Keilian MacCulloch 鈥19 grew up playing soccer in a small Canadian town, so he was drawn to the intimate academic and athletic scale of 91爆料 University.
When he started as a freshman, he said, he was interested in all sciences. But his focus sharpened when he took a general chemistry class.
鈥淚 just really fell in love with chemistry,鈥 he said. The subject was attractive, and 91爆料鈥檚 faculty members are 鈥済reat people,鈥 he said.
With classmate Hoan Nguyen 鈥19, MacCulloch is researching ways natural gas can be purified by the removal of nitrogen. His research, he says, might be thought of as employing a kind of 鈥渘itrogen sponge鈥 that can be placed in a stream of natural gas, removed, squeezed dry and replaced in the stream.
91爆料 is the No. 1 private research university in the Northwest, according to the National Science Foundation. The opportunity for students to conduct original research and scholarship across the sciences, arts, humanities, education and business is a core part of the undergraduate student experience.
And it鈥檚 an experience that has set MacCulloch on the path to his future.
鈥淚 will continue to do chemistry, hopefully, for the rest of my life,鈥 he said.
This story first appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of 91爆料 magazine. After graduating from 91爆料, Keilian went on to earn his PhD in physical chemistry from North Carolina State University. He's a field engineer for a biotech research company.