Kenneth Crane-Moscowitz
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Advised by Eric Furst, Christopher Kloxin, & Darrin Pochan
Interview submitted in Fall 2023.
CHARM Interviewer (CI): Where did you grow up and go to school for your undergraduate degree?
Kenneth Crane-Moscowitz (KCM): Ridgewood, NJ and I majored in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology
CI: What got you interested in materials science?
KCM: The application of material science to a wide range of fields like biomaterials, membranes, colloids and how those get translated in a range of everyday items (contact lenses, batteries, etc.).
CI: In technical language, what is the research you do here at CHARM?
KCM: I use microrheological techniques and laser light scattering to probe fundamental properties of peptide materials. Primarily, this had focused on sizing of peptide bundlemers and structures using dynamic light scattering, but we are beginning to use other techniques like static light scattering to investigate bundlemer self-interactions.
CI: What is a skill you would like to build on while being a part of CHARM?
KCM: I’d like to build up more confidence presenting my research findings to a general audience. I think the CHARM has a number of opportunities that are directed towards these goals, and in many ways, practice will help make perfect. Presenting in small group IRG1 discussions and more broad events (like the recent retreat) will help me hone my presentation skills.
CI: Tell us about your career goals and aspirations.
KCM: I’m hoping to go into academia as a teaching faculty member. I think that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to bring STEM education up-to-date with contemporary pedagogy and teaching practices. I’m excited to use what I’ve learned as a GAANN Fellow this past year in future classroom environments.
CI: Are there any other student/campus organizations you belong to?
KCM: I’m the President of the Colburn Club which is the CBE department’s internal graduate student organization. Our efforts primarily focus on hosting community building activities within CBE like monthly happy hours, but also planning yearly recruitment efforts every February/March.
CI: What do you enjoy doing on your downtime outside of the lab?
KCM: I really like pickling my own vegetables, like cucumbers and red onions. I enjoy playing fantasy TTRPGs and playing Magic: the Gathering. My favorite band is Panic! at the Disco, and I saw them in Philly on their last tour.
CI: What advice would you give to undergraduate students and first-year graduate students?
KCM: To undergrads, when you are in labs and elective classes that interest you and a professor brings up an experimental technique or setup, ask more questions about that. Those are really some of the bread and butter of research and I feel like retaining that info from undergrad would have served me well.
To first year grad students, be prepared for there to be a major shift in your academic career. While first year is mostly classes and very similar to undergrad, research is very different. It doesn’t have clear results/practice problems, and that can be jarring coming from a system where your performance is nicely formatted in a letter grade.