{"id":23754,"date":"2015-09-18T13:34:18","date_gmt":"2015-09-18T13:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/?p=23754"},"modified":"2019-01-31T13:05:31","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T18:05:31","slug":"students-present-3d-work-at-international-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/2015\/09\/18\/students-present-3d-work-at-international-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Students present 3D work at International Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

URI students\u2019 work with 3D modeling,
\nprinting showcased at international conference<\/h1>\n

\"\"
\nSteven Mathews\u2019 first trip on his own outside of Rhode Island gave him the opportunity to meet people who work in outer space.<\/p>\n

Mathews, a University of Rhode Island doctor of pharmacy student, traveled with Bongsup Cho<\/a>, professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Pharmacy, to Bates College to present a poster describing three-dimensional modeling and printing as teaching tools in URI\u2019s pharmacy curriculum.<\/p>\n

Mathews of South Kingstown and two URI graduate students, Matthew Blake of Coventry and Stephen Norris of North Attleboro, Mass., teamed up to develop the poster presentation for the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science and Education program from Aug. 2 through Aug. 7 in Maine. Blake is pursuing a master\u2019s degree in medicinal chemistry and serves as a teaching assistant in URI\u2019s interdisciplinary laboratory classes. Norris is pursuing a master\u2019s degree in electrical engineering.
\nCho said the conference brought together top science visualization specialists from around the world with one goal \u2014 making science more understandable through visualization tools.<\/p>\n

Interdisciplinary project piques interest of NASA<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By the end of the conference, Steven had rubbed elbows with visualization experts from all over the world, from cancer researchers at Harvard Medical School to a visual effects producer who worked on Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Mathews\u2019 and Cho\u2019s conversations led NASA representatives at the conference to send the student team a computer model of a large asteroid named Vesta so they could develop a 3D print of the asteroid.<\/p>\n

\u201cNASA mapped the entire surface of the asteroid and created a 3D model,\u201d Mathews said. \u201cWe asked them for the file, and they were happy to lend it to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the rocket scientists were interested in what the team could do with a 3D image of an asteroid, the students\u2019 poster highlighted several lab experiences for the doctor of pharmacy curriculum that relate to cancer drugs, antibiotics and the issue of drug resistance. Molecular modeling sessions are conducted each semester for several disease-based \u201ccores.\u201d The group found that the ability to hold and examine a 3D model provides a greater understanding of the direct, but seemingly abstract relationship between structure and drug action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was my first time on my own outside of Rhode Island,\u201d Mathews said. \u201cEven staying in a dorm, just focusing on my own personal development was a new experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he is deeply grateful to the College of Pharmacy and Cho for providing the support necessary to make the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was Dr. Cho who suggested to Matt, Stephen and me that we should apply to the conference and develop an abstract for a proposal. He constantly encouraged us to pursue the process of creating materials for submission,\u201d Mathews said.<\/p>\n

The College of Pharmacy has been conducting 3D modeling<\/a> and creating 3D animations of molecular processes since 2004 in collaboration with Roy Bergstrom in Instructional Technology and Media Services, thanks to grants from the Champlin Foundations. Another Champlin grant allowed the college to purchase a 3D printer in 2011 and begin printing molecules. The tools are now staples of instruction in the college.<\/p>\n

Mathews had taken pharmacy classes in which 3D modeling and printing were used to augment the lecture.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a student in pharmacy, I found the 3D modeling and printing lab forced me to think differently than I had in traditional organic chemistry classes,\u201d Mathews said.
\nBlake, the medicinal chemistry graduate student, said it could be very difficult to convey structure at the molecular level using one-dimensional lines and drawings.
\n\u201c3D modeling is very useful in chemistry because the structure of the molecule is going to determine its function,\u201d Blake said. \u201cThat\u2019s made easier with 3D tools.\u201d
\nMathews said the trio conducted a survey of students to see whether 3D modeling and printing were helping them grasp the material.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey found that it was a different way to look at a molecule, and that if they didn\u2019t get the concept in the lecture, they got it in here (the 3D modeling and printing lab.)\u201d
\nNorris, the electrical engineering major, said he heard about the 3D lab through a flier. \u201cMy computer engineering experience helped me with this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In fact, Mathews and Blake said that without Norris\u2019 computer knowledge, the project would not have progressed as well as it had.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what makes this team so great,\u201d Blake said. \u201cEveryone brings something different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I need technical help, I go to Stephen (Norris),\u201d Cho said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the one who pulls us back from being too technical so our presentations are understandable,\u201d Mathews said of Norris. \u201cThe 3D printing lab\u2019s mission is to make the science more accessible, so it\u2019s of utmost importance to make sure everyone\u2019s understanding of the models we print are clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Media Contact: Dave Lavallee<\/a>, 401-874-5862<\/p>\n

Pictured Above<\/p>\n

MODELS OF EXCELLENCE: University of Rhode Island graduate students from left, Matthew Blake of Coventry, and Stephen Norris of North Attleboro, Mass., and doctor of pharmacy student Steven Mathews of South Kingstown, display three-dimensional prints of molecules with an enlarged 3D computer model shown on the screen behind them at the College of Pharmacy. They teamed up to develop a poster presentation on using 3D printing and modeling in the classroom for the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science and Education program from Aug. 2 through Aug. 7 in Maine. URI photo by Nora Lewis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pharm.D. student Steven Mathews, along with grad students Matthew Blake and Stephen Norris, developed a poster presentation on 3D modeling and printing as teaching tools in the URI Pharmacy curriculum. They presented their work at the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science and Education, which brought together visualization specialists from around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":23753,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[143,245,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-3d","category-newsletter-fall2015","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/627"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23754"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38721,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23754\/revisions\/38721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}