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The math that Nikolce Gorevski ’07 (Bitola, Macedonia) is using to characterize the mechanical behavior of nanostructured materials – those whose sizes are a fraction of the width of a human hair – is hard. Very hard.
He is collaborating with James Ferri, assistant professor of chemical engineering, as part of Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students conduct research with faculty while earning a stipend. The program has helped to make Lafayette a national leader in undergraduate research. Many of the more than 160 students who participate each year share their work through articles in academic journals and/or conference presentations.
“The reference book that he is using isn’t an undergraduate text, it’s not a graduate text – this is a post-graduate text,” says Ferri. “This is the kind of book one uses as a researcher in the field after a Ph.D. We’ve gone through it and derived equations, and we’re writing the solutions in terms of computer code, but this is something people do when finishing graduate school or on a post-doctoral project. It’s a testament to his giftedness. I’ve never worked with a student who could work on that level.”
“He seems to think I have exceptional math skill, but I always disagree with him,” says Gorevski, a chemical engineering major. “I consider myself to be absolutely average.”
“We are devising a mathematical model that describes the shape of a thin, elastic capsule under pressure,” he explains. “When pressure is put on the capsule, it deforms, and we’re writing a set of mathematical relationships that describe the shape of the deformation, at any point, depending on the force that’s applied. We are examining the modulus of elasticity, which is the physical parameter that is specific to each separate material and indicates elasticity. We are also using the Poisson ratio [an elastic constant that is the measure of the compressibility of material perpendicular to applied stress] to analyze elasticity. We’ll compare and determine the elasticity of our material based on these two parameters.”
Ferri is analyzing elasticity of nanomembranes in collaboration with experimentalists at Germany’s Max-Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, where he has conducted research with scientists and Lafayette students through a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He has worked with Trustee Scholar Carina Fritsche ’07(Columbia, Mo.), who is pursuing a B.S. chemical engineering degree and an A.B. with a major in international affairs, and Marquis Scholar Gabriella Engelhart ’05(York, Pa.), achemical engineering graduate, in Golm-Potsdam, Germany, near Berlin.
Ferri joined the Lafayette faculty in 2001. He and Tina Huang, assistant professor of chemistry, received a $210,549 National Science Foundation grant to enhance undergraduate research and teaching capabilities in nanotechnology. He has published his research in American Institute of Chemical Engineers conference and meeting proceedings and scientific journals. He was coauthor of the paper judged third best among those submitted to an American Society for Engineering Education regional meeting in West Point, N.Y.
A nanometer is one-millionth of a millimeter and the rule-of-thumb size for a molecule. Those he and Gorevski are analyzing are only tens of nanometers thick. Nanomaterials are engineered molecule by molecule and are enabling the development of smaller computer technology and breakthroughs in biomedical engineering.
Critical to the engineering of nanomaterials is “knowing their properties, how they will behave under usage conditions, and what sorts of stresses we can subject them to before they fail,” says Ferri.
“We’re trying to understand [the capsule’s] mechanical behavior, quantitatively how much it deforms under a given stress. There are quantitative mathematical frameworks that describe how something deforms, and ultimately this is related to failure.”
Ferri and Gorevski are analyzing polymer membranes synthesized on the surface of droplets of an emulsion for their German colleagues. The Lafayette results will indicate the elasticity characteristics of the German scientists’ creation, determining whether it is rubbery, glassy, or crystalline.
“When polymers are confined to these nanometer dimensions, does their structure change? That is a fundamental question,” says Ferri. “All those things will have impacts on the electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and the deformation behavior, so you want to understand the structure of the material based on its mechanical behavior.”
The project is a combination of mathematical theory, physics, and chemistry – math to make the quantitative frameworks for the physical behavior, physics to understand its mechanical behavior, and chemistry to produce the material.
The interdisciplinary aspect of the project is both rewarding and challenging for Gorevski.
“It isn’t purely chemical engineering; obviously there is a lot of math and physics too,” he says. “I thought it would be difficult to work on this type of project, but just by working and reading, everything fell into place. I learned by doing.”
“In chemical engineering, you can branch out into so many areas,” he continues, commenting on the long-term benefit of his collaboration with Ferri. “This [project] has solidified my intention of going to graduate school because I can really see myself doing it in the future. The nature of academic research is very compelling to me, as well as finding solutions that benefit humanity. This project was a turning point in determining what I want to do for a career.
“I’ve gained discipline working on this project. When we face a problem, I’ve learned not to give up, but to just keep going and circle it for a while. In the end, you find some sort of solution; you get around the problem and continue. I have learned persistence, and that will be a lifelong skill.”
Ferri considers Gorevski already incredibly disciplined.
“He’s got to have a gift, but it’s not just a gift,” he says. “He’s a very disciplined person – he’s an RA [resident adviser], so he has other responsibilities that aren’t academic – but he has a structured approach to academics. I’ve worked with gifted students before who didn’t have to work very much [but] they didn’t have the structure to make it useful. He’s got the structure and the giftedness.”
Gorevski says that collaboration with faculty is another benefit of the EXCEL program.
“It makes you comfortable working with scholars, people who have gone through so many years of research,” he says. “It is helpful to have a mentor who will instruct you on a specific project, but getting to know professors well also enables you to seek their advice on other things.
“Working with Professor Ferri, I am able to see how he approaches his work and his research, and I can see that he expects the same thing of me, which is very positive. I feel a great sense of responsibility [for] this project and I take it very seriously, and that is instilled by him. He also always makes me feel like I am an integral part of the project, not just an instrument for solving equations or his calculator. He makes sure I understand the theory behind the project; we sit down and discuss the problem, the theory, and possible obstacles. And finally, he always makes sure I am enjoying the project.”
Gorevski chose Lafayette because he wanted an intimate school setting that offered chemical engineering studies. Adapting to life in the U.S. wasn’t as difficult as the Macedonian native thought it would be.
“Lafayette is very welcoming to international students,” he says. “My experience has always been positive – on the academic side, the social side, and the cultural side. I’m part of the ISA [International Students Association], and that’s really an invaluable experience because I’m exposed to all these cultures [here]. If I had stayed in Macedonia, I’d never have had the chance to experience that.”
Gorevski played the part of the valet Firs in College Theater’s production of The Cherry Orchard. He is a past recipient of the William G. McLean Tau Beta Prize, given to a sophomore engineering student based on academic performance, campus citizenship, and professional orientation. He graduated from Josip Broz-Tito High School, Macedonia.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Forty students have been accepted to present their research at this year’s conference.
Nikolce Gorevski ’07 performed research on the mechanical behavior of nanostructured materials as an EXCEL Scholar working with James Ferri, assistant professor of chemical engineering.