Local high school students teamed up with college faculty last week for some rare, real-world chemistry experience in the Olson Research Laboratories at Florida Institute of Technology.
The Guided Research Apprenticeship program gets Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy science students out of the classroom and into situations to observe cause, effect and results in real time – an experience most budding chemists don’t get to do until their junior or senior year of college. This early glimpse into applied chemistry helps students determine if the sciences are a viable option to focus on in college or as a career.
This is the fourth year that Holy Trinity collaborated with Florida Tech in this exclusive guided research opportunity. The program was led by Florida Tech’s Director of Consulting Patty Sellers, chemistry professor Dr. Joel Olson, and Keiron Hylton, teacher of strategy, entrepreneurship and management at the college.
Seven hand-picked participants presented their research last Friday to their school, faculty, peers, friends and family. Eamon Brennan, Chris Farid, Hari Dandapani, Kyle Go, Siddarth Ranganath and John Ganiban tackled the chemistry research program. Cameron Walcott participated in the business and career research program.
The chemistry students performed simulations of reactions of tryptanthrin molecules to better understand their chemical behaviors. Derived from a natural product, tryptanthrins are of interest for their anti-parasitic and antibiotic properties that might help to combat resistant bacteria. The students used quantum mechanics calculations to simulate chemical reactions to help develop a new theoretical model.
Olson said of the process, “as part of a 12-year drug design project in the laboratory at FIT, the students used the Spartan ’16 molecular modeling software to simulate possible reactions for the nitration of tryptanthrin. They quickly learned how to use the software, and they built hundreds of arrangements of molecular reactants to calculate reaction energies in order to find the most plausible reaction pathways.”
Through better understanding, Olson said, this research could perhaps lead to a compound that may be used as a drug to treat these infectious diseases.
“Some of what these boys have done here will end up in a research publication” Olson said.
Three of these scholars are barrier island residents and rising seniors at Holy Trinity. Ganiban of Merritt Island hopes to major in biomolecular engineering. On his list of hopefuls is Rice, John Hopkins and Georgia Teach. His mom Patricia hopes he applies to her alma mater Louisiana State University.
Kyle Go of Melbourne Beach is undecided about his college choice. When asked what his takeaway was from this opportunity, he shared his appreciation of the process and the in-depth study of tryptanthrin. Eamon Brennan of Indian Harbour Beach said hopes to major in computer science at FIT.
Olson has been part of this apprenticeship program since the beginning, four years ago. “This is the largest group we’ve had yet. I was a little intimidated,” he confessed. “I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to find enough work for them to do.”
The students put in about 50 hours. They were engaged directly with professors and continued to work at home. “They worked very diligently” Olson said. The study on tryptanthrin was already an ongoing research program that began in 2004. “They did good work and I loved their presentations” he said.
Holy Trinity chemistry teacher Joline Irvine showed up to support her students. “I have tried to instill in them that chemistry is everything” she said. In fact, she shared that Ganiban has even applied chemistry to surfing. He told her recently that he finally understands what she’s been telling them all these years. Ganiban told her he’s applied it to everything from diving to using sunscreen on your skin. “It doesn’t click right away, but sooner or later they get it” she said.