STEM Fest Highlight: NIU Chem Club

For the Love of Chemistry: The NIU Chem Club Demo Show and One Student’s Chemistry Journey

An interview with Calvin Soldan, President of the NIU Chemistry Club

STEM Fest is coming up on Sept. 28, and we can’t wait! To help us prepare we sat down with NIU Chemistry Club President Calvin Soldan to learn more about the exciting Chem Club Demo Show, which will take place in Sandburg Auditorium of the Holmes Student Center at 1:30 p.m.

Calvin is a senior majoring in Chemistry at NIU, and he loves to share his passion for chemistry with the community. Keep reading to learn about the demo show and Calvin’s journey into the field of chemistry.

NIU STEAM: Can you talk me through what will happen in the Chem Club Demo show at STEM Fest so people know what to expect?

Calvin Soldan: Yes! We did a Chem Club show last semester with a video game theme. It had lots of different experiments with glowing reactions, and it was really fun. So we’re going to show a lot of those same experiments at STEM Fest.

We’re going to have a clock reaction – which flips through a bunch of different colors. It’s going to look amazing! And we’ll do a chemiluminescence one where we pour things into some tubing. It’s going to spin around and glow and fluoresce as it hits the bottom.

STEAM: Excuse me… chemi- what??

Calvin: Chemiluminescence. It’s an interesting word! It combines the words for chemistry and light – it basically means a chemical reaction that makes light.

STEAM: Thank you. Please continue!

Calvin: So, we’re going to do both those reactions, then we’re going to have one that’s called a blue bottle experiment. Basically, we’ll take this bottle that has a clear solution. We’re going to shake it, and immediately it will flick to blue.

A lot of the reactions are going to focus on the light and color of chemistry. And then we’re going to end the show with a big finale – a giant ping pong barrel experiment where we take liquid nitrogen, put it in a barrel with some warm water, and it’s going to shoot a bunch of ping pong balls and go everywhere. I mean – a lot of ping pong balls!

STEAM: So, lots of light, lots of colors, and then an explosion of ping pong balls to cap it off. That sounds amazing!

Can you tell us a little more about how you choose which experiments to show? What led you to choose these particular ones?

Calvin: We chose these experiments because they are very eye catching! They get people to look and get excited, and it gives people an opportunity to see things that they don’t normally see. We focus on these reactions to give people new and memorable experiences – something cool to look at and something that’s not done in every single chemistry show they’ve seen before.

STEAM: Tell me – how many times have you been to STEM Fest before? And what keeps you coming back every year?

Calvin: I’m a senior at NIU, and I’ve been to STEM Fest three times. I have to admit, at first I came back because we got a free t-shirt. It’s a really cool t-shirt!

But then I went from being a regular member of the NIU Chem Club to being an event coordinator, planning all the different experiments and getting a passion for that. I started coming back to do the table experiments at the Chemistry booth, interacting with kids, trying to get people to learn more about chemistry and kind of connect the dots into everyday life. Because not everyone thinks about chemistry 24/7 like I do – but really, chemistry is part of everything we do throughout the day.

STEAM: Why do you love chemistry so much?

Calvin: Because it explains the world to me. For example, I’ve done research on solar panel material and learned how electrons create current and how the material makes a difference in that current. So now when I look at a computer screen, I think – oh yeah, it’s a bunch of little electrons being passed around in a bunch of different crystalline structures making an image or picture by light reflection. So chemistry just connects the dots for me every single day and helps me understand things in my life.

STEAM: How did you first get interested in chemistry?

Calvin: To tell you the truth, in middle school I hated chemistry! I didn’t like math, and I didn’t understand the point.

But then, as a sophomore in high school, I had a really good teacher, and she taught the material in a way that I understood. I was getting the math, I was getting the concepts, and she brought in a lot of outside experiments that no other teacher in the school was doing. So my class got a specialized format of chemistry experiments and demonstrations, and it just clicked for me. I felt more connected to everything than I did previously.

We got to experience exactly the kinds of experiments and demonstrations that the Chem Club uses in our stage show! You never know who might see a demonstration – and when that might spark a lifelong interest in science.

STEAM: I know you’re a senior at NIU, graduating pretty soon. Do you have any plans for after graduation?

Calvin: If you had asked me a year ago, I would have had no clue! But I’ve had a lot of research experiences recently that helped me figure out what I want to do. I’ve worked on a solar panel group, which was very intense. Then I worked with a medicinal chemistry group, creating a bunch of different antifungal agents and getting that experience. And right now, while also still making those antifungal agents, I also work at a wastewater facility analyzing wastewater and all the different contaminants in it.

With all that experience, I realized that I want to go to graduate school and focus on drug manufacturing. Medicinal chemistry – developing and creating new medications – is what I’d really love to do.

STEAM: Wow! I didn’t realize there were so many options in chemistry.

Calvin: Yes – it’s a very versatile degree, and you can do so much with it!

STEAM: Is there anything else that you want the NIU community to know about the demo show?

Calvin: There are going to be a lot of cool colors, and a lot of flashing lights. And we’re going to need a lot of help cleaning up our ping pong balls all over the place! So come, see a great show, and participate. This is not something you’ll get to see every day.

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Learn more about STEM Fest and start planning your day on our STEM Fest website. The STEM Fest map and stage schedule will be posted by the week of Sept. 21!