McNair Scholar gains first-hand insights on public health disparities
Joy Nicholas ’19 got her first look at the research process this summer—and likes what she saw., participating in all aspects of a Medical Center study on how race and ethnicity impact infant feeding practices.
Student work opens the brain to help surgeons remove tumors
Brain research does not take a summer vacation, and neither does Magdalena Granados ’19. The McNair Scholar is working on “awake language mapping” research designed to help neurosurgeons operate with greater precision.
Shape-memory polymers expand with student research
A mechanical engineering student visiting from the University of Maryland, Ricardo Cardoza stretched himself—and the shape-memory polymers he worked with—in Mitchell Anthamatten’s chemical engineering lab this summer.
Freeform optical device packs more punch in a smaller package
Spectrometers are used in a variety of applications, from environmental monitoring to astronomy to healthcare diagnostics. A new design using freeform optics upends more than a century of optical design.
What we learn when a machine ‘listens’ to Miles Davis
Two undergraduates are spending their summer analyzing a recording that was first released nearly four decades before they were born.
One question sparks student’s research around race in America
Why does racism play a part in motivating some students to go on to college, while it seems to deter others? Winston Scott ’19 is spending his summer preparing a study into how children react when they begin to perceive racism.
Student follows liquid metal flow to build a better battery
Meghan Patrick ’18 has spent her summer studying the use of liquid metal batteries on a scale large enough to power entire cities in conjunction with solar and wind power. Patrick is helping the lab figure out where to place ultrasound probes that can capture detailed measurements of how fluids flow in those batteries and how that affects their performance.
Summertime is prime time for undergraduate research
What’s true for many faculty members is also true for college students. There’s no better time than summer—away from coursework and distractions of the school year—to take a deep dive into research.
‘He set the course of my life’: Remembering biologist William Muchmore
Colleagues and former students remember the long-time biology professor and one of the world’s leading authorities on pseudoscorpions. Muchmore discovered and named more than 290 new species of the small arachnids in his 40-year career.
‘Be mindful of the purpose of our work’
When we look up at a Dutch vault, stretching our tape measures and talking about the construction, we are standing inside a dungeon. This silent, moldy room once held hundreds of lives stripped of dignity, respect, and humanity. Do we add anything to this gruesome narrative by studying the construction methods of a human trafficking enterprise that sought a 12 percent profit margin? Or are we missing the point? … We are not missing the point. He is blessing our attempts to understand, and to safeguard a structure that without continued interest and stewardship, dies, and no longer tells its somber and important story.