Aquinas College is pleased to announce a new partnership with The Mackinac Technology Company (Mackinac), a small business in Grand Rapids, through which a new work-based, experiential learning internship for chemistry students was created.
This opportunity began when Dr. Amy Richards, COO of The Mackinac Technology Company, met Chemistry Professor Kevin Boyd and learned of his research and instrumentation experience. Mackinac, backed by a Department of Energy grant, saw Aquinas as an ideal partner for its latest research and development project.
Sophomores Emilie Poirier and Andrew Moody are the first students to engage in this research internship. Poirier majors in biochemistry and molecular biology and math. Similarly, Moody majors in chemical physics and biology and molecular biology.
The Research
The students are testing materials for Mackinac's ultra-clear silicone window attachments, which cut energy loss by 90% and reduce building energy use by 20%. These attachments, which can be installed in under five minutes, turn windows into energy contributors.
The thermal image below illustrates how these attachments turn a commercial window into a thermal barrier that is similar to a wall. Without the attachment, the thermal image shows significant heat loss.
During their internship, students will test the elasticity and breaking point of various silicone rubber materials from Mackinac while adhering to internationally recognized testing standards. Both students shared that the internship has already deepened their understanding of research protocol creation. Unlike their classwork, which follows established protocols, this experience challenges them to develop their own.
After firing up the testing machine, they prepare samples by cutting uniform strips of clear silicone rubber. They load these strips into a hydraulic press to create standardized shapes. Then, the students clamp the samples one at a time into the universal tensile tester instrument, which stretches them until breakage while they record the force and elasticity data.
According to Poirier, this research puts her problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to the test. “When you’re developing your procedures, critical thinking becomes really important because you know all these rules about how the experiments need to be run. Now, I need to apply them in my procedure so that my experimental data is what it needs to be. In terms of problem-solving, the first draft isn't going to be perfect. After the first samples, we had to adjust the method.”
Mutual Benefits of Partnership
This partnership benefits both Mackinac and Aquinas. Students gain hands-on R&D experience and industry applications of their studies, while Mackinac benefits from an internship workforce without having to juggle students’ schedules: the students don’t even need to leave campus. Plus, Mackinac benefits from the excitement of research from passionate young minds.
Richards explains, “When we need testing done, it's usually not a full-time job that we're hiring for. That’s why we reached out (to Aquinas). It’s not always feasible to build up our in-house testing facilities. We need to access a college or university lab that can help us, versus just sending out one piece after another to an expensive commercial lab and paying the fee each time.” She continues to explain that commercial research labs don’t always allow for the testing iterations they need. Whereas with this local partnership, the students can report results and Mackinac can follow up with new formulations of sample materials right away.
“The company’s CEO, John Slagter, visited Aquinas and said, ‘You know what's so great about being at the college setting? It’s all these young people who are so enthusiastic and joyful!’ It inspired him,” Richards relays.
For Aquinas, this collaboration gives students hands-on research experience, linking classroom learning to industry needs. “It’s a branch that our students, or students in general, don’t always see. This is geared toward taking a product to market. Mackinac has research they want to develop into something they can sell in the next couple of years,” Dr. Boyd explains.
When considering how it will impact his future goals, Moody states, “I am interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry/physics. This is good for me in terms of developing lab skills, gaining experimental design knowledge that I'll be using in the future, working with professionals and getting experience with grants and funded projects. It will also help me get into graduate school, saying that I was a part of a Department of Energy grant project.”
Poirier is seeking to advance her career within the pharmaceutical industry, specifically focusing on research and development roles in drug development. She explains that, although the disciplines differ, both involve designing experiments to develop procedures, employing problem-solving techniques, and utilizing trial-and-error methodologies. “And then,” she adds, “Like Andrew said, being able to say I have experience creating procedures looks good to a grad program.”
Beyond the DOE grant looking phenomenal on a resume, Dr. Boyd adds that chemists need to experience specialized research, and he emphasized the importance of familiarity with technical environments, noting that individuals often enter machine shops without adequate knowledge, leading to misunderstandings and even amusement among experienced machinists. He suggested that developing foundational skills is essential to appear competent and informed in such settings.
Ultimately, this experience is more than a résumé booster—it's a stepping stone toward professional research careers, providing firsthand knowledge of the processes and collaborations that define success in graduate school, industry and beyond.
The Bigger Picture: Industry, Academia & Future Opportunities
Collaborations with small businesses like Mackinac enhance Aquinas College's appeal to prospective high school students and their families. Visitors often have connections to small businesses and can observe firsthand how Aquinas integrates industry experience into its curriculum. This integration assures parents that their children will graduate with strong career prospects.
As businesses increasingly recognize the value of collaborating with small colleges, opportunities for partnerships at Aquinas College continue to expand. These collaborations, facilitated by our distinguished faculty—such as Dr. Kevin Boyd—provide students with practical experiences through research projects and internships. Dr. Boyd's expertise has been instrumental in guiding student research, including the development of low-cost environmental monitoring sensors and studies on soil carbon sequestration.
Such initiatives not only benefit businesses by leveraging Aquinas' expert faculty and state-of-the-art facilities but also infuse fresh ideas and innovative research into the industry. Highlighting these industry collaborations demonstrates Aquinas’ commitment to student success beyond the classroom, providing connections and experiences that lead to meaningful employment and advanced studies.
