Chemistry undergraduate earns prestigious ACS analytical chemistry award

2025-02-25

Writer(s): Steve Scherer

Erik Sveen, an undergraduate in the Tarpo Department of Chemistry, has been selected for the I. M. Kolthoff award by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Analytical Chemistry.

The award is given annually to deserving undergraduates who are doing outstanding research in the field of analytical chemistry.

Sveen, a junior from Carmel, Ind., is studying glycoproteomics in Professor Julia Laskin’s lab.

“My focus is on what are called N-Glycans which are sugar chains that can be found in mouse brains and rat kidneys but also some cancerous human tissue. These glycans can be separated from the tissue by spraying an enzyme onto said biological tissues like the mouse brain and rat kidney,” Sveen explained.

He says the goal of his project is to help create a more cost-effective alternative to the existing sprayers.

“These usually cost more than $50 thousand. We are using a mini-humidifier, which we purchased off of Amazon to apply the enzyme that costs much less. It could help labs that cannot afford to purchase a commercial sprayer and don’t have access to one on their campus,” Sveen added.

After Purdue, he plans to attend graduate school and continue working in mass spectrometry.

The ACS award celebrates the life and accomplishments of the late Professor Izaak Maurits Kolthoff, viewed by many as the father of modern analytical chemistry.