Author: Lincoln Katleski
Wow, our final two weeks in Italy. I remember when I first stepped on the airplane thinking, “Am I really doing this?” I expected to be homesick, far away from family and friends. Here I am, wishing it wouldn’t end. Every part of this program has been absolutely surreal, the amount I’ve learned, the friends I’ve made, and the professors and students I have worked with. Everything has been picture perfect.
As things began to wind down, last week I made more Raman and DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) measurements for my terephthalic acid (TPA) project. Monday was a lighter day for me as I just arrived back in Bologna from a quick trip to Barcelona (remind me to never book a 6:20 am flight again). After arriving at the University it was a matter of getting back into the rhythm and groove, so I spent the day finalizing one of my group meeting presentations on my TPA project and preparing a schedule for upcoming measurements.
Tuesday, I was performing Raman measurements all day, testing my commercially available, ‘out of the bottle’ sample. I heated and cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures (78 K) to observe the phase transitions we expect from our DSC experiments, and what I have been looking at on single-crystals with Raman mapping experiments. This was one of the last measurements I needed to do, so now it’s a matter of compiling all the data, so it is easy to read and understand from an outside perspective.
Once my professor was satisfied with my work, he granted me a couple days off to visit my mom on the island of Ischia, Italy. The island itself is west of Napoli, which is in southern Italy. A quick one hour ferry from Napoli can get you there, and it is stunning. For the following days, it consisted of boat tours, snorkeling, and all out fun. However, this was a very touristy spot, so I am very thrilled to get back to Bologna with the true Italian people. For this coming week, I plan on developing a contributed presentation that consists of all of my work throughout these 3 months, that I will present to my peers. Before I even know it, I’ll have to kiss this wonderful place goodbye, and start my college life back up again.
But don’t worry, we’ve got plans to get me back here…
