Georgia Highlands College (GHC) student Muhammad Hanzala’s recent undergraduate chemistry research has recently been published in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Proceedings Journal.

This April, Hanzala will present his work at the virtual NCUR 2021.

Hanzala’s road from research to publication began during his Chemistry 1 class with Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Hanzala’s research advisor Erin Shufro.

His findings can be found among other research papers in NCUR’s Proceedings Journal for 2020, available at http://libjournals.unca.edu/ncur/2020-2/

“Professor Shufro and I were looking for research projects to do and I noticed at my work that the amount of pentane, an expensive chemical, being used in fragrances was excessive,” Hanzala, who works as a media and marketing analyst for a fragrance company, said.

Hanzala said after discovering the problem, he and Shufro brought the method to GHC labs, refined it and made it cost effective, successfully reducing the price of an extraction.

“The experiment involved a lot of chemistry, so it was befitting that the research was done as a part of a chemistry class,” Hanzala said.

Hanzala added he was surprised and excited to learn that his research had been accepted by the organization and that GHC gave him the tools he needed to take his research to the next level.

“One of the most important things that GHC has is very easy access to brilliant professors who are always ready to guide and connect with me,” Hanzala said. “Throughout the research, the practice for presentation and the effort to submitting the research for publication, I always felt like I had the backing of all of GHC’s faculty.”

Hanzala is a member of GHC’s Honors Program, lives in Cartersville and attends classes at the Cartersville site.

In addition to publishing academic journals, NCUR promotes undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual conference for college students. The conference sees presenters from all institutions of higher learning and disciplines, creating a unique environment for the celebration of undergraduate student achievement while also providing models of research, scholarship and creative activity.