The Influence of Snow Storms on Lake Michigan Thermodynamics

I would like to investigate the changes in Lake Michigan water temperature in response to melting snow.

Melting snow cools a lake or ocean like an ice cube melting in a cup of water, and the cooling energy from melting snow will be in constant decline with shorter winters from climate change. The degree of cooling from melting snow has been ignored in climate studies, but in my previous research, I found that melting snow may be the most powerful cooling effect at the water surface during snow storms. However, that result was based on remote measurements and physical assumptions. I had no direct observations of melting snow, and several competing effects could diminish this cooling potential

I have found UWM buoy data containing years of 15-minute observations at varying depth levels in Lake Michigan through snowstorms - a veritable gold mine of data for my research interests. I would like to use this data to determine whether snow makes a measurable signal in Lake Michigan temperatures, or whether the signal from melting snow is significant compared to temperature changes from wind and lake mixing. If the results of this study demonstrate an impact from snow, I plan on submitting a research proposal for major funding on climate research and launching some targeted experiments with buoys in upcoming winters.

Preparation of Building Blocks for the Synthesis of Tryprostatin Analogs

The overall objective of this research is to synthesize new analogs of tryprostatins A and B to be evaluated for use as anticancer agents. Tryprostatins A and B are natural products that have been shown to have anticancer potential. Tryprostatin A exhibits cytotoxicity in cancer cells via microtubule inhibition. Tryprostatin B is more potent, but its mechanism of action has not been studied. However, the potency of these compounds is too low to make them valuable clinical trial candidates. Therefore, we are in the process of creating novel tryprostatin analogs to find a lead compound with increased potency. The design of these analogs is based on the results of previous studies including structure activity relationship studies and computational studies. The synthesis of these analogs will be done using a route that we are working on publishing. This route is shorter and therefore more efficient than our published 2019 tryprostatin A synthesis. Additionally, our new route provides two sets of two diastereomers which will allow us to synthesize more analogs in the same amount of time. The synthesized analogs will then be evaluated to determine their potency.

Connected Systems Institute – Advanced Manufacturing Use Case Research

Develop technical foundation and build an operational prototype demonstrating an advanced manufacturing use-case solution to a known industry-informed improvement opportunity. The student researcher will be part of our team at Connected Systems Institute (CSI). This assignment will be a "learn by doing" research opportunity for the student researcher - they will work with the CSI team to study deployment of advanced manufacturing technologies (e.g. vision system, automation, AI, ML) to solve known industry problems.