Welcome to the official blog of the NEWT REU internship program, where students from Rice, Arizona State University, University of Texas El Paso, and Yale, will share their experiences and stories from their summer internship sessions. Students will be working on water-related projects with mentors in university labs throughout the United States and in the University of Malawi Polytechnic in Blantyre, Malawi. Click here to learn more about the NEWT Center and here to learn more about the NEWT Program’s education activities.
Blue Barrel System
On Sunday, 5th of June, we moved into the Cure Hospital guest house, along with two Malawian interns, Clog and Owen. Clog and Owen joined us on the water project. The week of the 6th to the 10th of June we traveled around Blantyre looking for communities to install our water purification system. We began with a site in the township of Njulli, named Katsidzi, the people from this community used groundwater from a dug out well as their drinking water. We then traveled to the township of Lunzu, to Kamwendo Village, where people used an open reservoir as their source of drinking water. We sampled both sites, and tested them for turbidity, pH, conductivity and hardness. In order to test for hardness, we used a titration method, which to my luck I had
only ever learned of in a classroom setting and not a laboratory setting, since I took a research course, which replaced my general chemistry laboratories. Being the chemist here I had to pretend to know what exactly was going on. Titrations are easy to do, I just happened to freak out because I had never actually done them, I taught myself, and then taught the team, which consists of engineers, how to of them. Both samples showed high amounts of hardness and high turbidity.
This week was also the week Dr. Loyo from Rice University came to assist us. He helped us get into track. I was a little concerned that what we were doing as a project was not what NEWT wanted us doing so I asked him and his response was “Well, you are in an internship, and your advisor is Dr. Mkandawire so you have to do what she tells you to do, which is what you are working on right now.” He was right so I continued working on this project.
The reason why I was not sure about this project was that before the internship began we were told that we were going to engineer our own design using moringa seed to treat water. The first week that we were here we had a meeting with Dr. Makandawire, who is the dean of engineering and our advisor for the internship, Aaron, who was in a year long fellowship, and two professors and two students from the Polytechnic. In this meeting Aaron presented a blue barrel system that he had worked on before in Southeast Asia, and he wanted to construct one in a community in Malawi. We were all assigned to look for a community to build the system in, to build the system, and see how well it worked. I was fine with this, except that it did not meet what we were told we were going to do before the internship began.
For the next two weeks we continued working with Aaron on this blue barrel system.
Week of June 13-18 Part 2
The second half of this week involved gearing up for the trip to Chikwawa, as it was determined to be the ideal location. Most everyone agreed that Chikwawa would be more exciting due to isolation, but Lunzu was still considered because it meant easy transport of building materials and being near Blantyre, our home base. Going to Chikwawa would mean a week of living in Chikwawa, which would take planning. However, we still decided to go to Chikwawa. Thursday and Friday of this week were spent in the back of a pickup truck, driving through the different markets looking for all the necessary supplies. Some things, such as the blue barrels and oil drums were easy to locate, but others, such as the sieve materials and the correct pipe fittings were quite difficult to find, if not impossible. Several of the sieves had to made from other material in the end.
On Saturday, June 18, the larger group of interns planned a trip to the Majete Game Reserve, which was near Chikwawa. It was an interesting experience because we not only did the traditional game drive, but also did a boat drive. The boat let us see many more animals than expected, including hippos, crocodiles, and many birds. Both were lots of fun, but it was definitely a long day. However, we were able to see the mountain road at sunset on the ride back, which was quite beautiful.
Week of June 13-18 Part 1
We had two village trips planned for the start of this week, and while originally the group was going to divide up to visit the sites, we decided it was better to visit them all together so we could determine which had the most potential. On Monday, June 13, we went back to Lunzu, but to a different site—this time to a small private school that used both borehole water and open reservoir water. This was the site suggested by the Village Hygiene Project, and the school administration seemed interested in the proposal. Testing the water, we found that e. coli and other coliforms were certainly present.
On Tuesday, we went to Chikwawa, to the Ndlema village, which involved a long trip in minibus on a mountain highway followed by a bumpy trip up another mountain in a 4WD truck. The village was very isolated, especially in comparison to the school site, meaning that the village does not get much outside attention from water projects. They were certainly happy to share their water collecting process and welcomed the idea of the project. They, too, used a borehole, but it was determined to be contaminated. Additional water was taken from a nearby stream, but the water level was very low and the water was stagnant. We were not able to collect samples initially because we were unsure how to travel with glass bottles on such a bumpy road, but were fairly certain of the contamination.
