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Pair Programming and the Software Intern Experience at Maestro and Atomic Object
No full text8 p.I spent almost six months, from March to September 2022, working at two different internship positions in the software industry. My first internship was a nine-week-long spring internship at Atomic Object, and I worked 2-3 days per week in person. My second internship was a 15-week summer internship at Maestro, and it was mostly remote. Each internship focused on a different aspect of software development, so I got to cover lots of topics. I also discovered at each internship that the method of software development influenced my experience as much as the technical work itself. The frequency of pair programming, which is the practice of two developers coding on one machine, can greatly impact the process of learning as an intern
Software Developer Engineer Intern at GoDaddy, Inc.
No full text6 p.During the summer of 2023, I had the incredible opportunity to intern at GoDaddy Inc. as a Software Developer Engineer. This approximately 12-week program began on June 21 and ended on September 9. Not only did I contribute to the company's work during my internship, but I also gained a deeper understanding of Software Engineering as a field. This training helped me recognize that I enjoy working as a web developer and wish to continue exploring the profession. In this paper, I will reflect on my overall internship experience and the various projects I worked on
Analysis of Biodegradable Alternatives to Medium Chain Length Chlorinated Paraffins
No full textvi, 25p.As an undergraduate chemist at Kalamazoo College, I have been inspired by my educators and mentors to pursue research which adheres to the principles of Green Chemistry. The purpose of the research in this article is to propose a biodegradable alternative to Medium Chain Length Chlorinated Paraffins (MCCPs). MCCPs are a class of highly toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative chemicals which are highly persistent in the metalworking industry due to their effectiveness in lubrication applications. MCCPs degrade into Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (SCCPs) over time which have even greater environmental impact. SCCPs have been banned or regulated in most countries since the 1990s and early 2000s, and it is expected that MCCPS will soon be banned or heavily regulated in the United States. Thus, there is a significant need for effective alternatives which are cost competitive. The goal of the research was to study alternative lubricants which are cost-competitive to produce. The additives synthesized and selected were Trimethylpropane trioleate, which is a biodegradable and hydrolytically stable polyol ester, underwent sulfurization, and a stable graphene additive, respectively. The additives were added to a 90:10 base oil additive mixture. The performance and efficiency of the mixtures were measured using Falex Pin and Vee Bar Extreme Pressure tests. Based on the results, we can conclude that the graphene additive was not an effective additive, likely because it was unable to properly provide lamellar protection due to imperfections in the graphene sheets. The Sulfurized oil performed poorly; the data suggests that at low jaw loads the additive had a negative impact on performance. Additionally, the sulfurized oil had a gap in effective temperatures which could potentially be bridged by undergoing phosphorylation. Thus, our research demonstrates that further work is needed to find replacements to medium chain length chlorinated paraffins before they can become regulated without imparting major negative impacts on the metalworking industry
Surveying Features of Spherical Viruses
No full text50 p.The main research goal was to investigate the relationship between gauge points and other capsid properties. Data was collected from online databases: ViperDB (VIrus Particle ExploreR database), RCSB (Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics), and SCOP (Structural Classification of Proteins). I wrote code to streamline and automate this process, analyze capsid data, and compile a database, then I made a website to visualize the results. Dr. Wilson already had a MatLab script called SC_frankencode.m (which I will refer to as GP.m) to find gauge points given a capsid’s PDB (Protein Data Bank) coordinates from ViperDB, so I wrote scripts to perform other analysis on PDB and point array files. The first thing I worked on was developing a script called find_aas.py to detect which amino acids were nearby (<5Å) each point in a given point array and write the results to an Excel file. I then made a shell script to loop over a folder of point arrays and later used pyinstaller to create an executable of the Python script, as well as a corresponding adapted PA-folder script. Next I created a pipeline that downloaded all of the capsid coordinate files from ViperDB and performed all the steps involved in collecting the gauge point and amino acid data. This consisted of: creating a list of all PDB IDs using the API, downloading each of their coordinate files, running makeicos.pl to create the full capsid of the AU in the coordinate file, extract_coords.pl to get the XYZ coordinates, pdb_indo.pl to load the capsid, my version of GP.m which writes the output to an Excel file (along with the points of the 5 closest Point Arrays to protrusions), and find_aas.py on each point array. This produced ~1,200 Excel files (available here - full_*.xlsx files contain amino acid data, others contain gauge point data). I made an iPython notebook file called xlfiles_json.ipynb to compile a database with the results, additional data from scraping SCOP, RCSB, and ViperDB, and the output of some other analysis scripts (detailed in the data section below). The last stage of my work has been focused on making a website where you can search, filter, and create visualizations for information stored in the database
Summer Research Experience at the Big Data Summer Institute
No full textiv, 13 p.The summer before my senior year at Kalamazoo College, I participated in the Big Data Summer Institute at the University of Michigan. During the program, I worked on a research project that applied statistical methods to spatial transcriptomics data from a mouse brain. This experience helped me to discover how much I enjoyed working on biostatistics research and helped me decide to apply to PhD programs in biostatistics. This paper reflects on my experience in the summer program, focusing on how I felt during the research process and the lessons I want to take away from it
Plant Uptake Of Heavy Metal Pollution At Riverview Eastside And Potential For Phytoremediation
No full text1 Broadside. 48"W x 36"HThis project was a continuation of prior work done studying the local Kalamazoo Riverview Eastside site (KRE), which currently stands as a brownfield site. Soil sampling and testing, vegetation surveying, and bioindicator surveillance had already been conducted giving insight into on-site conditions leading to this, one of hopefully several more steps that may lead to the restoration of this site via phytoremediation.
