In the midst of a schedule rife with classes and extracurricular activities, students are offered many additional seminars and lectures in an effort to supplement their education.  Academic departments usually fill these lectures with notable researchers from their respective fields, either drawing from universities in the area (such as Duke University or UNC-Chapel Hill) or further abroad, or sometimes even from Wake Forest itself. Three departments in particular – physics, chemistry and biology – offer these seminars on a weekly basis. Attendance is often required of students majoring in these disciplines, but the seminars are open to anyone who is interested.

These seminars give students an opportunity to see where significant research is being conducted in their respective fields, and to give undergraduate and graduate students alike a taste of what research in the speaker’s particular field is like.  Though many of the seminars offered by these departments are not on introductory topics, the speakers often make certain not to alienate their listeners with an overly abstruse lecture.

The lectures are geared toward the undergraduate student, making them accessible to all university students, whether or not they are majoring in that department. In an infrequent occurrence, the usually separate seminars coalesced on Sept. 9, for Stephen Creager, department chair of chemistry at Clemson University, who presented his research on “New Electrolytes for Batteries and Fuel Cells” to faculty and students from the physics, chemistry and biology departments.

The topic of Creager’s lecture was on the electrochemical structure of fuel cells and how the chemical structure of the components of the fuel cell directly impacts performance. Particularly, Creager focused on the electrolyte that is used to allow the movement of ions and as a barrier between both the electrodes in the cell and the fuel and oxidant of the cell.

Creager began with a rudimentary explanation for how a fuel cell functions, demonstrating the properties necessary in the electrolyte for a more efficient cell. The kinds of applications for the fuel cells Creager’s lab is working on include auxiliary and back-up power sources, as well as fuel cells for electric vehicles.

As Creager explained, his research focuses on the electrochemical properties of the electrolytes in the fuel cell. By optimizing certain properties within the cell, the efficiency and usefulness of the cell will be improved, making its application in electric vehicles much more viable. Creager said after showing the results of some of the electrolytes his lab is working to make, this technology is “at the point where we could use something like this to drive a car.”

Creager also briefly demonstrated how microbial fuel cells, cells which utilize micro-organisms to convert organic fuels into electrical energy, function. These microbial fuel cells, though less efficient, can use far more diverse forms of fuel to generate electrical energy, even such things as “dirt, or leftover Coke,” Creager explained.

The seminar programs of the physics, chemistry and biology departments touch on a wide range of subjects and offer interesting lectures to anyone who is even slightly scientifically inclined.

Usually held in the afternoon and prefaced with refreshments (which can vary from fruit and vegetable platters to birthday cake), these seminars are an excellent way to round out an afternoon. Information concerning the physics, chemistry and biology seminars can be found on each department’s respective Web site.