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Marquis Scholar Jessica Molek ’03 (Reedsville, Pa.) has received a prestigious three-year Graduate Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
NSF Graduate Fellowships provide financial support for advanced study to outstanding graduate students in the mathematical, physical, biological, engineering, and behavioral and social sciences, and to research-based Ph.D. degrees in science education. Awards carry an annual stipend of $27,500 and an annual cost-of-education allowance of $10,500.
A chemical engineering major, Molek will use the fellowship to pursue a Ph.D. at Penn State University.
The grant recognizes an exceptional collegiate career, highlighted by collaborative research with Lafayette faculty that has been presented at national academic and industry conferences, published in conference proceedings, and supported by National Science Foundation funding.
“She is one of the most intelligent and talented students I have worked with and probably ever will work with in my career,” says Art Kney, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, one of her Lafayette mentors. “I would match her with any master’s student and possibly a starting Ph.D. student. I expect her to go very far.”
NSF recognized five Lafayette students and graduates with honorable mentions this year. Their Lafayette degree program and future or current graduate institutions are: Daniel Ruddy ’03, chemistry, University of California-Berkeley; Megan Brennan ’02, chemistry, Stanford University; Eric Hauck ’02, mechanical engineering, Penn State University; Tim Wetzel ’02, chemical engineering, The Johns Hopkins University; Christine Thomas ’01, chemistry, Caltech.
Molek is conducting an intensive, yearlong research project in pursuit of department honors under the guidance of Javad Tavakoli, associate professor and head of chemical engineering. He says Molek has surpassed her goals in the research, which is at a level he would expect of a graduate student.
“Jessica is very mature in what she does, and her work is very high quality,” he says. “She dares to delve into the literature and find answers to her questions. She’s diligent and systematic.”
An environmental science minor, Molek previously worked as an EXCEL Scholar with Tavakoli and Kney to research a environmentally friendly, less expensive method for water and wastewater treatment through magnetism. In Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, students collaborate with faculty on research while earning a stipend. The National Science Foundation awarded Lafayette a $49,832 grant for the project last year.
“Jessica took on the magnetic project with vigor unlike many graduate students, let alone undergraduate students, whom with I have had contact,” says Kney. “She has an inquiring mind, always yearning for new knowledge and an innate research ability typically seen in more mature researchers.”
One of her findings “has had tremendous impact in the direction of our study and has helped to better define some of the basic fundamentals of the investigation,” he adds.
Molek presented her research on the magnetic water treatment method at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research during her sophomore and junior years. She coauthored a paper with Kney and Tavakoli that was presented and published in the proceedings of the Industrial Water Conference last December and the 2001 World Water and Environmental Resources Congress, both held in Orlando, Fla.
She also participated in a recent Lafayette student project to help the United States Environmental Protection Agency develop an inexpensive method to remove arsenic from drinking water in New Mexico (see related story).
Last summer, Molek worked on improving the manufacturing system of Proctor & Gamble’s Bounty paper towel product during an internship at the company’s plant in Mehoopany, Pa.
Under Tavakoli’s guidance, she is finishing her honors thesis on how the catalyst palladium can be used in the reaction of carbon monoxide and hydrogen to produce methane.
“Palladium is an appropriate catalyst for converting carbon monoxide into methane,” she explains. “This is important because without a catalyst, a higher temperature would be needed to complete this reaction.”
While many catalysts can be used for the reaction, palladium may be a good choice because of its ability to resist deactivation, which is when a catalyst loses its ability to be useful in a chemical reaction.
“If more information is known about this catalytic reaction, it can be used more efficiently in industry,” Molek adds. “If run under optimum conditions, a palladium catalytic system could remove carbon monoxide just as effectively as nickel catalytic systems with less waste.”
Molek describes Tavakoli as a good mentor who is always available to answer questions, but who gives her room to make her own decisions about the project.
“Lafayette has been a great place for me to work on my thesis,” she says. “The new environmental lab in Acopian Engineering Center has been an ideal place for my experimentation. The chemical engineering program has given me a good background and has taught me how to think about a problem and how to approach it to find a solution.”
A chemical engineering tutor, Molek has served as activities coordinator for the student chapter of American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She is a resident adviser and participant in club soccer, intramural sports, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley. She also is a former member of the track and field team.