Summer Internships in Nanomaterials Research
Professor David Watson of UB’s Department of Chemistry has conducted a summer internship program for high school students in nanomaterials research for the past two summers. His NSF Career Award is funding the internships which seek to introduce students to hands-on scientific research early on in their academic careers. This unique opportunity allows for the selected students to work on innovative research projects well before they would through a normal high school or college curriculum.
Each student in the program is given the opportunity to work side-by-side with one of our university’s outstanding faculty members from the Integrated Nanostructured Systems (INS) strategic strength faculty group. Under the guidance of a faculty member and a graduate student, each high school student is assigned to work for six weeks on a well-defined research project with the goal of making presentable progress by the internship’s end. Examples of student projects from this summer include research on surface chemistry and the efficiency of solar cells, the catalytic performance of gold nanoparticles, and the synthesis of semiconductor nanoparticles.
In addition to gaining valuable hands-on research and presentation skills, these students are also offered the opportunity to meet with numerous faculty members from UB, in addition to their faculty advisor. During each week of the program, a different faculty member briefly presents on his/her own materials research and allows students to view the research group’s laboratory. Students are also invited to view the university’s state-of-the-art electron microscopy lab.
This summer the program included six students from the Buffalo Public Schools (BPS) system and professors from four different UB departments. The program will continue to operate for at least the next three years through funding from Watson’s NSF Career Award, and will grow to include up to ten students a year. The program is also planning to expand its scope this fall by incorporating student participants into Professor Joseph A. Gardella, Jr.’s UB/BPS partnership at the middle school level. Students will accompany Professor Gardella and UB students into the classroom for several after-school or Saturday sessions in an attempt to help bridge the age gap between middle school students and those at the collegiate level. UB and the INS strategic strength believe that this work will help to instill an interest in the sciences for young students throughout the Buffalo region.
