My first day at RTI was great. As soon as I got there, we toured a multitude of labs. These labs had extremely complex equipment for testing various things – such as the vapor from e-cigarettes, the power of LED lights, and even the quality of military suits in protecting soldiers from chemicals. The labs were very impressive. Then, I met with a scientist from the energy efficiency department and he gave me a tour of his lab, in which he is to turn biomass, such as feed-stock, into refined oil and other fuels. He even told me that he once turned chicken droppings into crude oil (kind of gross but really cool)! Michelle McCombs, who I am shadowing throughout my internship, also showed me how she downloads data from the MicroPEM, which is her main research project. The MicroPEM is a device that individuals wear to collect real-time data on the particulate matter they are exposed to/inhaling. She received 3 MicroPEMs back from Dartmouth College (many MicroPEMs are sent out on loan to colleges and universities for research, as well as to many third-world countries), and after she collected all the data we switched out the filters in the devices, cleaned them, and sent them back to Dartmouth. After lunch, I met with a chemical engineer who works on the efficiency of air filters in commercial settings and households, and it was really interesting to see SEM images (scanning electron microscopy) of these filters and the fine differences between dirt and human skin and what not. Then, I collected voltage and current data on MicroPEMs that were in the process of being shipped out. I already have learned so much from my first day and I am super excited for tomorrow!
