Research Scholar Award helps undergrad ‘learn how to learn’
Last summer, CBE undergrad Nicholas Liesen began a journey that took him at least partially to an unexpected destination: While expecting to conduct a research project to learn how to run simulations, he also learned how to learn.
At the suggestion of his advisor, Professor Isamu Kusaka, Nick began preparing a research proposal to submit to the OSU Undergraduate Research Office for a Research Scholar Award. His first step was to conduct several literature searches which involved identifying and reading more than 30 different papers in detail. Each week he had an opportunity to discuss any questions that arose with Professor Kusaka.
“Through this process, I not only learned about my subjects; I learned how to read research papers,” Nick wrote in a recent progress report for his project, entitled “The determination of transport properties using dissipative particle dynamics: Investigation of nanofluid systems involving vapor-liquid equilibrium.”
Nick was learning firsthand the axiom that undergraduates study knowledge, whereas graduate students create it. Rather than just learning a pre-set body of knowledge, Nick was enjoying the challenge of discovering which materials to study and determining their relevance.
“Reading a text book and reading research papers are very different endeavors,” he wrote. “Since research papers are written for researchers in the field, common symbols and terms are not defined, and in order to understand the paper, one must read several related papers to get the background. Another important lesson was how to consult the provided references and outside source material.”
All of his hard work paid off, however. In September he learned that he had won a Research Scholar Award due to his “very compelling proposal,” and he eagerly began his project.
Nick’s central research question explores whether thermally driven hydrodynamic instability in nanometer scale liquid film may play a key role during a certain nano particle self-assembly process. It is unclear if classical fluid dynamics based on the continuum description of matter remains applicable at nanometer scales without any modification.
Hence, Nick's research project is a part of the ongoing effort to understand transport phenomena in general on the basis of statistical mechanics, and builds on a method known as dissipative particle dynamics, a mesoscale particle-based simulation technique. Thus far, he has successfully determined the phase behavior of the model system, and is currently exploring its interfacial properties. He will soon start a new set of simulations to determine transport coefficients, such as viscosity and thermal conductivity, quantities of major importance in understanding the above mentioned hydrodynamic instability.
“My aspirations for graduate school are very research oriented,” Nick wrote. “I hope to pursue postgraduate research in molecular and course-grained modeling. Through this project I have gained critical insight into how these simulations are run and had an opportunity to see theory in action. On the whole this experience was very valuable to me. In addition to allowing me to investigate some very interesting topics, I also obtained crucial research experience which will help me to further my long-term goals.
“I intend to continue this research project and write an undergraduate thesis, provided my proposal is accepted. The results of this work will contribute to ongoing research by Dr. Kusaka and Dr. Egusa in terms of both methodology and accurate estimates of key physical properties it produces,” Nick wrote.
