«I have never thought that my first trip abroad would be to America, said Andrii Tiiara, a master’s student. «I had been dreaming to travel to the USA since my childhood,» said Yehor Polunin, a bachelor’s student. In the summer, internship at the American University became a reality for these guys.
Here’s a little background
Recently Lviv Polytechnic has signed a Cooperation Agreement with North Dakota State University (USA). The document provides students and postgraduate students (chemists, pharmacists, biotechnologists) who are studying at the ICCT with an annual summer research internship Summer Undergraduate Research Experience USA (USURE). Andrii was informed by the coordinator of the program in Polytechnic, the Associate Professor of the Department of Organic Chemistry Ananii Kohut, as he knew the student as a young scientist who carries out interesting researches and already had a scientific publication. Yehor (a fourth-year student at that time) saw himself the internship announcement and got interested.
The winners were determined by the commission from the Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials of the American University, which announced the competition. While selecting, the level of the English language and learning outcomes, especially the knowledge of chemical disciplines, were taken into account. Thus, Andrii got to work in the group of Professor Dean Webster, and Yehor – in the group of Professor Andriy Voronov, a graduate of Lviv Polytechnic.
Andrii Tiiara
The Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials, where I worked, has a very powerful laboratory. It has lots of modern equipment to determine the chemical composition of a substance. We synthesized from vanillin a natural resource, which is renewed every year. We are trying to create polymers and coatings with similar or unique properties of polymers and coatings that are made from petroleum products to simply replace oil with renewable bioresources.
During that time I read many useful articles. At weekends, it was possible to visit South Dakota and Minnesota. During the ten-week internship, I gained a lot of experience. I want to obtain a Postgraduate Diploma in the USA. I dream to study and work in this country.
Yehor Polunin
In the United States, I was impressed by good and kind people there. In the team with whom I carried out the project «Synthesis and study of properties of new monomers based on vegetable oils and latex polymers on the basis of bioresources», there was a creative and pleasant atmosphere. We investigated additional sources of raw materials that can be extracted not from oil, but from what is renewable and does not affect the environment – sunflower seeds, flax, soybeans, olives, etc.
Internship at the American University gave me a lot. At the end I was offered to stay in the group and continue my studies at the School of Graduate Studies of this university. I have already submitted documents for consideration.
