February 2020 Student of the Month
Morgan Yount
Senior
When and where was your research experience? Tell us about your research.
I’ve been lucky to have three different experiences through my undergraduate career. During my sophomore year, I worked at ORNL on modeling corrosion on additively manufactured super alloys. The summer before my senior year, I worked in the Department of Chemistry at Ohio State University on photoluminescence in halide double perovskites. During my senior year, I’m working in Dr. Rawn’s lab at JIAM in Knoxville. I’m primarily the lab manager, taking care of and helping others with the equipment for the Center for Materials Processing, but I’m also starting work on the steric entrapment of Sr12Al14O33, a transparent conductive oxide.
How did the experience benefit you?
Early on as a student, research was useful in helping me connect the dots between my academic courses, lab courses, and past knowledge. Lately, it’s been super useful in showing me what I can do with my degree, but also helping me understand how the research and academic community work. Because of that, I learned I actually am prepared to graduate and go to grad school in the fall!
Do you have any advice for other students considering undergraduate research?
There is not a single other thing that will be so tremendously helpful as doing research as an undergraduate. You can talk about all the quantifiable benefits, like resume fodder, but there’s also the intangibles like building your network, your skills, your confidence, and helping you identify what you do and don’t like in terms of topics and research areas. Even if you just have one research experience, that’s fantastic, so don’t be afraid to get your toes wet.
What else are you involved in?
I’m a member of Tau Beta Pi TN-A and Materials Advantage. I’m also an MSE Ambassador, helping to build programming for our current students and giving tours and recruiting future students. Outside of school activities, I volunteer at a local animal shelter which is where I adopted my dog a little over a year ago. We enjoy weekend hikes and staying active; she’s even gotten me running again (gasp!), but there’s always benefits to a good cuddle.