Dr. Rech is originally from Northwest Indiana and would go to college just over the border in Illinois as Lewis University. When I started college as an undergraduate, I was not interested in chemistry at all. I was a theology major thinking about a future in either religion or history. When I learned what research was, I fell in love with chemistry, especially with the opportunity to help design a research project which focused on designing water filters. I was very lucky and got to work in Dr. Jason Keleher’s Research Group for nearly 4 years. This experience transformed my career path and is central to why I want to work at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI).

I wanted to continue my education and moved to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for my Ph.D., working in Dr. Wei You’s Lab. My focus in graduate school was to design low cost, semi-transparent, and high efficiency polymers for use in organic photovoltaics (solar cells). Integrating this into practice, I collaborated on projects which incorporated these semi-transparent solar panels with greenhouses to help boost crop (like tomatoes and lettuce) yield and create an off the grid greenhouse, where the solar panel provides the electricity load for heating, cooling, and hydroponics. In a similar theme through the Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program, I moved to Stanford University in Prof. Zhenan Bao’s Lab to design conjugated polymers which can dynamically tune the absorption of specific wavelengths of light outside the visible light range. An example of this application can be with smart windows which control the amount of heat which enters your house and drastically cut your heating and cooling costs without interfering with the transparent nature of your windows. My research success led to being honored by Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 list for best young scientists in the country.

Since my undergraduate experience with research, I knew that I wanted to be a professor at a primarily undergraduate institution. Along with teaching, I wanted to offer the same types of research experiences to students which made me fall in love with chemistry. The University of North Carolina at Asheville was a perfect place for that, and why I joined as a faculty member in 2023. Since then, I have worked on creating an amazing and diverse group of students to work in the Rech Research Lab.

Outside of university work, you can often find me driving my Ford Mustang convertible, sipping wine at the Biltmore Estates, building Star Wars Legos, or playing softball. My faith and religion guides most of my actions and you can find me at the Basilica of St. Lawrence every Sunday. I am also heavily involved with FIRST robotics competitions and outreach towards exciting the next generation of scientist.

Funding

Startup Funds from UNC Asheville Dean’s Fund – $95k

More coming (hopefully) soon!