Introductory Post: Welcome to My Senior Project Blog

Hi, my name is Fiona Xu and welcome to my first Senior Project blog post! 

For my project, I plan to conduct a literature review of the use of sensor technology to clean up PFAS contamination and improve water quality in rivers and the potential applicability of electrochemical sensors like the ones developed by my internship (MITRE’s McLean campus) to the Potomac River. 

The first day of my internship is March 4, which is orientation. I’ll receive all of the equipment I’ll be using such as a laptop (soon I’ll have two laptops!), RSA token, and a badge; I also expect to sit through some dense but informative presentations. At my internship, I’ll work closely with Dr. Joe Roberts, my on-site advisor, two senior chemists, and a lead materials scientist. After orientation, I’ll undergo training for the first few days because I’ll eventually be conducting my own experiments and collecting, analyzing, and presenting my findings in weekly meetings. 

I’m especially looking forward to working with the equipment they have. Most of my internship is heavy wet chemistry in the lab, directly working with PFAS (which may get nasty at times) and electrodes (the sensors!). My understanding is I will be manipulating the electrode’s cell potential and measuring things like its current. Some of my tasks will include cleaning electrodes, sampling electrochemical compounds like ferrocene, running experiments, and making stock solutions. 

I’m really excited to start working at MITRE, even if I have to arrive there at 8am. It’s definitely going to be an adjustment from my usual start-of-the-day at 10:15am I was privileged to have in the first two trimesters. Nevertheless, I’m sure I will have an eventful and rewarding third trimester. 

I hope you will take the time to read more of my blog posts in the future,

Fiona