Chemistry student Sydnie Tutmaher and father build steel torch table for chemistry lab

Alfred University chemistry students will have an opportunity to add hot glass work to their skill sets, thanks to the efforts of senior chemistry major Sydnie Tutmaher and her father, Tom Tutmaher of Mayville, NY.

Sydnie and Professor of Chemistry Garrett McGowan conceived the idea of building a lampworking station formed from a steel table that could support a gas torch and allow students to craft their own chemistry glassware. McGowan recalls crafting his own glassware when he was studying chemistry as an undergraduate and graduate student. And Sydnie, while studying in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, also worked with molten glass in a glassblowing for non-majors class offered through the School of Art & Design.

She and McGowan decided steel would be the ideal material for the table, due to its capacity to withstand the high temperatures associated with hot glass work. Sydnie drew up a design of the table, which would include wheels, steel shelving for glass supplies, and a shelf that could support a gas tank so that the hot glass operation could be moved easily from classroom to classroom. She and her father then built the table in Tom Tutmaher's workshop, welding steel pieces together with a TIG welding system.

The table now sits in the first-floor chemistry lab in Meyers Hall. Its caster wheels allow it to be moved throughout the building. McGowan hopes the table and torch will allow students to fashion laboratory glassware such as test tubes, custom pipettes, and attachments connecting tubing to flasks and beakers.

When Sydnie isn't working on chemistry glassware, she enjoys using the torch and table on her own glass figurines.

"I think the table and torch are great for introducing students to a big part of Alfred University," she says.