Internship at the Jackson County Public Defender\u27s Office

As a student of the Honor\u27s Program at Southern Illinois University (SIU), I am required to fulfill certain obligations. One of these obligations is to finish twelve semester hours of classwork; the other is to write a thesis or complete a hands-on practical senior project. Having fulfilled my first requirement, my internship at the Jackson County Public Defender\u27s Office fulfilled the latter

A fundamental study of the complex structure-property-processing relationships in interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs)

Experimental studies were conducted to qualitatively define the relationships between dilution, temperature, and reaction sequence on the polymerization kinetics of neat monomers, diluted monomers and during interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) formation. The system studied was a thermally initiated cationic polymerization of a difunctional epoxy and the photoinitiated free radical polymerization of a difunctional acrylate. Both reactions are autoaccelerating and quickly become diffusion controlled. The effects of increasing temperature and dilution on the acrylate polymerization rate profiles are similar, leading to reduced polymerization rate and longer polymerization times. The dilution effect on the epoxy polymerization is similar to that of the acrylate. However, unlike the acrylate reaction the epoxy polymerization rate increases strongly with temperature. The pre-existence of one polymer has a significant effect on the polymerization of the second monomer. This effect is larger for the acrylate then for the epoxy polymerization. New kinetic models are needed to capture these complex behaviors.;Samples of the same model system were prepared over the range of compositions and by varying the reaction sequence for physical property and morphology studies. The materials were evaluated by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photo differential scanning calorimetry and modulated differential scanning calorimetry for conversion. Initial and final sample glass transition temperature was estimated from modulated differential scanning calorimetry. Mechanical testing and rheology tests revealed information on the strength and hardness of the materials. Morphology and phase separation was explored via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. As expected, all of the physical properties were dependant on composition. Some of the material properties and the morphology were also dependent on reaction sequence. Differences in glass transition temperatures as high as 75°C were observed at the same composition but formed by different reaction sequence. Correlations can be made between the morphology and material properties with partially phase separated samples exhibiting maximum damping. The experiments indicate that the relationships between phase morphology and physical properties of IPNs are complex and not readily predictable a priori.;Combinatorial methods and informatics were applied to the study of complex property-structure-processing relationships during IPN formation in this model epoxy-acrylate system. PCA of a dataset covering different compositions and process sequences successfully identifies the most unique samples as well as relationships between material properties. The relationships between material properties can be exploited in future investigations by allowing high throughput screening and as a guide for engineering materials. The use of combinatorial methods, high throughput screening, and informatics will lead to accelerated material design.;A new methodology for determining kinetic parameters from thermal analysis has been proposed. The new methodology has the advantages of being very computationally efficient, allows the use of physically meaningful reaction orders, and retains the mathematics of the rate equation. This new methodology is applied successfully to polymerizations of two different chemistries with results that are consistent with literature values.;The kinetics of an epoxy-acrylate simultaneous IPN was studied as a function of dilution, temperature, and reaction sequence. Reaction orders were estimated for the homopolymerizations using a new methodology and were assumed to be constant for the diluted systems and IPN formation. To account for the difference in the reaction rate profile observed during IPN formation, the kinetic rate equation was modified with a diffusion factor, based on both polymer and monomer diffusion. Polymer diffusion is based on point source diffusion into an infinite volume and the monomer diffusion is based on diffusion into a sphere. The best set of kinetic and mass transfer parameters were determined by modeling heat flux during concurrent IPN polymerization and comparing with the observed heat flux. It was found that the epoxy polymerization is largely unaffected by the presence of the other system. In contrast, prior network formation severely diminishes the acrylate reaction. This approach provides a new framework to study diffusion-limited polymerizations during IPN formation.;A roadmap is outlined for developing kinetic models that account for the reacting environment during IPN formation. A qualitative and quantitative framework is defined to engineering IPNs

What\u27s in it for the leaders : a study of middle school interdisciplinary team leadership.

The dual focus of attracting and retaining teachers in classroom positions and encouraging them to improve has been central to the school improvement literature. Review of research in teacher retention and improvement finds results consistent with a theory of employee motivation developed by Frederick Herzberg--the two-factor theory. The same factors that lead to dissatisfaction in other jobs seem to dissatisfy teachers; likewise, the satisfiers that encourage improvement in other settings motivate teachers as well. Previous research on middle school organization has suggested that team membership provides some of the satisfiers suggested by Herzberg\u27s work and it would appear that team leadership could provide more of them. In order to explore the role of team leader, eighteen teachers from three suburban Massachusetts middle schools were interviewed in depth to determine what they expected to gain from team leadership, the benefits and frustrations from serving in the role, and the conditions in the schools that were related to the benefits and frustrations. Although there were differences among the schools, results indicate that teachers seek the position in order to have more influence over how the teams function. Some have specific practices they want to change, others simply want to guide the team. The most identified benefits are having influence on policies of the team and the school, receiving additional money, and being in the know. The major frustrations are resistance from team members and lack of time to perform the duties of the job. The duties and responsibilities of team leadership are most related to the benefits and the frustrations. Serving as the liaison between teachers and principals either informally or through team leaders meetings, coordinating team meetings and the team process, and coordinating interdisciplinary activities are benefits when the process goes well. These same duties lead to frustration if there are difficulties engaging team members or insufficient time to complete the tasks involved. The study concludes with an examination of the results in terms of the two-factor theory, some reflections, suggestions for middle school organization, and directions for further research

Tracking chemical processing pathways in combinatorial polymer libraries via data mining

Changes in the molecular structure and composition of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) can be used to tailor their properties. While the properties of IPNs are typically different than polymer blends, a clear understanding of the impact of changing polymerization sequence on the physical properties and the corresponding molecular bonding is needed. To address this issue, a data mining approach is used to identify the change with polymerization sequence of tensile and rheological properties of acrylate-epoxy IPNs. The experimental approach used to study the molecular structure is high throughput Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Analysis of the FTIR spectra of IPNs synthesized with different polymerization sequences leads to an understanding of the molecular bonding responsible for the tensile and rheological properties. From the interpretation of the wavenumber bands and associated molecular bonds, we find that the polymerization sequence most affects hydrogen bonding and aromatic ring bond energies. This work defines the relationships between chemistry, structure, processing, and properties of the IPN samples