Paul Blakemore « The Erlenmeyer Flask

Chemistry Major, Jason Sandwisch, the newest Fall 2016 Undergraduate of the Quarter recently sat down with Department Chair, Rich Carter to discuss what brought him to OSU, his favorite parts of the program and his plans for the future.

Jason was born in Vancouver, Washington. He then moved briefly to Colorado with his parents, but ultimately grew up in the small town of Banks, Oregon. He attended Liberty High School where he immersed himself in the sciences with the help of his freshmen biology teacher and swim coach Paul Hanson. Hanson would go on and recruit Jason to the swim team, where he spent the next four years competing.

Jason was very enthusiastic about biology and others sciences. He decided to pursue a Chemistry Major coming out of high school because of his senior year AP chemistry course. The class was small which resulted in a good amount of student/teacher interaction. The class focused mainly on class work and book work, but not a lot of time was spent doing laboratory work. Due to the lack of lab experience in high school, he decided a university with a good undergraduate research would be important for his educational goals.

While attending an Oregon State Fall Preview, Jason was impressed by how many people spoke to him about undergraduate research. He was already leaning toward matriculating here as his brother also attended OSU. “It’s nice to know someone where you’re going.” During Jason’s first term, Dr. Neal Sleszynski mentored him and suggested that he pursue the URSA Engage undergraduate research grant, which led him to conduct research for Dr. Kenneth Hedberg. Throughout this experience, he studied gas phase electron diffraction on 1,1,3,3-tetramethylcyclobutane. More recently, he studies spiropentane alongside Dr. Joseph Nibler and his undergraduate researcher, Blake Erickson (Winter 2016 UGQ).

During the summer of 2015, Jason also did research in Dr. John Simonsen’s lab in the College of Forestry. He worked with Johnny Hergert (Fall 2015 UGQ), conducting research on new polymer blends using cellulose nanocrystals. Other research projects with Prof. John Simonsen included Jason working for a local start-up called EcNow Tech. Here, Jason helped develop plant-based plastic material. His favorite part of all his various research has been being able to apply physical chemistry principles and problems solving aspects. “I took physical chemistry last year and before that I was working with all these experimental instruments such as FTIR, but never realized the basis for how they actually worked.”

Jason says he doesn’t have a favorite professor, “I enjoyed all my chemistry classes.” Overall, he really enjoyed taking Organic Chemistry from both Dr. Paul Blakemore and Dr. Chris Beaudry. He also loved the challenge of CH 464, taught by Dr. Chong Fang. His favorite class was CH 421 – Analytical Chemistry taught by Dr. Sean Burrows. “He’s just a great person. He was funny, understanding and really wanted you to learn the material. He didn’t make it hard, but stressed the important points. Being taught Analytical chemistry by him was an awesome experience.”

After graduation, Jason wants to pursue a Ph.D. in physical chemistry by studying excited state chemistry. He is interested in the University of Washington due to the broad selection of potential faculty focused in his area of interest. He is also excited about the wide array of options that are available to him after graduate school. His summer internship with EcNow Tech really opened his eyes to what’s available after school. “At this point, I’m unsure about my specific career path, but four years ago I wasn’t sure about my major I just want to go to graduate school and then find my path.”

Students like Jason are a huge part of what makes our Department so great. We wish him well with graduation, graduate school and beyond.

Collin Muniz was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, home of The Crimson Tide, but quickly moved to LA, then on to Oregon where he attended Beaverton High School. His sophomore year at Beaverton High, he took his first Chemistry class. He fondly remembers his instructor, Patrick Cripey, performing an acid-based reaction in which he dissolved a penny and decided then and there, that Chemistry was pure magic; a type of magic that he wanted to explore further.

When it came time to apply to colleges, Collin applied to many and did his due diligence in visiting each one. He said it was an easy decision to choose OSU. Upon matriculation, he was originally a Chemical Engineering major, but quickly discovered there wasn’t enough chemistry in that major, so switched to a dual degree in Chemistry and Physics. He says his first professor was also his favorite professor, Dr. May Nyman. He reports greatly enjoying the teaching methods and classes of Dr.’s Daniel Myles and Paul Blakemore as well, but Dr. Nyman was the one who really gave him his start. Shortly after starting her class, Collin went to her office hours and “prodded” her for information about her science. He said, at first, she was slow to open up, not wanting to confuse him, but his excitement for the subject was infectious and she was soon writing structures on the white board and discussing her research with him. Several weeks later, she contacted him and offered him an undergraduate research position with her lab. An opportunity he jumped on with great enthusiasm and has never looked back.

Collin plans on attending graduate school in the future, whichever graduate school, he says, will help him pursue his dreams to the best of his ability. After that, he wants to find work in a National Lab. “I want to work in the sort of environment where there’s a lot of pressure to get your final product and where you need to be very innovative to accomplish that,” Collin stated. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer and studying, a fact which he says, makes him boring. We here in the Chemistry Department think that makes him a wonderful new addition to our Undergraduates of the Quarter.

Dr. Paul Blakemore - Associate Professor — Dr. Paul Blakemore – Associate Professor

1. Name: Paul Blakemore

2. Area of study / position title: Associate Professor Synthetic organic chemistry

3. Why chemistry? (What about it initially interested you, etc.)? It requires creativity and you are only limited by your imagination.

4. Research focus (in non-science terms) or basic job duties? New methods and concepts for making molecules with carbon skeletons.

5. One thing that you truly love about your job? Writing and teaching.

6. One interesting/strange factoid about yourself. I play guitar.

Undergraduate of the Quarter - Winter 2013 — Undergraduate of the Quarter – Winter 2013

Arsalan was born in Portland and went to Aloha High School. He came to OSU because of the high quality of education available here for a “fraction of the cost of other places.” During freshman orientation, he was initially registered as a biology major. When Dr. Chris Pastorek walked into the College of Science orientation and announced “All chem majors come with me,” he felt a spontaneous desire to follow her and has never looked back. His favorite instructor is Emile Firpo due to his incredible generosity. His interest in organic chemistry was sparked during the CH 334/335/336 series and he considers doing research with organic chemistry professor Paul Blakemore his best experience at OSU. His favorite course was CH 435 Spectroscopy with Chris Beaudry. After graduation, he intended to go to grad school to obtain a PhD in Chemistry and hopes to be a university professor one day. OSU and the Chemistry Department are so lucky to have talented students like Arsalan.

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Tag Archives: Paul Blakemore

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Fall 2016 – Jason Sandwisch

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Winter 2015 – Collin Muniz

Who Am I? Wednesday – Paul Blakemore

Undergraduate of the Quarter – Winter 2013 – Arsalan Zolfagari

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