{"id":3397,"date":"2016-05-27T16:32:43","date_gmt":"2016-05-27T20:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/?p=3397"},"modified":"2016-05-27T16:32:43","modified_gmt":"2016-05-27T20:32:43","slug":"caron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/sp2016\/caron\/","title":{"rendered":"Zachary Caron &#8211; M.S., Chemical Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Zachary Caron<\/h1>\n<div class=\"profilepic\">\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/news.uri.edu\/releases\/html\/images\/Caron-NL1.jpg\" width=\"192\" height=\"288\" alt=\"Zachary Caron\" class=\"alignnone\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"wholist\">\n<li><strong>Hometown:<\/strong> Scituate, R.I.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Major:<\/strong> Chemical Engineering<\/li>\n<li><strong>Graduation Year:<\/strong> 2016<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They hit it off right away. Otto Gregory, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Rhode Island, was looking for someone smart\u2014and in it for the long haul. Zachary Caron, a chemistry whiz working in private industry, was eager to work on a project that could thwart terrorism.<\/p>\n<p>Together, they&#8217;ve helped create a sensor that detects triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, the explosive terrorists used in the Brussels bombings, as well as the Paris attacks in November and the London bombings in 2005.<\/p>\n<p>Caron, 24, of Scituate, will graduate with a master\u2019s degree in chemical engineering in May after studying for two years with Gregory as part of the Sensors and Surface Technology Partnership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s awesome working on a project you know will do something for the greater good,\u2019\u2019 says Caron. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly fulfilling knowing that you\u2019re helping protect innocent people. It makes me want to work even harder.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The sensor is still in its preliminary stage, but Caron and Gregory hope to have a portable version by the end of April that they can test in different environments other than their laboratory in Kirk Hall. The ultimate goal is to find one molecule of an explosive in a billion molecules of air, says Caron.<\/p>\n<p>Numbers were Caron\u2019s first interest. He\u2019d spend hours as a kid doing math problems while his friends were playing video games. Then he switched to English, writing short stories. Chemistry roared into his life as a junior at Scituate High School thanks to a great teacher, George Goodfellow.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oembed oembed-youtube-com\" style=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6co2pAaYpTk&#038;feature=youtu.be\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6co2pAaYpTk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe applied everything to real life,\u2019\u2019 says Caron. \u201cThat made it much more interesting.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Caron went on to Emmanuel College in Boston, graduating with a degree in chemistry in 2013. He soon landed a job as an analytic chemist at Fuji Film Electronics in North Kingstown, ensuring that chemicals and solutions meet company standards.<\/p>\n<p>Chats with co-workers connected him to Gregory. Many of Caron\u2019s colleagues at work suggested he do what they had done: pursue a master\u2019s degree with the URI professor. The two met in the summer of 2014. \u201cWe built a nice connection reminiscing about his former students\u2014now my colleagues at Fuji,\u2019\u2019 says Caron. <\/p>\n<p>Caron was hooked when Gregory told him that he was working on a sensor to detect explosives. <\/p>\n<p>Gregory has been working on the project for the last decade. Terrorists are using TATP because it is easy to make with chemicals that can be bought at pharmacies and hardware stores, attracting little attention from authorities. Only small amounts are needed to cause large explosions.<\/p>\n<p>The sensor is designed to continuously detect vapors emitted by the explosive. It causes the TATP molecule to decompose, which emits heat, or vapors, that are then detected. The sensor also detects nitrogen-based and peroxide-based explosives.<\/p>\n<p>And it works continuously, unlike bomb-sniffing dogs that can get tired and need breaks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis feature makes the sensor more attractive to be used in high-traffic areas like airports, train stations and ports,\u2019\u2019 says Caron. \u201cIt\u2019s unique, and we hope to get this on the market in the next couple years.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The next step is to reduce the sensor\u2019s size, possibly making it as small as a cell phone or credit card. Caron, who has been working part-time at Fuji while earning his master\u2019s, hopes to continue his sensor work in industry after he graduates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a great experience working with Dr. Gregory,\u2019\u2019 says Caron. \u201cI was so fortunate to be a part of research that will make big changes in the world.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Media Contact: <a href=\"http:\/\/elizabeth_rau@mail.uri.edu\">Elizabeth Rau<\/a>, 401-874-4894<br \/>\nURI Photo by Nora Lewis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They hit it off right away. University of Rhode Island chemical engineering Professor Otto Gregory was looking for someone smart\u2014and in it for the long haul. Zachary Caron, a chemistry whiz working in private industry, was eager to work on a project that could thwart terrorism. Together, they&#8217;ve helped create a sensor that detects triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, the explosive terrorists used in the Brussels bombings, as well as the Paris attacks in November and the London bombings in 2005.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":727,"featured_media":3398,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sp2016"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/727"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/commencement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}