Karen Kwon

research

Karen’s previous life as a chemist.

The full list of publications can be viewed here.

Ph.D. Research (11/2014 – 12/2019)

Columbia University, New York, NY (Advisor: Professor Laura Kaufman)

  • Study of conjugated polymer conformation and exciton migration

    • Wide-field single-molecule fluorescence microscopy

    • Super-resolution imaging technique

  • Solvent vapor annealing of the conjugated polymer films

    • Controlling the solvent vapor annealing process using homemade multi-modal apparatus involving quartz crystal microbalance

    • Controlling the size of the conjugated polymer aggregates

  • Writing programs to analyze the images with bright features using Python

    • Feature finding using Crocker-Grier algorithm

    • Programming with GUI using wxPython

    • Visualizing the data using matplotlib

M.S. Research (09/2011 – 08/2013)

Korea University, Seoul, Korea (Advisor: Professor Sungnam Park)

  • Time-resolved IR spectroscopy of liquids and solutions

    • IR pump-probe spectroscopy

    • 2D IR spectroscopy

  • Practical usage of femtosecond laser systems and related optical systems

  • Study on ion-paring dynamics and ion-molecule complexation dynamics

  • Population relaxation and rotational dynamics in condensed phase

Undergraduate Internship (03/2011 – 08/2011)

Korea University, Seoul, Korea (Advisor: Professor Sungnam Park)

  • Basic knowledge on interpreting 2D IR spectra

  • Study on population transfer in a system with two vibrational modes

  • Analyzing experimental data with MATLAB

Conference presentations

  • American Chemical Society Spring 2019 National Meeting, Orlando, FL, USA (04/2019)

    • Poster: Self-Assembly of Nearly Isotropic Conjugated Polymer Aggregates with High Quenching Efficiency

  • Women in Science Columbia Symposium, New York, NY, USA (04/2018)

    • Oral: Self-Assembly of Nearly Isotropic Conjugated Polymer Aggregates with High Quenching Efficiency

  • The 111th Spring Meeting of the Korean Chemical Society, Goyang, Korea (04/2013)

    • Poster: Rotational Dynamics of Metal Azide Ion Pairs in Dimethylsulfoxide Solutions

  • The 108th Autumn Meeting of the Korean Chemical Society, Daejeon, Korea (09/2011)

    • Poster: Ultrafast Vibrational Population Transfer Dynamics Studied by 2DIR
      Spectroscopy

Teaching Experience

  • Teaching Assistant, Columbia University

    • CHEMW3086 Physical-Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (01/2016 – 05/2016)

    • CHEMW3085 Physical-Analytical Chemistry Laboratory (09/2015 – 12/2015)

    • CHEMW2507 Intensive General Chemistry Laboratory (01/2015 – 05/2015)

  • Teaching Assistant, Korea University

    • CHEM458 Physical Chemistry III (09/2012 – 12/2012)

    • CHEM231 Physical Chemistry I (03/2012 – 06/2012)

    • CHEM252 Instrumental Analysis (09/2011 – 12/2011)

Awards and Scholarships

  • Jack Miller Teaching Award for excellence in teaching (2016)

  • Brain Korea 21 Scholarship (09/2012 – 08/2013)

  • Honors Scholarships, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea (09/2009 – 12/2009)