High School Students Dive into Research During Summer Internships

Last month saw the culmination of a six-week summer internship at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC). The program, led by Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Jian Sheng, and funded by the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP) offered nine high school students the valuable opportunity to gain early research experience in preparation for college, and was funded by the Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP).   

During the first week, the interns were introduced to their Islander mentors, with each mentor presenting their project. The interns explored each project and the research activities associated with them, before selecting the project and mentor they would spend the internship working alongside.      

One notable project, led by Kimberly Lopez, a Ph.D. student in the Coastal and Marine System Science program at TAMU-CC, aimed to develop low-cost diagnostic technology for early cancer detection. Lopez mentored two interns for this highly intricate research.  

“It is important that the interns receive hands-on experience with equipment to prepare them for college, Lopez said.  “For example, I showed my student, Ruby, how to culture the cancer cells and how to determine the mechanical characteristics of cancer cells to find faster ways of detecting cancer.” 

The objective of the project led by Zeinab Hallol, Post-Doctoral Researcher, was to learn how varying high speeds of seawater affect the growth of biofilms. For intern and Rio Grande Valley native, Miranda Sanchez, working with the High Reynolds Turbulent Channel Flow was a new experience. 

“In the Valley, the focus is mainly on agriculture, so the knowledge I gained here was totally new to me,” she said.  “It was interesting to work on a project with a long-term goal; the research needed to completely stop barnacles from growing on ships is still a long way away, but we were able to research the prevention of the barnacle growth, which is an important start.”   

Reflecting on the highlights of her internship experience, Tricia Patel, from Houston, shared, “Working with the mentors and experts in their field helped me gain insight into what the research world is like. I was able to work with my mentor on MATLAB, while seeing the project develop alongside the research being  carried out.”