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2016 TOrsion angles
2016 TOrsion angles
THE 2022 TEAM
Brittany Lott, PhD.
Chemistry Instructor, Research Advisor
Attended: Arkansas State University, University of Memphis
Favorite Science: Physical Chemistry
After graduate school, Brittany taught General and Physical Chemistry at Western Carolina university before moving to Charlotte and coming to Country Day. She loves teaching the dedicated students at Country Day and is excited to get back into the realm of scientific research--computational biochemistry was her research field as a doctoral candidate! At home, Brittany and her husband Alex have four young children and a miniature black panther. She loves to play outside, read science fiction, and watch comic book movies.
Tom Collins
Head of Science Department, Project Advisor
Attended: Imperial College, London
Favorite Science: Anything to do with the 2nd law...
Before going into teaching, Tom spent some time in different research fields including pharmaceutical design, biogeochemistry, and synthetic organic chemistry. Organic chemistry remains his passion and he is really pleased to have students here at Country Day that are willing to take it on. He has taught in schools on both sides of the Atlantic but has really found his home here in the US. He and his wife have two children who both attend Country Day. Outside of school, his interests include carpentry and ocean sailing.
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Sam Farnham, Jr.
Class of 2022
Attending: University of Pennsylvania
Favorite Science: Chemistry and Physics
Sam has had a passion for science ever since he joined CCDS in Kindergarten. In high school, Sam has taken biology, chemistry, physics, organic chemistry, and now computational biochemistry. His favorite topics are electricity, the ideal gas law, and biotechnology. As a member of the CBP team, Sam helped develop and operate the R and Python coding platforms to compile data on phenylalanine bond lengths, angles, and torsion. He also aided in the construction of the CPB website. Outside of school, Sam enjoys playing tennis, competing in debate tournaments, traveling, and feasting on Italian food.
Zach Goldsmith
Class of 2022
Attending: Vanderbilt University
Favorite Science: Chemistry
A lifer at Country Day, Zach has always enjoyed participating in Country Day’s science program, taking many physics, biology, and chemistry classes throughout his time in Upper School. Zach contributed to the project by leading the PyMOL team, checking his classmates’ bond length, bond angle, and torsional angle measurements. Also, Zach led the Website team, updating it with the Class of 2022’s progress. Outside of the classroom, Zach enjoys performing in the school’s musical productions, going skiing, and playing basketball with his friends.
Grant Harbrecht, Jr.
Class of 2022
Attending: Virginia Tech University
Favorite Science: Organic Chemistry
Ever since returning to Country Day in fourth grade, Grant has enjoyed math and science over any other subject. Discovering his love for chemistry in sophomore year, Grant has enjoyed every chemistry class Country Day has to offer, taking AP Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and the Biochemistry Research class. As a member of the Fusion360 group, Grant models molecules and pieces of the various side chains for the construction team, and sends them to the 3D Printing team to be printed. Grant loves to say "Hey queen" to Skyla at the start of class and participates in cross country, swimming, and track outside of the classroom.
Kenan Hawley
Class of 2022
Attending: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Favorite Science: Chemistry
Kenan has attended CCDS since Kindergarten and has loved participating in science classes throughout his years there. His first memories of science originated in Lower School with the Green Team and Oceanography Club, and he has participated in many science classes and programs since. He loves studying and making connections between different sciences and as the Emperor Zurg of the construction team, works to assemble physical models of various amino acids. Outside of school, Kenan loves spending time with friends especially his best friend Carson Wagner, and he also enjoys playing lacrosse, watching football, and eating seafood.
Skyla Kiang
Class of 2022
Attending: Northwestern University
Favorite Science: Chemistry
Skyla joined Country Day in ninth grade and has been involved in various science classes throughout high school. As a part of the 3D Printing Team alongside Lauren and Hudson, Skyla takes care of the printers and tries her best to use the Cura software to print molecules from the Fusion360 Team. Outside of the classroom, Skyla enjoys bowling, snowboarding, sleeping, and listening to music. Skyla will be attending Northwestern University in the fall, where she will major in Biological Sciences with hopes to attend medical school.
Peter Lawing
Class of 2022
Attending: North Carolina State University
Favorite Science: Chemistry
Peter joined Country Day as a Kindergartener, and has taken advantage of many of the course offerings in the science department at CCDS. Peter has taken physics, chemistry, biology and computer science, and is a member of the Fusion360 Team on the computational biochemistry project. The team works with bond angles and measurements to model the molecules in the Fusion360 engineering software. These models are then sent to the 3-D printing team to be brought into the real world. Outside of school, Peter enjoys running, playing golf, and watching Sci-Fi movies.
Tyler Letarte
Class of 2022
Attending: Vanderbilt University
Favorite Science: Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental
Tyler joined Country Day as a sophomore and has loved the science department ever since. Tyler loves the many labs he has completed in science classes at Country Day, and this class is no exception. As a member of the team, Tyler is the drill press czar of the construction team, running most of the hands on jobs that prepare the 3D printed models for assembly. Tyler enjoys playing football and participating in Country Day's musical productions.
Atish Pillai
Class of 2022
Attending: Wake Forest University
Favorite Science: Chemistry and Physics
Atish joined CCDS in ninth grade and ever since doing so, he's taken advantage of the many science offerings the school has put out, taking Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Organic Chemistry, and now Computational Biochemistry. As part of the coding team, he works with Sam Farnham on running code to get data files for Phenylalanine bond lengths, torsion, and angles. Outside of school, Atish enjoys hanging out with friends, playing soccer casually, traveling, and competing in Model UN.
Hudson Rixham
Class of 2022
Attending: Villanova University
Favorite Science: Organic Chemistry
Hudson has been involved in many of Country Day's scientific opportunities since lower school, ranging from the "Big Dig" in second grade to organic chemistry in twelfth grade. Hudson is apart of the 3D Printing team, where she converts Fusion 360 STL Files to GCODE files using the Cura software and keeps said files organized. Outside of the classroom, Hudson enjoys playing basketball, eating sushi, and listening to Taylor Swift. Combining her interest in Chemistry and Physics, Hudson plans to major in Chemical Engineering at Villanova University.
Lauren Rydel
Class of 2022
Attending: The Ohio State University
Favorite Science: Organic Chemistry
As a lifer at Country Day, Lauren has enjoyed many of CCDS's scientific opportunities; biology, chemistry, physics, bioethics, and organic chemistry. As an ambitious 5th grader, Lauren set goals to take organic chemistry in high school, which finally became a reality this year. With organic chemistry under her belt, Lauren joined this project's 3D printing group, working with 3D printing technologies and printers to attain proper physical molecular structures. Beyond struggling with the printer and enduring massive printing fails, Lauren enjoys acting in a variety of theatre productions and bowling.
Carson Wagner
Class of 2022
Attending: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Favorite Science: Chemistry
Carson joined Country Day in eighth grade and has since loved being involved in the science program. As the commander in chief of the construction team, she is in charge of building a polymer with the molds provided by the 3D printing team. She spends most of class telling stories, watching Tyler do the hard construction jobs, and occasionally making bushings for the team. Other than demonstrating her fabulous construction skills in class, Carson loves spending time with friends, being on the lake, and travelling.
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