Science as Art-UChicago contest

I wanted to write a short post about the UChicago Science as Art contest because one of the things that first drew me to computational chemistry was its ability to visualize and illustrate concepts so clearly.

Background

For me, the idea of science as art really began when I was an undergraduate sophomore at Stony Brook University. I wanted to get involved in research, so I reached out to two professors to see whether there was a good fit. One was an organic chemistry professor, and the other was a computational chemistry professor, Professor Simmerling. At my first lab meeting in the Simmerling lab, I saw an animation of the DNA polymerase editing pathway derived from the Nudged Elastic Band method. That clip inspired me to continue down this road. It was clear to me that physics could be used to address fundamental questions in biology that typical experiments cannot answer on their own. One graduate student in the group also created artwork for the Protein storytelling through physics article, including the figure titled “CMP modeling of COVID-19 infecting the human cell.” Needless to say, from Dill, Simmerling, and the graduate student I worked with, I learned that creating a clear and appealing figure matters. For one thing, it has the potential to inspire other young scientists, but it can also be used to tell a compelling story.

Science as Art (First attempt)

Back in 2022, while I was finishing my first year, I learned about a new UChicago initiative centered on the Science as Art contest. Naturally, I already had a few possible figures in mind to submit. The artwork had to come from research being conducted on campus. At the time, I was working on the calcium ATPase pump, so I used that as the main subject of the piece.

I did not win the competition. However, I later found out that they still chose to display it at the medical school. Below are two photos from the hallway gallery.

Second Attempt

I took a break for some time from submitting or creating new figures about the pump. However, since it was my final year, I decided to revisit my first attempt. For the 2026 competition, I reused my original Blender work and reworked the image into a darker, higher-contrast version shown below. I wanted it to feel closer to cartoon or anime-inspired artwork.

Other Visuals I Have Created

I have also created other content that tries to introduce the structural elements of proteins. The first example is azurin, a blue copper protein that is commonly studied for its redox properties. In the clip below, I highlight the residues that coordinate the copper center and are involved in the redox chemistry.

One of the very first videos I made for my PhD work was meant to illustrate the various domains of a P-type pump. Because I have seen the structure so many times, it is easy for me to forget that its features are not common knowledge. I use this video to give a quick anatomy lesson whenever I give a talk. I will probably update it for my dissertation defense so that it also includes transitions between states along the transport cycle so stay tuned…