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Hooked On Photonics

Summer Program Opens Doors For Undergrads

New students to any school face a barrage of challenges, but if the new student is making the transition from a small community college to a major research institution, the challenges can be overwhelming. Students might be hesitant in the lab, insecure about their abilities and feel lost in a large class environment. But programs like Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) can help ease the transition and break down perceived barriers for students with little or no research experience.

Through funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), undergraduates who might otherwise not have lab experiences are able to work side-by-side with researchers at several well-known universities nationwide. It's all happening at the Center on Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research (CMDITR), which is based primarily at three university campuses: University of Washington (UW), the center headquarters; the University of Arizona; and Georgia Institute of Technology. All three campuses have hosted summer programs, where CMDITR coordinators are working to create new opportunities for interdisciplinary, hands-on education in the hopes of facilitating a more diverse and better trained workforce. At the UW over the summer, CMDITR sponsored an REU program called "Hooked on Photonics."

Photonics uses light to control, transmit, and manipulate information. Research in this field is expected to lead to faster communication over new optically based networks. And while not every student who participates in the ten-week summer program will go on to pursue a graduate degree in photonics, those who participate say it's a valuable experience because it helps them build confidence and explore options previously unknown to them.

"We wanted to get the people who wanted to come in and didn't know that much about research,” says Phil Reid, UW chemistry professor. Reid is the recipient of several teaching awards, including a Career Award from the NSF. His students say he has a knack for explaining really difficult concepts in a way that is easy to understand. And REU participants benefit from Reid's teaching expertise. "They can really enhance their education over and above what they have envisioned it to be: simply going to class, going to lecture, doing courses.”

But even if students learn about the benefits of hands-on research opportunities, they could face other challenges. Reid points out that coming to a large university could present a challenge to a student nervous about knocking on a professor's door. One of the goals of the program is to facilitate interaction between students who might otherwise remain anonymous in a large classroom setting. "This gives them a way, in a low-risk environment, to come in and experience that part of the mission and see themselves as part of the research that goes on in the university,” says Reid.

Participant Jillian Thayer will start undergraduate work at the UW this fall after completing two years of community college in Bremerton, Wash. She says the program has provided valuable insights about graduate programs. "Working with the graduate students has been incredibly insightful," says Thayer. "I've loved coming in and doing research for so many hours a day, and they get to do that all the time. So I've really been turned on to the idea of graduate school,” Thayer says.

Stacy Oliphant is another student in the program who says she's seen more opportunities this summer than she would have at the community college level. "At first I didn't really think of going on more than an associate's degree, but the better education you have, the more possibilities are open.” She says the confidence and ability to work on her own have proven to be some of the greatest lessons from this summer's session. "I was a little nervous, of course, at first when she [my mentor] said, ‘Okay, go ahead and do it,' and I didn't want to break anything, I didn't want to mess anything up.” Two and a half months later, this same student is able to articulate the work she has done.

Graduate student mentor and doctoral student Kristin Wustholz says the change in the students is noticeable. "They're much more talkative; they talk amongst themselves about the projects, and they're just more able to communicate about the project, and they're more outgoing with each other and within their lab groups, which is good.”

While the goal of the program is to get students interested in photonics, the students say the experience in the lab has been the most useful part. "I think it's interesting, and it might be nice to continue working on it, but I don't know that I'd want to do it for a living,” says Oliphant.

Reid agrees, saying the more important goal is to point students in the right general direction. "At least show them the door and the way in,” he explains.

Thayer, who is considering medical school, says the program has helped open her eyes to a lot of opportunities. "What I loved about this program is, as a community college student, I had the exact same opportunities as someone from Cornell University, and we're working side by side, and that was awesome to dive into something. It has served as sort of a transition between community college and university life. I think it's a really rare opportunity for community college students to get into something like this.”

Stephanie Cartier is pursuing a master's degree in Technical Communication at the University of Washington.

Images:

Top: The Hooked on Photonics Summer REU Participants. From left to right: Stephen Edwards, Greg Winchell, JoAnn Lin, Kelli Irvin, Dan Daranciang, Zerubba Levi, Stacy Oliphant, DJ Nothern, Marsha Ng, Andrew Gardner, Jillian Thayer. Photo: Kristin Wustholz

Middle: Student Jillian Thayer displays the poster she created to exhibit her summer research. Photo: Kristin Wustholz

Bottom: Phil Reid is the principal investigator for Hooked on Photonics. He has won numerous teaching awards, including a Career Award from the NSF. Students say he makes difficult concepts easy to understand. Photo: Phil Reid

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