/13 Masiello TBD Nanoscience and single-particle spectroscopy theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYGP5w5MecY Name a few ways in which the spectral response of a nanomaterial can be influenced.
4/20 Chatterjee Organic chemical reactions in proteins Organic Chemistry,Chemical Biology, Biophysis, Catalysis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnU8-M_j6sA Why are protein post-translational modifications important for all living organisms?
4/27 Fu Beyond Beer's law: how we use spectroscopy to measure chemistry in living cells Analytical Chemistry, Biophysics, Chemical Biology, Physical Chemistry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgaCk9mKPMU How can you use Beer's law to measure cellular processes such as apoptosis or aging (think about chemical changes and look up literature)
5/4 Cossairt Lights, Quantum Dots, Action! Clean Energy, Catalysis, Inorganic and Materials Chemistry What is a Quantum Dot? Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-a-quantum-dot/id1436616330?i=1000510570718 What is a quantum dot? What is "quantum" about it? What are some representative applications of quantum dots that make use of their unique properties?
5/11 Rathod Science for malaria treatments Chemical Biology/Organic Chemistry https://www.washington.edu/news/2015/07/15/uw-chemists-help-develop-a-novel-drug-to-fight-malaria/
2. https://www.texastribune.org/2016/08/01/mmv-a-potential-single-dose-cure-for-malaria/
3. White, J, Rathod, PK. Indispensable malaria genes. Science. 2018;360 (6388):490-491. doi: 10.1126/science.aat5092.
Thank you!!
Malaria Elimination: Why so hard?
5/18 Golder Pasta and Plastics Organic Chemistry, Catalysis, Materials https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04350-0 Describe one general method to upcycle a thermoplastic and one general method to upcycle a thermoset.
Velian Conclusions and P/F quiz What have we learned?

Course Summary:

Date Details Due