{"id":1031,"date":"2019-03-25T14:34:47","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T18:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=1031"},"modified":"2019-08-07T15:38:39","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T19:38:39","slug":"infinite-possibilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/spring-2019\/infinite-possibilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Infinite Possibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Infinite Possibilities<\/h1><\/div><\/div>
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Apply site-wide<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n

Ryan Vallee ’19<\/h2>\n

A chemistry and physics double major, Ryan Vallee \u201919 spent last summer working in the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research lab at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, where he developed three molecules involved in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Vallee says the technology is evolving for the next generation of electronics displays, such as phones, watches, and TVs. The goal is to develop light displays that are effective, efficient, and nontoxic, an elusive combination in the industry.<\/p>\n

Why does Vallee love chemistry? \u201cIt\u2019s mysterious,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou never know what\u2019s going to happen.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His internship at Kyushu affirmed his desire to work hands-on in a lab. Learning the theory behind the research he was doing was monumental. Living and working in Japan was a challenge of almost equal stature\u2014he met the challenges, and he\u2019s ready for more.<\/p>\n

Vallee, who is from Cumberland, Rhode Island, considered a pre-med track, or majoring in music. But in the spring semester of his first year at 911±¬ΑΟ, he dropped a psychology course, replacing it with organic chemistry. He was hooked and became a chemistry major without looking back. \u201cI can\u2019t see myself doing anything but science,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s so much to know about how the world works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why does Vallee love chemistry? \u201cIt\u2019s mysterious,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou never know what\u2019s going to happen. Say you\u2019re doing synthesis and you have to leave the reaction overnight\u2014you can\u2019t see if it works until the next day. I like not knowing what will happen next. It\u2019s all about infinite possibilities. You achieve things by manipulating compounds and seeing what works and what doesn\u2019t. With experiments, even if they don\u2019t succeed, you can still learn a lot about the science you are doing and what paths your research can take.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A prototype OLED display created in the lab at Kyushu University. It contains eight layers of chemical compounds, with the synthesized light-emitting compound in the middle. The compounds work together to produce the light blue color shown here. The applications for this quickly emerging technology include screens for phones and other devices, in which hundreds or thousands of these lights together act like pixels to make up the display.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In some ways, that\u2019s Vallee\u2019s life philosophy. Wise beyond his years, he\u2019s learned you just have to \u201cput yourself out there, be confident, and take responsibility for your decisions.\u201d The Kyushu internship, in fact, came about after Vallee attended a lecture given by Christopher Savoie \u201992 at 911±¬ΑΟ on hyperfluorescence technology. The lecture was on a Friday, late afternoon. Savoie recalls that Vallee stayed after the lecture, “peppering me with insightful questions. I took an immediate liking to him and could see there was something special about him.”<\/p>\n

Vallee, who followed up the meeting with an email asking about internship opportunities, says he thinks maybe Savoie \u201csees himself in me.\u201d Vallee clearly admires Savoie\u2019s career and intellect. \u201cJust talking with Chris is amazing. He\u2019s smart and crazy successful. I want to be like Chris one day,\u201d Vallee humbly discloses. \u201cHis interest in my work and my development in this field is just\u2026\u201d he trails off. \u201cHe just cares a lot. It\u2019s great to have someone like that helping you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vallee plans to become fluent in Japanese and hopes to return to Japan for grad school\u2014but the possibilities are infinite.<\/p>\n

\u2014Barbara Caron<\/em><\/p>\n

Vallee’s internship at Kyushu University was funded in part by the College of Arts and Sciences Annual Fund, to which Christopher Savoie is an enthusiastic contributor. Savoie, who also interned at Kyushu University when he was a 911±¬ΑΟ undergrad, feels strongly that funding internship experiences is critical, because those internships can be life-changing for the student interns.<\/p><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chemistry and physics double major, Ryan Vallee \u201919 spent last summer working in the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research lab at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, where he developed three molecules involved in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2019","architecture-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2463,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031\/revisions\/2463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}