STEM Runs Deep in This Family
Mary (McDonald) Fosdick, senior chemical engineer for Tucson Electric Power and wife and mother of two boys, is a tireless advocate for making the fundamental lessons of STEM available to all children.
“I truly believe perseverance, critical thinking and problem-solving skills can be encouraged, celebrated and taught to all of our youth,” said the 2000 UA chemical engineering graduate. “Whether your passion takes you to the ballet stage or research lab, those skills are critically important to cultivate.”
Her eldest son Matt’s love of chemistry and math took him to the lab.
Mary recently drew on her contacts in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering to support his high school research project for the Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Foundation, or SARSEF, science fair. She arranged for Matt to use a professional lab to test his idea.
“I can’t tell you how happy I was as a mother and an alum that CHEE professors were so engaged and so willing to help,” said Mary, whose first job out of high school included leading middle and high school students on treks through Florida swamplands.
Award-Winning Research
Matt, a senior at Empire High School, researched active membranes, a type of solar technology developed in 2017. The technology involves shining light on a proton containing dye, or photoacid, on one side of a membrane, to create a direct proton flow through the membrane.
The 17-year-old’s idea to test several different photoacids and measure their electrical conductivity stemmed from his exposure to research by Shane Ardo, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California, Irvine.
Matt’s modification of the photoacid resulted in increased proton flow through the membrane, as compared with previous findings.
The project won multiple awards, including first place in the chemistry category at SARSEF, first in energy/chemical and best in fair at the state competition, and second in sustainability at the 2019 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which featured more than 1,800 projects from 80 countries.
Research associate professor Greg Ogden arranged for Matt to use College of Engineering lab space and answered many questions. Associate professor Don Gervasio, an expert in electrochemistry, provided guidance.
“Without either of them my project just would not have worked,” said Matt. “I would have made countless mistakes throughout my research, and I never would have reached any result.”
Mentorship, Collaboration in the Genes
Matt’s mom spends much of her spare time volunteering for youth leadership and ecology programs.
She serves as the board secretary for SARSEF and coaches the Vail School District robotics team. She also is involved with a project to relocate owls to land surrounding one of TEP’s power stations in Tucson. The environment has little infrastructure or vegetation, allowing the nocturnal birds of prey a clear view of predators.
Like his mom, Matt champions diversity of thought.
“It all comes down to taking in as much information as you can, sharing your ideas with others and having conversations,” he said. “With more conversations, it is possible for anyone to have an idea that will make the world a better place.”
Matt was offered substantial scholarships to attend the UA and ASU with his international science fair win. He has yet to decide where he will go to college when he graduates high school in May 2020, but he's pretty sure he wants to major in chemistry.