Class of 2023: NJIT Scholars on Experiences That Propelled Career Plans

Recently, several of NJIT's star undergrad seniors were decorated at this month's College of Science and Liberal Arts Awards for their diverse accomplishments across the STEM sciences.

Here, a few winners of the college's Outstanding Student Award take time to share their unique paths to success at NJIT, including research opportunities that helped them decide the next steps in their careers after commencement 2023.

Varun Pai, Biology B.A.

Where did you grow up and what led you to NJIT?

I was born in India but moved to South Brunswick, New Jersey when I was very young. I currently live in Union but still consider Central Jersey to be my home.

My journey to NJIT started with my brother, who graduated from NJIT in 2017. When visiting the campus with him and hearing his stories, I realized that NJIT would be one of my preferred destinations. In addition to the familiarity with the school and area that my brother's experience provided, I also wanted to take advantage of the proximity of NJIT to Jersey City and New York City.

What was your research focus leading to your CSLA Outstanding Student Award?

Before I won the award, I was focused on completing my concentration in neurobiology and challenging myself with a minor in history and Albert Dorman Honors College track in the Medical Humanities. During that time, I was honored to participate in the Honors Summer Research Institute in Summer 2022, and to receive the Phase 1 Undergraduate Research and Innovation Grant for Fall 2019 and 2020.

I want to pursue a career which synthesizes these areas of biological investigation, humanities, education and community advocacy, so I involved myself in work on-campus with COVID-19 and tutoring chemistry, and off-campus with mentorship and after-school lessons for K-12 students.

What's next?

I will be attending Weill Cornell Medical College next year as I pursue a career in medicine. I hope to continue exploring my passions for education and studying the humanities in New York City next year.

What will you take most from your time at NJIT?

The most valuable experience I had during my time at NJIT was my computational biology research during the virtual learning phase of the pandemic. My colleagues and I chose to study the coronavirus using an approach integrating biochemistry, physics, statistics and molecular genetics, necessitating a tremendous amount of independent learning and experimentation.

Although this work was challenging and time-consuming, I realized the importance of being open-minded and of being willing to invest time and effort into unexpected opportunities. These opportunities could potentially be career-defining or career-altering, but at the very least they will be ones that challenge you personally and intellectually and which give you valuable life skills which are broadly applicable.

Sean Larmore, ChemistryB.S.

Where did you grow up and what led you to NJIT?

I grew up in Flemington, NJ. I was drawn to NJIT because it's a very good, in-state STEM school. I was also drawn to its smaller size, which allows good connections with faculty, staff, and of course, other students.

What was your research focus leading to your CSLA Outstanding Student Award?

My research has been in computational chemistry. I started off by studying some simple organic chemistry reactions that I had learned about in class. I was then able to transition to a larger project, looking into the reactivity of some really peculiar carbocations, called cyclopropylcarbinyl cations, under the advisement of Assistant Professor Pier Alexandre Champagne.

These carbocations are very important in biosynthetic pathways and are used in the development of new drugs and aromatic fragrances. We are broadly interested in how they react with nucleophiles to generate very specific and potentially customizable structures.

I was accepted to and participated in two different summer research fellowships over the course of two years for this project, including the 2022 CME-STEM Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship from Chemical Marketing and Economics, Inc. I've been fortunate enough to be able to present my findings at conferences and publish research in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Organic Chemistry!

What's next?

I am currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Northeastern University for chemistry. I am excited to continue honing my chemistry experience and will continue to work in the field of computational chemistry.

What will you take most from your time at NJIT?

Looking back, I am very happy that I chose to come to NJIT, and it is the firsthand research experience that will stick with me the most. I was fortunate to find a research group that meshed with my interests well. The general research process is good to get acquainted with as it leads to the development of several important and key skills for finding jobs and career opportunities in the future.

Kevin Watson, ROTC, Chemistry B.S.

Where did you grow up and what led you to NJIT?

I grew up in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. I chose NJIT for its STEM-focused academics and the opportunity to be a part of the university's Detachment 490 Air Force ROTC program.

What was your research focus leading to your CSLA Outstanding Student Award?

Along with being in the ROTC program, I was working in NJIT's York Center, supported by the Materials Science in Extreme Environments program. I learned a lot under the advisement of Distinguished Professor Edward Dreyzin and graduate student Elif Irem Senyurt, spending eight weeks during the summer of 2022 through spring 2023 semesters in the lab with them.

The focus of my research was the thermal decomposition of Diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP) - a chemical byproduct of sarin nerve gas - through a flow reactor. I've been investigating the implications of the destruction of chemical weapon agents (CWAs), specifically sarin CWAs.

What's next?

Following my graduation, I will be commissioned into the U.S. Air Force as a second lieutenant. From there, I will attend the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio, where I will study to earn a graduate degree in Solar and Space Sciences.

What will you take most from your time at NJIT?

The opportunity to work in a lab setting in the York Center as well as in my chemistry lab courses gave me invaluable hands-on experience that I'll draw from - the opportunity to apply knowledge learned in a classroom setting in a real-world context developed my skills greatly. Additionally, as a member of Air Force ROTC, my leadership and teamwork skills grew exponentially through the program.

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