The Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science hosted its first interdisciplinary “paper party” this Wednesday in Occom Commons. Three guest speakers, engineering professor Lee Lynd, biology professor Roger Sloboda, and physics professor Lorenza Viola, presented their latest work to the undergraduate community. In addition, the event attracted a diverse group of faculty and students that gathered to informally discuss their research.

Lee Lynd, the Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering Design, and co-founder of Mascoma Corporation, spoke first. He talked about his energy philosophy and his work as a proponent of using cellulosic biomass to create ethanol fuels. Lynd elaborated on the specific use of genetically engineered strains of anaerobic bacteria to create ethanol fuels from cellulose biomass. He added that future generations will judge the current generation by how our sustainable energy practices.

Lynd was followed by Roger Sloboda, the Ira A. Eastman Professor of Biology, who discussed his research on cell flagella as a way of gaining insight into microtubule-dependent particle motility in cells. Flagella are whip-like protrusions that usually function in providing locomotion or manipulation of the external environment.

Sloboda described his work on the protein make-up of the flagella of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a unicellular algae. By comparing protein concentrations from long and short flagella, he found a number of flagellar tip proteins whose expression levels differed. One of these was methionine synthase, a protein important in many metabolic pathways. Sloboda noted the implication of flagellar dysfunction in multiple prominent diseases and disorders, including autosomic dominant polycystic kidney disease, the most prevalent human genetic disorder in North America.

The final talk was given by Lorenza Viola, professor in physics and astronomy, who specializes in reducing error in quantum computing. Viola explained the problem of coping with unwanted environmental interference and operational error in controlling the qubits of a quantum computing system. In particular, Viola discussed her work on designing dynamical corrected gates: quantum gates which automatically correct errors introduced by the environment, or faulty operation. Such gates are necessary to reduce the error introduced by each gate to the point where fault-tolerant quantum processors may be made.

After the talks, students and faculty broke up into groups for informal discussion. The event drew professors from the biology, engineering, math, physics, and computer science departments.

With the success of its first paper party, the DUJS will host future iterations in coming terms, in keeping with its mission to increase scientific awareness and provide an interdisciplinary forum for scientific knowledge.