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Young scholars research science's future, and theirs
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| | | Four budding scientists include, from left, Nevin Daniel, Anjali Kapur, Arpon Raksit and Matt Hung with Professor Miriam Rafailovich, center. Courtesy SBU (click for larger version) | |
August 27, 2009 | 12:37 PM
The Garcia Center at Stony Brook University hosted Friday its ninth annual Summer Symposium of the Research Scholars Program, designed to offer high school students the opportunity to perform research on the forefronts of polymer science and technology. Among the 65 students nationwide who participated in the highly competitive program were four students from Brookhaven and Smithtown.
Founded in 2000 to serve as a resource for technological assistance to educational and industrial institutions, the Garcia Center offers various outreach programs that provide hands-on experience for both students and teachers, according to Director Miriam Rafailovich. With about 300 applicants vying for just 65 slots in the program, the students accepted into the seven-week summer program represent the top 5 percent of their class, Rafailovich said.
The director, a distinguished professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at SBU, said participating students worked side by side with mentors to explore the world of materials science. Of the 65 students in this year's program, 23 were from Suffolk County and 27 from Nassau, Rafailovich said. Upon completing their research, the students presented their projects at last week's symposium, before a large audience that included parents, school administrators and science coordinators.
Rafailovich, a Plainview resident, said she and her faculty were "very privileged to have worked with these students." Describing the symposium as a "very large celebration of science," the director said the event was divided into sessions highlighting a variety of topics including sustainable energy, stem cell differentiation and nanoparticle toxicity.
An upcoming senior at Mount Sinai High School, Anjali Kapur researched how nanoparticles affect cell communication by using a method called patch clamp analysis, which measures the current of a cell. While presenting her project to a large crowd was "a little nerve-racking," Kapur, 16, said she enjoyed "understanding what it feels like to be in a professional lab." Hoping to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and become a researcher or physician, the young scientist said the Research Scholars Program helped "prepare me for what I want to do in the future."
Also studying cell activity was 16-year-old Nevin Daniel, who explored different drug delivery vehicles in cancer cells by using quantum dots, very small nanoparticles. Daniel, an upcoming junior at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, said his parents, both engineers, triggered his interest in science. "I like how you can discover new things and help the world as well with science," he said, adding the scholars program enabled him to "get a feeling of what lab work on the university level is like."
From Commack High School, Arpon Raksit, 15, said he had a "fantastic" time stimulating the effect of flame retardant materials on heat diffusion in polymers. Raksit, who will enter 11th grade next month, said he has previously conducted scientific research but "nothing as intense as this." In addition to exploring his passion for "challenge and questioning things," the Commack student said he enjoyed meeting students from all over Long Island and noted, "I don't normally get to socialize with so many people interested in math and physics." A member of his high school's engineering club and science olympiad, Raksit said the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is his "dream school."
Matthew Hung, an upcoming senior at Smithtown High School West, said he also enjoyed "being surrounded by kids who share the same passion for science" and "made some pretty awesome friends" during the seven-week program. For his research project, Hung, 17, said he studied ways to induce bone-like material from stromal stem cells, or fat cells. "I thought it was a very rewarding experience because typically when you learn about science, you read it in a magazine or a text book," Hung said, noting that the scholars program allows students to become "part of the process of discovery."
"It was just a great way to spend the summer and an amazing time," he added. "I really loved it."
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