Goals: Gain an understanding of heavy metal uptake within KRE vegetation. Find potential phytoremediators to
help generate phytoremediation-centered cleanup strategies for the site.Kalamazoo College. Department of Biology. Diebold Symposium, 202
Camp Counselor Summer Internship
No full text11 p.This paper examines my summer internship experience as a camp counselor at Camp Canadensis, a Jewish camp in the Pocono Mountains, where I worked with boys aged 11-12. Leveraging and applying the lessons learned from various Kalamazoo College courses in my day-to-day interactions, such as child development, social psychology, and interviewing/narrating psychology. Psychological theories have been applied to these experiences, including Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Erikson's theory on generativity. Through a detailed analysis, numerous examples can find correlations to these theories and portray evidence for their claims. The paper then extends to what I gained from this role and how it benefits my future in Psychology—keywords: child development, environment, leadership, tradition, and communication
Internship SIP Reflection at Capitol National Bank
No full text13 p.This paper reflects on a summer internship at Capitol National Bank in downtown Lansing, Michigan, providing an exploration of the diverse aspects of business operations. The author delves into the impact of Kalamazoo College's business courses highlighting their practical application in the professional world. The paper details the use of management theories in the leadership style of Cristin Reid, the bank's CEO. The paper offers a reflection on missed opportunities for coursework, expressing a desire for additional focus on areas like business law, entrepreneurship, and business communications. The author identifies two areas for future research emphasizing the potential for enhancing efficiency and decision-making within business operations. Overall, the paper encapsulates the transformative journey from theoretical knowledge to practical application, showcasing the profound impact of academic learning on professional growth and development
A Modern Virgin Birth and Sexually Active Priest: Catholic Sexuality as Seen on Television
No full textiv, 47 p.Depictions of Catholic sexuality in media and popular culture are abundant and vary significantly in terms of representational tone. Cartoons, horror, and documentaries have predominantly represented Catholic sexuality as parodied, perverse, and/or violent and abusive. In contrast, this paper is interested in the work of comedy-dramas Jane the Virgin and Fleabag in representing the nuanced, individualized, and accurately complex embodiments of Catholic sexuality. These shows explore the constructs, practices, and values of virginity, abortion, autonomy, intimacy, and celibacy through the work of humorous biblical intertext and sincere portrayals of Catholic characters navigating, embracing, and grappling with values guided by both their faith and personal autonomy, needs, and desires. Jane the Virgin and Fleabag and their impact upon consumers of popular culture are henceforth evidence of the significance of situating media and pop culture within religious studies, as they illuminate that stories of complicated religious people serve nuanced understandings of embodied religious traditions and practices
A Welfare Analysis of the US Sanctions on Russian Oil Exports
No full textiv, 24 p.This paper conducts welfare analyses upon the different oil tariffs that the United States has imposed upon Russia to investigate if these policies are an effective policy measure that can be utilized as a deterrent for armed conflict. These welfare analyses will be modeled using Supply and Demand graphs with the inclusion of a Marginal External Benefit (MEB) graph to capture a more whole picture. The main focus of the tariff policies in this paper is the 2022 oil embargo, which was a step up from the existing tariff imposed in 2014. The paper draws from preexisting papers and research done examining the general effectiveness of economic sanctions to help assist in concluding the degree to which the oil embargo was or was not effective. We find that the embargo continues to prove to be an effective policy measure that the US has employed. Due to the unique relationship and strength the US has in the oil industry they can afford the losses that come as a result of such a large tariff. While the costs have not been as actualized as they would be within the theoretical models, the benefits have. The Russian economy has taken a significant hit and has over the past two years needed to slow down the rate of its invasion. The exisiting literature suggests that sanction episodes should not exceed 2 years, but because of the unique nature of the conflict and the good being sanctioned, oil, the US is safe to keep the embargo in place in order to continue to see gains made from the MEB