Nate Hamilton

My name is Nate Hamilton, and I am currently a junior at the University of Delaware pursuing honors degrees in Chemical Engineering and Computer Science. I absolutely love science and technology, and even had the honor of being awarded the Maria Telkes Scholarship by the University of Delaware for outstanding potential in the natural sciences.

Over the past year, I have been working in Dr. John Rabolt and Dr. Bruce Chase’s polymer materials science laboratory. Specifically, working with the formation and analysis of polymer nanofibers has been my main focus. Having successfully replicated the results of a previous paper involving a novel approach to the production of polymer nanofibers is my proudest achievement to date, and currently I am working on improving this style of approach. This new improvement will increase the throughput of nanofiber production while maintaining the rare properties from the original replicated approach.

Besides school, there are a plethora of extracurricular activities that I enjoy being involved in. First, I am the Chief Technology Officer for The Lazarus Rising Project, Inc. This national nonprofit organization provides employment skills to the homeless, and I am responsible for creating and managing the official website and databases. Furthermore, another way I enjoy helping others is by tutoring for chemistry, math, chemical engineering, and computer science. I also am a teaching assistant for Physical Chemistry I and II. Other clubs include the Honors Adventure Club where I plan an outdoor trip every year, and the cross country team which I attend as often as I can to keep in shape.

Outside of school work and extracurricular activities, I mostly enjoy spending my free time with my friends and family. Additionally, I love to ski, play guitar, watch TV, read, and run when in shape. However, running when out of shape is not fun at all.

Upon graduation, the decision between entering graduate school to obtain a Ph.D. or working directly in industry is one I have not made yet. Either way, applying computer science to engineering challenges in the chemical engineering field is my dream career. Further down the road, teaching at a university would be the perfect way to end my career because I know first-hand how influential good professors can be. However, this is far in the future and a lot can happen between now and then!