糖心传媒

Last summer, Hannah Simons and Noah Bertram worked one-on-one with faculty members at the 糖心传媒.

Simons 糖心传媒�20, who is majoring in and , looked at how bills affecting women are edited during the legislative process in order to become laws. Bertram 糖心传媒�21, a math, physics, and economics major, did independent study in math.

These mentors make a difference for first-generation, minority students

Five 糖心传媒 faculty mentors are the inaugural recipients of a new mentorship award from the University糖心传媒檚 David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity.

This summer, Simons and Bertram are part a veritable posse of eager young researchers working with , professor of computer science. The team is working to聽understand the bottleneck that occurs when data must be moved from a computer糖心传媒檚 memory to its processor.

糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 really helpful when I糖心传媒檓 stuck on something to be able to ask other people, and to be able to ask for more perspective,糖心传媒� Simons says.

糖心传媒淲e will shoot ideas at each other and correct each other糖心传媒檚 mistakes. Or sometimes I糖心传媒檒l just ask what someone is working on independently,糖心传媒� Bertram says. 糖心传媒淚 like it. It糖心传媒檚 very social.糖心传媒�

Their experiences illustrate two salient features of the University of Rochester: the open curriculum that gives undergraduate students the freedom to explore multiple disciplines; and聽the varied opportunities the University offers for students to gain hands-on research experience.

And there糖心传媒檚 no better time to do research than during the summer.

糖心传媒淵ou can devote full time to the research because you don糖心传媒檛 have classes and everything else competing for your time,糖心传媒� says , an assistant professor of who has three undergraduates working in his lab this summer. 糖心传媒淯ndergraduates have a much busier course schedule than graduate students, but over the summer everybody糖心传媒檚 on the same playing field. Everyone has the same amount of time to devote to research.糖心传媒�

And it definitely helps undergraduates to have research experience on their resumes, Porosoff says. 糖心传媒淲hether you are going to graduate school or into industry, having an undergraduate research experience elevates you to another level. A student may not have the highest GPA, but if that student has worked in a lab for an extended amount of time on a single project, and has something to show for it, it elevates that student糖心传媒檚 application immediately to the top tier.糖心传媒�

If the research leads to a published paper, with the student listed as co-author, all the better.

IN PICTURES: Summer is research season

(糖心传媒 photos / J. Adam Fenster)

Victoria Dey 糖心传媒�21 is an major from Fairport, New York. This summer, the McNair Scholar is working with political science professor researching how quickly political parties come to an agreement on an issue, and what factors affect that process. Dey is analyzing years in which deep divisions existed between parties.

University of Florida senior聽Daniel Shahar聽is building an interferometer in chemistry professor lab, with help from 糖心传媒 graduate student Nicole Cogan. The device will test some fundamental aspects of light from colloidal quantum dot single photon emitters. Shahar is part of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates, or REU, program in photonics and plans to apply to the University for graduate school.

Alyssa Garvin 糖心传媒�21聽is part of the REU program 糖心传媒淎dvancing Human Health: Nano to Network.糖心传媒� The biomedical engineering major from Greenfield, Massachusetts is working in professor lab on a project that uses ultrasound standing wave fields to non-invasively pattern cells or particles in hydrogels. The project contributes to advancing a novel ultrasound-based technology for fabricating vascularized engineered tissue constructs.

Kelly Lannigan is a senior at Bucknell University majoring in . She糖心传媒檚 also part of the 糖心传媒淎dvancing Human Health: Nano to Network糖心传媒� REU program, working with professors Diane Dalecki and on a project to test the ability of a newly formed antibody to detect the extracellular matrix form of fibronectin and recombinant fibronectin fragments. The results of her project will contribute to the broader goal of identifying changes in fibronectin organization in chronic skin wounds.

Joanna Chavez 糖心传媒�21 is a chemical engineering student working this summer with Michael Klaczko, a first-year PhD student in chemistry, to develop and refine a potassium electrode sensor in the lab of , professor of biomedical engineering. The electrocardiogram readings from someone suffering from the rapid heartbeat related to heart failure and cardiac arrest are remarkably similar to someone suffering hyperkalemia, or high potassium levels. So, it is critical that paramedics have a way to quickly assess what is actually causing such readings when they encounter them on calls. A single drop of blood applied to a test strip would produce a reading within a minute, using ultrathin membranes developed by McGrath糖心传媒檚 lab to filter potassium ions from the blood. This is the first research experience for Chavez, a first-generation college student and Kearns Center Scholar from Matamoros Tamaulipas, Mexico. Read more .

