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Derik Frantz '05
Chemistry
Derik worked on Dr. Reingold's semibullvalene project
for two summers and one academic year. He was named as an alternate for a
Fulbright/Seydel Fellowship to study for the 2005-2006 academic year
in Switzerland at the University of Zurich. Although not awarded the fellowship, he arranged to study for the year in Zurich anyway, and is now a graduate student at the University of Zurich.
"When I first came to Juniata, I was very interested
in biochemistry and genetics. However, during my second year, I
found that organic synthesis was much more interesting to me. The
idea of producing new compounds and materials is very fascinating to
me.
"Dr. Reingold's research was especially interesting
to me because it focuses on synthesis of theoretically interesting,
unnatural products. In other words, the Reingold group aims at
making compounds with interesting chemical structures that are
expected to have interesting physical properties.
"On homework problems and exam questions,
answering organic chemistry problems is challenging because each one
is a puzzle. Lab work is a bit different. Although the same puzzles
exist, working in an organic chemistry lab is often frustrating
because synthesis is not as clean in a flask as it is on paper.
Working on Dr. Reingold's project has taught me how to deal with
this frustration and how to persevere.
"I am very excited about my future plans. Without my
research experience at Juniata, I would not have the same
opportunities that I do now."
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