Kristi Kiick is not only a veteran of UD's Undergraduate Research Program, she's also someone who has experienced it from both sides.

"Delaware has a real history of providing undergraduate research opportunities," says Kiick, AS '89, now an assistant professor of materials science in the College of Engineering. "I found it extremely worthwhile when I did research here as an undergraduate, and I enjoy working with undergraduates now."

Kiick, who joined the UD faculty in 2001, conducts research in polymer engineering. Using concepts and techniques from molecular biology, chemistry, biochemistry and materials science, her research is aimed at constructing sequences of amino acids--the building blocks of proteins--with properties tailored to specific applications.

She says she hopes to produce macromolecules that can expedite the development of new biomaterials and therapeutic strategies that might help fight such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.

"My research program is young, so the group works with macromolecules and procedures that haven't been previously utilized in our lab," Kiick says. "That means my research assistants have had to do a lot of detective work, with much trial and error. That's been challenging for them, but it's a realistic way to learn to do research."

Tess Beinke, EG 2004, agrees that working in Kiick's lab has been highly educational. "It's been a different kind of learning experience, one that you could never receive from the lecture or laboratory settings of a course," Beinke says. "Everything isn't laid out in a manual or textbook, so you're forced to think outside of the box. Also, not everything you try works, so the results are sometimes unexpected."

She says she became interested in doing some undergraduate research and approached Kiick because of the unusual nature of her work and the fact that it has a biological basis. The experience has been so positive, she says, that she now is considering graduate school for the first time.

Another of Kiick's undergraduate researchers, Nathan Jovanelly, EG 2004, says he also had not been planning to attend graduate school, "but it's an option for me now." The research experience "has countless benefits," he says.

"Not only do I have an amazing job for my resumé, but I also have the kind of research experience that's a must-have for any student who wants to go to grad school," Jovanelly says. "Also, research teaches you how to work in a group while, at the same time, you're being independent."

Kiick says she encourages any interested undergraduate to participate in research. "Even if you find out that you don't like it, it's not a failed experience," she says. "Maybe you don't want to do research at all, or maybe you want to do a different type of work. It all helps you decide on your future choices."