Seth Fremin, Peng Liu Group
Seth Fremin, a second-year graduate student, is continuing his passion for research here at Pitt with the Peng Liu group.
“I had experience as an undergrad student with similar research,” Fremin says. “I wanted to continue working with Dr. Liu, who is an expert in this field and has such a large group of amazing researchers.”
As a member of Dr. Liu’s research group, Seth focuses on computational modeling to study chemical reactions. High-performance software is used to investigate and calculate chemical reactions to discover important features of catalysis and help advance pharmaceuticals.
Fremin completed his undergraduate degree at Lone Star College and The University of Texas. When asked what made him pursue his education at Pitt, Fremin responded with admiration for the city and university.
“The first time I visited Pittsburgh was for a research conference in 2024, and I thought it was a beautiful city,” Fremin says. “But the research is what really sold it for me.”
Besides his research, Fremin acknowledges how great of an experience being a TA for undergraduate organic chemistry labs has been, highlighting how it is a privilege to see students grow throughout the semester.
“My favorite part was watching students mature and becoming less hesitant about doing experiments,” Seth says. “They had it in themselves the whole time, they just needed to get more comfortable.”
When asked about future goals, Fremin has a lot in mind for the rest of his time here at Pitt.
“I am fortunate to be in this position as a grad student because I have plenty of opportunities,” Seth says. “I would love to intern for a big company or study overseas for a summer. My biggest goals for the future are pursuing academia or starting my own research group.”
Jianyi Chen, recent graduate of Xin Gui Group
“Several months ago, I was just a student and now I’m teaching a gen chem lab”
Jianyi Chen, a recent graduate of The University of Pittsburgh, is now moving onto the next stage of his education at The University of Maryland. He is currently doing rotations for his PhD program and helping students with their studies. When asked how Pitt helped him prepare with these next steps, Chen responded with nothing but gratitude.
“Pittsburgh was a very important time in my life because it helped me get to grad school,” Chen says. “Before I went to Pitt, in high school I got to work as an aid in a lab. I didn’t get to start my own project until I joined my lab group at Pitt.”
Chen expressed excitement in getting the freedom to work on his own projects in the third year of his undergrad. Jianyi spent his time here at Pitt doing solid-state chemistry research in Xin Gui's lab group. Besides his work in high school and at Pitt, Chen had a unique experience of lab work when he was younger.
“My father is a researcher, so he was the one who helped me develop my research skills,” Chen says. “When I was about seven, I used to help around the lab cleaning glassware and helping with the chemicals. It’s definitely a background most people don’t have.”
Chen hopes to obtain his PhD then move back to China to pursue a career in research. He hopes to be a good PI to future students in his research group. Jianyi pointed out how thankful he is to be receiving the education he is currently.
“Hard work is not always everything; it's more about the ideas you have,” Chen says. “I am grateful because not everyone who does the same work as me gets the same outcome.”
