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1962 – 1966
The First Time I Did Real Research
by Gordon L. SnyderAs a senior, I was invited by Dr. Bernhard Wunderlich to work on a project to study the surface melting characteristics of high-density polyethylene. The study involved making surface replicas of polyethylene, heated at two-degree intervals, photographing the replicas using an electron microscope, and analyzing the surface characteristics throughout the melting process. I became one of the operators of the electron microscope and thus made many of the photos. After graduation, I entered the U.S. Army Reserve and served two years of active duty, the final year being stationed in Vietnam. In 1969 I returned to campus to obtain a Master of Science in Management. While walking across campus, I ran into one of the graduate students who had worked on the polyethylene project and learned that the results of our research study had been published in the Journal of Macro-molecular Science - Physics and that I was listed as a co-author. In 1966 not many college seniors could make the claim of being an acknowledged participant in work resulting in a published study. I have to admit that I thought the coolest part of the work was using an electron microscope. I still have a copy of the published study!