Matt Clark has been awarded with the title of Spring 2017 Undergraduate of the Quarter and we couldn’t be happier for him. Although he plans to graduate by the end of this term, his experiences at Oregon State have left a lasting impact on him.
During Matt’s undergraduate career at Oregon State, he has been a part of an integrative lab which has helped him define his career path. After joining Michelle Dolgos’s lab during his sophomore year, he has been immersing himself with research dealing with lead free piezoelectric materials. After winning the URISC grant for his summer research and working with graduate students and Michelle, he is finally at the end of his project and is looking forward to a publication about his work.
However, even though it seems like he was destined to pursue Chemistry, that wasn’t always the case for Matt. When he first came to OSU, he was majoring in Mechanical Engineering because he liked to build and be hands-on with his work. All of that changed once he started to become fascinated with Chemistry and soon he switched his major to Chemistry with a Materials option.
Being a part of an integrated lab has helped Matt to gain a deeper understanding of concepts and he recommends other undergraduates to become a part of an integrated lab because it really increases the proficiency and understanding of the course. Some of Matt’s favorite courses were the graduate courses, CH 513 and CH 616, he was able to take because he enjoyed the applied concepts and also really enjoyed both the instructors, Dr. Subramanian and Dr. Dolgos.
After he graduates, he is planning on pursuing one of the opportunities that have been offered to him in hopes of continuing to apply his knowledge in his field of work. He has been offered opportunities from all over the country such as California & Virginia just to name a few. He is excited to get into the industry and hopes to continue his path in working on leading us to a better world.
When Matt’s not working long hours at the lab, he likes to unwind by watching one of his favorite classic movies, Star Wars: New Hope. He enjoys watching the movie multiple times and fondly remembers the times when he watched it on VHS tapes.
Students like Matt Clark are a major part of what makes our Department so great! We wish him well for all of his future endeavors and cannot wait to hear about all of his accomplishments.
tents, three publications and thousands of Google hits for the OSU scientist and his research team. Created by heating manganese compounds to 2,000 degrees, this pigment is heat reflective, non-toxic (unlike other blue pigments) and much more durable and versatile than blues previously discovered. “One day, a graduate student working on a completely different project was taking samples out of a furnace while I was walking by and it was blue. I realized immediately that something amazing had happened,” states Subramanian when asked how this serendipity had occurred. “The more we discover about the pigment, the more interesting it gets,” Subramanian says. Maybe that’s why Subramanian and his research group have decided to continue their research; attempting to make other colors using the same basic chemistry.