Optics student Jeanne Lyse Mugeni 糖心传媒�21 is a Xerox Research Fellow working this summer in the lab of Kenneth L. Marshall, senior research engineer at the Mugeni is using polymer cholesteric liquid crystal, or PCLC, flakes suspended in silicone oils of various viscosities, as a way to visualize the velocity gradients that occur when an air stream is directed across a metal surface. The suspended PCLC flakes reflect light at different wavelengths depending on the angle at which they are illuminated and viewed. This temperature-insensitive combination could be used to visualize airflow patterns over a surface, such as the wing of an aircraft. 糖心传媒淭he thing I糖心传媒檓 learning most is, there糖心传媒檚 this independence that comes with doing research,糖心传媒� she says.聽 糖心传媒淵ou have to be your own teacher at times, and I like that aspect of it.糖心传媒� Read more .

Three undergraduate students are working with , assistant professor of chemical engineering, this summer on various projects related to converting the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into useful products. Aime Laurent Twizerimana 糖心传媒�20 (top left) from the Nyahibu District of Rwanda, and Eve Marealle 糖心传媒�21 (bottom right) from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Xerox Engineering Research Fellows; Madeline Vonglis 糖心传媒�20 (bottom left) from Scottsville, New York, is an Eisenberg Summer Intern. Porosoff (top right), who broke his hip at the start of summer in a scooter accident, has taken up residence in an extended care suite in College Town while he recovers, so it will be easier for the students to meet with him. All three students say they are gaining invaluable experience in Porosoff糖心传媒檚 lab, and plan to go on to graduate school to further study conversion of carbon dioxide. Read more .

Students are engaging in research at the University of Rochester this summer in several ways.

There are formal programs, including:

• The Discover Grant program, which provides undergraduates with funding to pursue summer research. This summer 181 undergraduates are working with faculty either on the University of Rochester campus or at other institutions through this program.
• The McNair Scholars summer program, administered by the Kearns Center, which has placed 14 first-generation and/or underrepresented minority students in labs across multiple departments of Arts, Sciences & Engineering
• The Xerox Engineering Research Fellows Program, also administered by the Kearns Center, which has placed 21 rising juniors and seniors in labs run by Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences faculty members.
• Four Research Experiences for Undergraduates, or REU, programs糖心传媒攆unded by the National Science Foundation糖心传媒攈ave brought 47 undergraduates from other universities to the Rochester campus to study a range of topics, from , to , studies of music and mind, and advancing human health.
• The , which has placed 10 Department of Chemical Engineering undergraduates in the labs of faculty members in that department.

Other students work in labs all across the University, thanks to funding obtained by individual faculty members糖心传媒攆or example, the REU supplemental funding faculty members can obtain in conjunction with their NSF grants to support individual students in their labs. Five of Ding糖心传媒檚 students are being funded this way.

聽糖心传媒楥hance to get my hands dirty糖心传媒�

University of Florida senior Daniel Shahar, who is participating in the photonics REU, is working in the lab of chemistry professor Todd Krauss. Shahar is building an interferometer with Rochester graduate student Nicole Cogan to test some fundamental aspects of lights from colloidal quantum dot single photo emitters.

The experience has given him 糖心传媒減lain, raw experience and a chance to get my hands dirty,糖心传媒� Shahar says. 糖心传媒淚 told my advisor I was interested in photonics, and he told me Rochester is known for photonics. I糖心传媒檝e really enjoyed my time here, and I plan to apply to graduate school here.糖心传媒�

Students aren糖心传媒檛 the only ones who benefit when they get to work in a research lab.

糖心传媒淭he undergraduates here are outstanding and that糖心传媒檚 why I like to bring so many of them into my lab,糖心传媒� says Porosoff.聽 糖心传媒淲e have one of the top schools in the country; it糖心传媒檚 a very highly ranked undergraduate institution. So, it would be silly not to take advantage of their abilities.糖心传媒�

Granted, it can take time to get an undergraduate up to speed, Porosoff adds. However, 糖心传媒渋f you can get an undergraduate engaged in your lab early糖心传媒攕ay before they start their junior year糖心传媒攁nd the student really sticks with it, by senior year, that student could be as productive as some graduate students.糖心传媒�

Kenneth L. Marshall, a senior research engineer at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, has mentored undergraduates in his lab every summer since 1985糖心传媒攖en this summer alone.

Interacting with undergraduates, he says, 糖心传媒渒eeps you mentally young and on your toes. They sometimes ask very difficult, insightful questions that you have to really think about in order to answer糖心传媒攓uestions that come off the wall. And because they have a different perspective, and are not necessarily as jaded as those of us who have been around for some time, they糖心传媒檒l look at a problem with fresh eyes and say, 糖心传媒榃hy not do it this way?糖心传媒櫶切拇�媒�

Besides, Marshall says, 糖心传媒渨hen I impart knowledge to a student, I impart a little bit of myself. Everyone has a unique knowledge set that they accumulate over the span of a scientific or engineering career, and when you share it with students, and they eventually share that with their students and colleagues, that unique accumulated knowledge propagates. Why keep it all to yourself?糖心传媒