Undergraduate student researcher, Joia Traver, shares her research on Polymeric-grafted Magnetic Nanoparticles for Water Remediation to spectators at the 2025 AIChE Annual Student Conference
Author: Joia Traver | Major: Chemical Engineering | Semester: Fall 2025
You just pulled your nice white shirt out of the dryer, but to your despair, it is no longer white! Instead, it is a light, pinkish color that might have been perfect for a salmon Halloween costume. Too bad Halloween is already over, and you don’t see too many fish Trick or Treating. While the event is unfortunate, it raises important questions: why do fabric dyes leave such a disruptive mark, and how is water pollution from textile industries remediated? Polymeric materials grafted onto magnetic nanoparticles may not have been your first guess, but it is a promising solution to water contaminated with anionic dyes. By combining the large surface area of polymers, the magnetic capabilities of magnetic particles, and the electrostatic attraction of quaternized cationic ends with the anionic dyes, my researched adsorbents show promising results.
My name is Joia Traver, and I am a senior student studying Chemical Engineering. My studies have led me to conduct undergraduate research in the PolyNEL lab in polymer engineering. Over Halloween weekend, I had the opportunity to present the findings of my research at the 2025 AIChE Annual Student Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. With other graduate and undergraduate students also in attendance, this was the best option for me as it was my first research conference.
The star of the event (the poster competition) happened on the last day of my trip, giving me and another undergraduate in my lab the opportunity to support the University of Arkansas ChemE Car team, network at recruiting events, and even explore the downtown area of Boston. As a student leaning towards the industry side of post-graduate careers, the job fair gave me many chances to learn and apply for different jobs in the field of chemical engineering. Something that struck me as interesting was that many of the companies I talked to had locations in places other than in the South, which is something you don’t see at school career fairs.
After digesting a lobster roll and a cannoli, it was time to present. There were over 550 undergraduate student presenters who spoke in front of their posters at the same time. While it was slightly overwhelming at first, I found that this atmosphere helped me cultivate the best dialogue to share my research findings. Some judges would sit back and let you do the full spiel and ask questions afterwards; however, there were a few that went directly into questioning, which taught me to be ready to think on my feet and be adaptable to the situation. It was also important to know different angles of your research that spectators could approach. For example, some people would solely focus on the synthesis of my adsorbents, while others were only interested in the results. Attending this event helped me see sides of materials engineering that I had not focused on before!
The opportunity to just exist in a space full of chemical engineering experts, students, and colleagues is something I cannot recommend more to undergraduate students. The leadership and faculty of the Chemical Engineering department at the University of Arkansas propel undergraduate success by encouraging students to attend events like AIChE conferences and guiding them every step of the way. With the support of the Honors College, dreams of visiting a major science and biotech hub city like Boston became a reality for me. In the near future, I will be presenting my research at the CHEG Honors symposium and finishing up my Honors Thesis. Afterwards, I will be continuing my studies in Spain for classes in energy engineering at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.