2022 I. M. Kolthoff Award Winners

The I.M. Kolthoff Award is given annually to deserving undergraduates who have done undergraduate research in the field of analytical chemistry, broadly defined, in celebration of the life and accomplishments of the late Professor Izaak Maurits Kolthoff, viewed by many as the father of modern analytical chemistry.

Fadi Alhalabi

1. Full Name – Fadi Alhalabi
2. Institution – Maryville University of St.Louis
3. Year & Program – I am a 3^rd year under the Forensic Chemistry and Forensic Biology undergraduate programs.
4. Conference Name – Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy
5. Short Bio/Summary of Research – I love playing video games that keep me busy, but I do make sure to get my fair share of the outdoors. I enjoy archery at my local ranges or breathing in the fresh air near Meramec River. In terms of research, my team and I used energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence on ancient Native American pottery. XRF measures elemental composition, but only a few microns deep into the analyte. We wanted to see if pottery from the same region would cluster together in a principal component analysis. A principal component analysis clusters samples together if the variance within their data is similar. We knew where each pottery sample was dug up from, but the clustering was strange in that pottery from the same region was not grouping together. This may suggest that pottery found at a certain location appeared not because it was made there, but perhaps trading of objects across North America occurred. More experimentation is certainly required on this topic.
6. What was the most exciting moment during your research? – One of the most exciting aspects to this project was being given permission to analyze an artifact collection with the XRF instrument. Having to be careful with the pottery, taking my time in trying to not break something just felt like I had a serious task at hand. I was Indiana Jones picking up the golden idol before the giant boulder comes rolling after me.
7. What excites you most about Analytical Chemistry? – Now that I am studying the principles of spectroscopy, I am amazed at the techniques used to probe molecules and atoms! I think learning and actually using the instruments is what makes Analytical Chemistry so intriguing.
8. What or who inspired you to become a chemist? – My high school science teacher, Mrs. Ross, is my main inspiration. I was introduced to chemistry in her class. Chemistry was the one thing I understood in high school, and it is what drives my studying here at Maryville.

Hannah Bartels

1. Full Name – Hannah Bartels
2. Institution – University of Michigan
3. Year & Program – Senior pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry
4. Conference Name – ACS Spring 2022
5. Short Bio/Summary of Research – I’m researching the deposition of crystalline germanium on insulating substrates through an electrochemical-liquid phase epitaxy (ec-LPE) method where a thin liquid metal film simultaneously electrochemically reduces a germanium precursor and facilitates direct heterogeneous nucleation at an underlying substrate of interest. The germanium crystal growth is analyzed through amperometry, microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. 
6. What was the most exciting moment during your research? – The most exciting moment during my research was when I visualized germanium crystals on a glass substrate through SEM for the first time!
7. What excites you most about Analytical Chemistry? – Analytical chemistry is exciting because of its diverse applications. Whether entering an organic lab or a materials science lab, the tools of analytical chemistry aid in discovering new frontiers of research.
8. What or who inspired you to become a chemist? – Growing up in Midland, Michigan, I was fortunate to have abundant STEM opportunities sponsored by Dow Chemical in my education and community. These occasions sparked my interest in chemistry from a young age.

Riley Stegmaier

1. Full Name – Riley Stegmaier
2. Institution – University of Kansas
3. Year & Program – Junior Chemistry (B.S.)
4. Conference Name – I had originally planned to present a poster at Pittcon before its cancellation!
5. Short Bio/Summary of Research – I work in Dr. Sue Lunte’s research group optimizing capillary electrophoresis-based separations of analytes thought to play roles in neurodegeneration. My first project focused on separating tyrosine containing peptides from their nitrated counterparts. My current work has been on the on-line preconcentration and separation of ATP, ADP, and AMP.
6. What was the most exciting moment during your research? – The most exciting moments of my research come when a separation finally works in the way you need it to. It is very satisfying when you test a new modification to the background electrolyte and finally see the stubborn peaks resolve!
7. What excites you most about Analytical Chemistry? – Analytical chemistry is extremely exciting to me because of the broad range of fields it touches. Analytical chemistry can be found everywhere you look from drug development, medical diagnostics, to environmental safety, and much more! 
8. What or who inspired you to become a chemist? – My high school chemistry teachers, Stan Bergkamp, Jessica Shurts, and Jessica Fisher were all incredibly inspiring and showed me how fascinating the subject is when you have the right instruction. Since starting college, Dr. Lunte and the graduate students of the Lunte lab have provided amazing mentorship that has kept that inspiration to study chemistry alive!

Nicholas Volya

1. Full Name –  Nicholas Volya 
2. Institution – Florida State University 
3. Year & Program – Senior Biochemistry
4. Conference Name – Pittcon
5. Short Bio/Summary of Research – I am a senior biochemistry student at Florida State University. Outside of lab I am an active member of the chemistry fraternity, we do local outreach for chemistry as well as aid in tutoring and mentoring. In lab I specialize in the design, fabrication, and characterization of low-cost microelectrode array devices. Using expertise in engineering and design enables the development of 3D printed microelectrode arrays for potential applications utilizing aptamer-modified electrodes for multi-analyte detection. Microelectrodes can be used for cellular imaging, and an array can enable imaging of multiple analytes simultaneously.  After graduating I plan on attending graduate school and continuing work on analytical devices.
6. What was the most exciting moment during your research? – My most exciting moment in research was after a year of working on the design of the 3D-printed array, I got to see a successful scanning electron microscope image of a successful closely-spaced microelectrode array. I was around science a lot as kid and had seen photos taken on electron microscopes throughout my childhood and was always fascinated. So, it was surreal to be taking my own sample that I created and taking pictures of it myself. 
7. What excites you most about Analytical Chemistry? – Within the field of analytical chemistry people are creating and using devices that are constantly improving. The field is broad but recently ive been particularly interested in  affordable minimally invasive clinical diagnostic devices capable of pushing lower limits of detection, and greater accessibility compared to traditional diagnostic testing. 
8. What or who inspired you to become a chemist? – I was largely inspired by the first chemistry professor I had, Dr. Naresh Dalal. The course was general chemistry 1, in one of the lectures his research was brought up and at the time I barely understood charge on elements much less paramagnetic resonance. But I was left dumbfounded and curious, I looked up a few of his papers and knew I wanted to be involved in chemistry and do research in the future.