Beautiful green stars!
This past week I analyzed my samples using the fluorescence microscope. The next picture is an image of the phages that I had isolated on week two. We do this test to check mostly that the phages are in the stock solution and review also the abundance. We where able to see different layers crossing throughout the sample, containing a good abundance of phages. After this we started the union of the phages with the different materials such as Fe-Cs, F-N, and others. Once combined, they were tested to check the phage abundance and also plated together with different bacteria.
Temporary Setbacks
Unfortunately, this week has been a little slower compared to the previous two weeks. The isolation of graphene oxide is challenging and this compound is not very cooperative. I went through several rounds of heating and drying, but graphene oxide retains moisture really well regardless of the solvent making it difficult to work with and manipulate. After heating and drying the sample overnight, GO was dry and stuck to the walls of the container. I had to spend quite a bit of time scraping the walls of the container with a spatula. The good news is that enough GO was produced for several uses and that I should not have to repeat the synthesis.
After this is accomplished, GO will be reduced using hydrazine and ammonia. This will remove oxygen-containing functional groups from the surface of GO. With a quick search on the web, I found that hydrazine is known for being a strong reducing agent and is also a common component of rocket fuel. Hydrazine is highly toxic and will react in the presence of metals, releasing heat up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.
It is crazy that the program is almost half over. Each day here in El Paso seems to go by faster than the day prior. I also paid for a membership to the recreation center so that I can workout a couple times a week. I have been hanging out with my coworkers and the other intern, Sophia, quite a bit in my free time. I had the opportunity to take a ride on scenic drive over the weekend (pictured below). Not having a car limits my exploration, but I am thankful that all of the essentials are within walking distance. Since I have been here, my use of the Uber app has reached unprecedented heights.
I know some other bloggers have mentioned it, but I definitely recommend taking in as many experiences as possible during the internship (both in and out of the lab). I have realized that this internship offers so much more than raw knowledge from another lab. This internship has given us all the opportunity to travel to a new place alone and essentially fend for ourselves. While it is vital to have minds that are well versed in science, I think it is equally important to be able to adapt to new environments. I encourage my fellow NEWT interns to step out of their comfort zone and embrace everything that this summer program has to offer.
Just Getting Started
We had some time to mess with the CDI setup this week, so we cut out a new rubber gasket to place between the two plates and sealed the stack up without the electrode. Then we connected the stack to the filter system with new tubing and ran water through it to see if we had any leaks while also measuring the differential pressure flowing through the stack and whether the system’s flow rate was accurate.
Also, we finally placed an order for the carbon electrodes. Seems like forever since we began looking for them and we still weren’t able to find a company willing to sell us a larger electrode. Thankfully, the small company that we bought the thinner electrodes from suggested a couple of other contacts that might be able to help us out, one contact being a professor at Case Western University that might already have electrodes that meet our specifications. So, we contacted him and he responded not even 3 hours later, saying that he had 8 electrodes that met our specifications and could send them that same day, no charge. What luck, eh? Anyway, our week ended on a high note and all the electrodes should be here by Tuesday 🙂
P.S. Here’s another beautiful pic of El Paso:
Week 3 update
Midway through last week featured the beginning of the next stage of cleaning the GO. The dialysis. Dialysis has begun for a few of the Hoffman samples, and by the middle of this week, the rest of the Hoffman samples will go through the process. Near the end of the week, dialysis for the Staudenmaier will begin. There is a lot of material for Staudenmaier, so I expect it to take a little more than a week, unless I obtain additional clamps to do more than one dialysis at a time. Also, after dialysis will come lyophilization (freeze drying).
Last week, I was instructed on how to measure contact angles, so once we coat our membranes with GO we can measure how hydrophilic or hydrophobic the membrane is.
During the course of a lot of working and reading, I found time to have a little fun. I played piano in the cafeteria. When I play piano I don’t mind people being around, it is only when they walk up to me and stand over my shoulder that I start to get nervous. I also went to the pool and hung out with some fellow REU students. In addition, I was fortunate to hang out with my mentors and fellow REU students again for a brown bag lunch. Finally, I played basketball. My knees and ankles feel like they went through more than a game of 21 though.
