David Duecker
Associate Professor, Chemistry
Office: Science Hall 332
Phone: (765) 677-2386
Email: david.duecker@indwes.edu
Education
B.S. in Chemistry/
Indiana Wesleyan University
M.S. in Chemistry from the University of
Cincinnati
Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University
of Cincinnati
Why chemistry?
My dad was a chemist, and I was growing
up when he was getting his Ph.D. I grew up
playing with chemicals, and I was fascinated
with that.
Which courses do you teach?
Introduction to Chemistry
Exploring Chemistry
General Chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
How does your faith affect what you do?
I see Scripture in what I’m teaching or
studying. When Jesus is coming into
Jerusalem, the Pharisees try to stop the
people from singing praises to Him. Jesus
tells them that even if they stop the people,
the rocks will cry out. Rocks are “singing”
right now! There are molecular vibrations
occurring inside all the time!
We’re so dependent on an external energy
source: the sun. Everything has to be just
right -- as God set it up. But there’s more to
it than just that: the system is more durable
than many people allow.
For example, there’s evaporation. When
snow builds up, it reflects more light, and its
rate of evaporation increases. Well, that was
by design. It’s no accident! It is so critical
that water freezes as it does. Ice floats and
forms an insulative layer. This keeps the
ocean from freezing solid. As the solubility
of gases increases with the decreased
temperature, marine life is sustained.
This is one of my favorite verses: Ruth 2:3
“Then she left, and went and gleaned in the
field after the reapers. And she happened to
come to the part of the field belonging to
Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.”
“And she happened...” How many things
just happen? Every invention we come
up with (chemiluminsence, etc.), God has
already invented. One model I encourage
people to use is this: Figure out how God did
it, because it’s a good design.
What is your goal for your students?
I would like all of my students to get A’s.
That would be a perfect semester. But...
What do you enjoy about IWU?
All kinds of stuff - the students: to be with
them, socialize with them. The faculty I
work with. And racquetball -- I’m
very competitive!
How long have you taught at IWU?
Since 2003.
What is your favorite course to teach?
In Physical Science, there’s plenty of
demo’s. I’ve enjoyed Inorganic this year:
part of the reason was because it helped
me understand P. Chem! Introduction to
Chemistry gives me a chance to work with
students who haven’t had a lot of chemistry.
You get a lot of interaction that way.
I try to relate chemistry to the different
majors. In music, quantum theory explains
frequencies. For economics, kinetics
applies. The economy is like a chemical
reaction. When a reaction is going well, it’s
going fast. When the reaction is not going
as well, its rate decreases. The economist’s
role is to give incentives to spend money,
to keep the economy going. The energy of
activation is an interest rate decrease, or a
50% off sale.
What are your research interests?
Surfactants, nanoparticles, coating systems,
and polymers. One things I’m interested
in is having a narrow distribution of
nanoparticles. You would need an inverted micelle, a polymerizable surfactant. A
counter ion could be introduced, and then
you could carry out a reduction inside the
nanoparticle, releasing silver atoms. This is
similar to the domains inside a magnet.
There’s also coating systems related to
inkjetting. You need particles that are
easily dispersed. To be self-dispersing,
the particles must be small: no bigger than
200nm (0.2 microns).asdf
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