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For much of her life, Caitlin Sullivan ’05 (Bethlehem, Pa.) has loved to observe events and figure out why they happen. So when she got the opportunity this summer to conduct faculty-guided research at a local chemical manufacturing firm, she accepted it gladly.
“I got the best of both worlds,” Sullivan says, explaining that Joseph Sherma, professor emeritus of chemistry, guided her EXCEL-funded research from campus, and Paul Bouis, research director of laboratory products at Mallinckrodt Baker Inc. in nearby Lopatcong Township, N.J., directed her on-site work.
Lafayette is a national leader in undergraduate research. In Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars Program, students collaborate with faculty on research while earning a stipend. Many of the more than 180 students who participate each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.
Sullivan’s research, which she is continuing part-time during the fall semester, centers on finding ways to show scientists the benefits of Mallinckrodt Baker’s thin-layer and flash chromatography products. Chemists and biologists use chromatography procedures to separate closely related compounds for analysis. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) is conducted on disposable plates, while flash chromatography is conducted in cylindrical columns, ranging from several inches to several feet high. Chemists who are synthesizing new compounds use TLC plates to screen the correct solvent mixture to use in flash chromatography.
“Caitlin was actually working on a prototype of an instrument to modernize flash chromatography,” Bouis says, explaining that the instrument has a built-in detector that indicates when a compound is emerging, and a low-pressure pump that pushes solvents through the column.
Sullivan, a chemistry major and math minor, conducted experiments proving that spherical silica is the most efficient sorbent material for scientists to use when combining thin-layer and flash chromatography techniques.
“Experimentally, I found the appropriate composition so that Baker can now produce its own TLC plates instead of repackaging other companies’ plates,” Sullivan says. ”I felt a real purpose in the research that I did, and it was a very rewarding experience.”
Bouis says that while many Lafayette interns have gained experience at Mallinckrodt Baker, Sullivan was the first EXCEL Scholar to conduct research there.
“We’re hoping to do more and to work with other professors,” he says, pointing out that Sullivan excelled, considering she had completed only two years of college work.
“She had a very good work ethic here and she went beyond what the project called for,” Bouis says. “She was very good at anticipating what needed to be done to solve a problem — and she’s very mechanically inclined.”
Sherma says both he and Bouis met Sullivan during her senior year at Bethlehem Catholic High School, when she won a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Section of the American Chemical Society. At the time, Bouis served as the section’s chair, and Sherma was chair-elect.
Sullivan, who hopes to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry, also conducted EXCEL research with Sherma during the January interim session between semesters, and coauthored a paper titled “Development and Validation of an HPTLC Method for Assay of Caffeine and Acetaminophen in Multicomponent Extra Strength Analgesic Tablets,” which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies.
“Lafayette’s facilities are amazing and the small-school environment is very advantageous to doing research,” Sullivan says. “Working not only at Lafayette, but also in industry, is making me a more favorable candidate for graduate schools.”
Sullivan adds that Sherma has been particularly helpful to her in her two years at Lafayette.
“Dr. Sherma has been an amazing research adviser,” she says. “He is continually there to guide me through my research projects, and gives me enough independence to really learn the most from my research experience. He makes me strive for my goals, so that one day, I may possibly know as much about chemistry as he does.”
Author of more than 550 research papers, books, and reviews, Sherma has spent much of his career advancing the fields of pesticide analysis and chromatography, a procedure for separating closely related compounds for analysis. A recipient of the Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution by American Chemical Society, Sherma has involved more than 140 different students as coauthors for over 195 papers published in peer-reviewed journals.
Sullivan serves as a teaching assistant for general chemistry laboratory sessions and as a tutor with Lafayette’s Academic Resource Center. She’s also president of the campus tennis club, works as a lifeguard at the campus swimming pool, and is a member of Sigma Xi, the international honor society for engineering and science research. She’s a graduate of Bethlehem Catholic High School.
Lafayette has an excellent record of attracting and retaining outstanding women engineering students. Last year, women received about 31% of the degrees Lafayette awarded in engineering. Nationally, women make up approximately 19% of those receiving a bachelor’s degree in engineering, according to a 2002 National Science Foundation report.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Over the past five years, more than 130 Lafayette students have presented results from their research with faculty mentors at the conference.