Thank you for reading, more updates coming so 🙂
4 Weeks Left
This internship has moved way to fast, it is hard to believe that we only have about 4 more week left until we leave. Its even harder to believe that we have to finish our research in that time as well. So far both of my projects have come a long way since I have been here and they just keep building. So far as part of my Mechanical Project we are almost done with the fabrication of the skid. I think we could have been done since last week but parts have been getting here very slowly. As of today everything is sitting in our lab and is waiting to be screwed, zip-tied, and drilled on to the framework of our product. The only thing that I am dreading at this point is figuring out the configuration of the solar module and connecting everything correctly. I have been reading the manual as closely as I can and so far I feel like once I start connecting the solar panel I feel like I will know what to do. We should be done with the fabrication by today or tomorrow, and the rest of the week will involve us commissioning the whole system. Commissioning, will help us see if all the part are working so when we start testing next week nothing goes wrong. 
As for my Computational project, my program is processing data. I have only recorded one set of data points, and I hope to run more this week. So far the changeable parameter in this project are the the flow of water coming in from the permeate and the feed side of the MD module, the feed temperature, and the length of the module. The purpose of the computational model is to test certain geometries of MD modules, and which ever geometry that works the best will be built. In doing this it allows to build one or two good real models than building several through trial and error.
Like each of my projects I have been trying to take the most out of this trip as possible. This weekend a group of us went to NASA-Johnson Space Center, as well as the Holocaust Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts. And the weekend before that we went to the Houston Ballet where we saw Giselle, and went to the Galleria mall. Every stop we have made in Houston has been very memorable and fun, these next couple of week we want to go to the beach as well as the Natural Science Museum. Four weeks left and i’m planning every second of it, can’t wait till next week to tell you about my progress.
Chao,
Evelyn
Buffer Effects
The course of this week has certainly been eventful in every way. We received a new instrument, UV Transilluminator, with two ultraviolet wavelengths, proficiency in Excel has minimized my data analysis from 11 hours to three hours, and discoveries in our solution has shed some light on my knowledge of photocatalyst.
To start off this week we received a new UV Transilluminator and had learn the functionality of this new instrument. The set up and process is similar to our previous UV Transilluminator so it did not take very long. I designed a frame to cover the screen of the transilluminatorr to help maintain uniformity of UV rays to our multiwell sample. We also incorporated another instrument to our research that allows us to measure fluorescence. We discovered that special black multiwells would have to be used with this instrument to obtain better readings for our sample.
I have come to notice this week that my proficiency in Microsoft Excel has dramatically improved. From the first and second week I was here, I had to create a template for all the data we collected. Now looking back I see that I have become a lot faster in organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data. Recently, I have been working on a MatLab code during my free time to help data analysis, but I am stumbling upon a portion of my code that allows me to organize my data in matrix form. More is to come of this code as I try to discover a proper way to allow MatLab make my graphs and organize my data.
One of the grand discoveries we made this week was a buffer effect. We discovered that by using different buffers causes a faster rate of reaction when using a photocatalyst. This week we will be aiming to find out more information on why this is so and using more photocatalyst to observe if this trend is constant.
Towards the end of the week Dr Alford talked to several REU students about graduate school and the process several students take. Although I am a rising Sophomore, I am starting to think more about what I would like to do once I graduate. One of the options for me to take is going to graduate school, and I think that may be one of the better decisions I will have to make one day. As far as what I would like to study will be a challenge, and with that note I understand I do have time on my side to make these decisions (and nanotechnology is one of which that does peak my interest).
El Chuco Diario
This past week was a bit slower than last. Neither me nor my partner have any experience with capacitive deionization techniques, so a majority of the week was spent reviewing capacitive deionization research. The lab has already done research with electrodialysis and there is a previously used electrodialysis system already in place, so we really just need to modify it to include carbon electrodes. Easy enough right? Not necessarily. Since we’re reusing a pre-existing stack, it requires a specific size of electrode in order to operate optimally. However, we’ve only been able to find about 3 distributors of carbon electrodes and none so far have been able to meet our specifications. So we’ll have to either figure out how to modify our stack or continue looking for an electrode distributor that can meet our specifications.
This weekend my lab group planned a trip to Carlsbad Caverns, which was pretty amazing. I knew it was something I wanted to do before arriving and was already disappointed when I realized how far it actually was from El Paso, since I don’t have a car here. Fortunately, everything worked out in my favor and we all had a great time.
I also went for a short hike with the other UTEP intern, Alex, at Billy Rogers Arroyo. It didn’t seem particularly well kept, but it was a fun experience all the same. About halfway down the trail, I stepped on a thorn, which went straight through my shoe and into my foot. It took about 5 minutes for me to work up the courage to pull it out (during which Alex captured that wonderful picture below).
Cheers to new friends and experiences.
