From Across the Pond

Student Researcher Shines Bright at UT Tyler

Alexandra Craig grew up in Newcastle, England, and has fond memories of playing soccer in a field near her house and building Lego sets with her parents and two brothers. Her father’s job relocated the family to Katy, Texas. The Lone Star State is now a second home to her, as she has gained amazing friends who have encouraged her throughout her life.

She graduated from UT Tyler this May with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and a minor in mathematics. She is pursuing a Master of Science in mechanical engineering through UT Tyler’s 4+1 program. 

"I have always been curious on how things worked and taking things apart to figure out how they worked together," Craig said. "With this fact, coupled with my love of math and science, I decided to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering."

Craig said UT Tyler has prepared her for a successful career by giving her the necessary skills and knowledge she needs to tackle any problem. When looking for colleges her senior year of high school, she decided to attend a smaller in-state university. She visited UT Tyler and instantly “fell in love” with the beauty of the campus.

“That small student-to-faculty ratio definitely allows students to develop relationships with the professors who go above and beyond to help their students,” she said. “Being able to take a break from studying to walk around the lakes and take in the beauty of the campus has always been an amazing way to de-stress as well.”

REAL-WORLD RESEARCH

Dr. Shih-Feng Chou, assistant professor in mechanical engineering, recruited Craig to his research lab in spring 2018. Craig initially became a student researcher on Chou’s team as a requirement for the University’s Honors Program, however, she ended up loving the hands-on problem solving that was involved once she began in research.

“I am helping design and build a small handheld vapor phase hydrogen peroxide device,” she said. “This device converts liquid hydrogen peroxide into a vapor allowing for an area to be disinfected.”

The importance of this research is to mitigate disease transportation and promote human health, Chou noted.

“As we are currently under the impact of COVID-19, a fast and efficient decontamination method will protect people from harmful viruses,” Chou said. “In addition, we also inform the compatibility of materials with hydrogen peroxide vapor after decontamination.”

Their main goal is to develop a handheld decontamination system for hydrogen peroxide, where all current systems sold on the market are bulky and difficult to move around, he said.

"Unlike other decontamination methods (e.g., liquid application, UV light and gamma irradiation), vapor can travel to all surfaces within the confined space and kill bacteria and viruses,” Chou said. “In particular, hydrogen peroxide vapor is effective with a high decontamination efficacy.”

Currently, their demo device measures 8.5” x 7” x 6” (L x W x H) and weighs 2 pounds without hydrogen peroxide and can be operated for 20 hours with batteries. Chou said he would like to see the hand-held system to be installed in buildings and offices similar to the automated external defibrillator (AED), where users can quickly clean surfaces.

“Our tests showed that the hand-held decontamination device achieved a hydrogen peroxide vapor concentration of 200 ppm within three minutes, which is faster than the larger commercial units that are capable of producing a 6-log reduction in biological agents,” he said. “In particular, we used some of the engineered polymers we synthesized in the lab for drug delivery and tissue engineering purposes to investigate the physico-mechanical changes after disinfection.”

Results showed a decrease in mechanical properties of these polymers, perhaps due to the crystallization of the small molecule drugs, Chou said.

'BRILLIANT STUDENT’

“Alex is a brilliant student,” Chou said, noting that he would constantly stay one step ahead of his student and create challenging assignments to keep her engaged.

Chou’s efforts were not lost, and her contributions gained national attention. In fall 2019, Alex won the best poster award in the category of Business, Engineering & Computer Science at the National Collegiate Honors Council meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. In spring 2020, Alex won the Britt Poster Award for the STEM over 60 hours category at the Great Plains Honors Council meeting in Wichita, Kansas. In both conferences, Craig competed with numerous students from top tiered research universities and was selected for the awards based on the conference committees.

“Both accomplishments demonstrate the significant progresses she made in research, which were widely accepted by outside reviewers, and her ability to deliver her work to the audience,” Chou said. “More importantly, both awards advertised the presence of UT Tyler in student research.”

Craig said conducting research allowed her to apply the knowledge she gained in class to solve current engineering issues. Craig added working with Chou has been “amazing,” noting that the professor is a great mentor.

“He always goes above and beyond to help his students,” she said. “Through his guidance and advice, I have been able to grow both as a student and a researcher.”

Chou has served UT Tyler since 2016. His main background is in materials science and engineering with a focus on mechanical behaviors of materials and their biomedical applications. Chou’s research area and interests are in the synthesis of engineered polymers for drug delivery and tissue engineering. He recently received the college’s 2020 Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Faculty award.

Craig’s ultimate career goal is to either help reduce the need for oil and gas by improving the use of renewable or nuclear energy, or to help further the exploration of space. Her hobbies include hiking, reading and solving puzzles.

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