Cluster Recaps

Cluster 2

Week three and Cluster 2 was on a spree! After a wonderful weekend at the Boardwalk, everyone returned refreshed by the ocean breeze and eager to learn again.

Monday began with a morning lecture from Professor Shaowei Chen on the different structures of one-dimensional (1D) nanoparticles, such as carbon nanotubes. Students studied their structural edges and resulting properties before learning how nanotubes are grown and separated for more functional purposes. After exploring additional 1D nanoparticles, including gold nanorods, TiO₂ nanotubes, and ZnO nanowires, the class discovered how Japan generates electricity from footsteps by diving into piezoelectrics. Pressure makes diamonds—and electricity! The next topic on the agenda was two-dimensional (2D) nanoparticles, where Cluster 2 explored the structure of graphene sheets and the van der Waals forces that hold them together.

In the afternoon, Professor Roger Terrill lectured on Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), an imaging technique that maps the surface of nanostructures using an atomic-scale tip. After exploring different tip structures, students learned about another imaging method, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), which utilizes a cantilever to detect surface features. Finally, the class learned about cubic crystal nanoparticles and their arrangements, which are described using Miller indices. These prism-like nanoparticles can even be observed in everyday life, as car headlights reflect off stop signs through retroreflection caused by their microscopic structure.

Tuesday began with a lecture on electrochemistry, focusing on energy footprints and environmental concerns. As Professor Chen always says, "No problem, no job," reminding students that challenges drive scientific innovation. The class discussed the need for more sustainable energy, which could be achieved through advances in nanochemistry. Students reviewed the fundamentals of electrochemistry and redox reactions before practicing cell notation problems. This prepared them perfectly for the afternoon lab, where they analyzed the effects of ZnO nanoparticles in sunscreen. First, they created different Zn(OH)₂ nanoparticles in microemulsions before making a cosmetic hand cream. To create sunscreen, ZnO particles were added and tested under UV light—but the fun part was yet to come. Students tested both the hand cream and sunscreen on gloves, and the lab ended with plenty of sticky high-fives.

Wednesday was a full lab day. Students began by creating an electrolytic cell and testing various metals for their catalytic properties. A hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was measured by monitoring the current after the system was connected to a power supply. The second lab focused on the anodization of titanium oxide (TiO₂). Originally, bismuth was supposed to be the tested metal, but after raids in Colton's lab, the bismuth was gone. Nevertheless, Cluster 2 persevered, conducted the experiment using titanium instead, and witnessed sparks fly along with dramatic color changes.

Thursday marked the start of the week's field trips with a visit to the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) facility. Cluster 2 split into two groups, with half exploring the facility while the other half stayed behind to work on group projects. Jason, the cluster fellow, proudly carried the ceremonial Toby slug sign as the group walked to the laboratory. Students learned that electrons are used for nanoscale imaging because they are much smaller than visible light, and rubber bouncy balls were used as a visual demonstration. They also viewed highly magnified images of everyday objects, including glitter and nanoparticle samples. Before leaving, students engraved "Tin Tin Tin Sulfur," a playful nod to Triple T, Gojo, and Mason Beaver.

Friday's grand finale featured a field trip to Google, where Clusters 2 and 4 visited the Googleplex and toured its cafeterias, outdoor spaces, and campus buildings. Students learned about YouTube, Google's many projects and features, and the career paths that can lead to becoming a Google employee. Through a trivia game, they also discovered interesting facts about Google's history, with Mason Lee taking home the victory. The trip concluded with a visit to the Google Store, where Cluster 2 wrapped up another memorable week of learning and making meaningful connections.

Written by Mia Xu

Cluster 3

During Week 3, students in Cluster 3, Making an Animal: Development and Bioinformatics, chose their final poster project topics and learned how to create graphs to analyze their data. The projects focused on bladder tumor cells using data obtained from single-cell RNA sequencing. Although project topics were assigned on Wednesday, students worked collaboratively and, with plenty of coding help, successfully completed and submitted their draft posters by Friday.

During the morning sessions, students initially used starter code to generate UMAPs and feature plots before learning how to create graphs for their own project-specific results with guidance from Ph.D. candidate Nicholas Chu. UMAPs flatten high-dimensional datasets containing thousands of gene expression values into a two-dimensional graph, making it easier to identify patterns and distinguish different cell types. Feature plots visualize gene expression levels within cells, allowing cell clusters to be identified based on specific gene markers. One group also explored Kaplan-Meier curves, which illustrate the probability of survival over a given period of time.

During the afternoon sessions, Professor Zhu Wang lectured on gastrulation, neurulation, and the development of skin and hair, as well as developmental defects. Gastrulation is the process in which the blastula reorganizes into three germ layers: the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Neurulation is the process by which the neural tube forms and eventually develops into the brain and spinal cord.

Professor Wang also gave students a tour of his laboratory, where they learned about research involving mice. The mice were fed either a standard diet or a medicated diet as part of ongoing studies. Students also learned about how the mice are cared for and maintained—and, of course, agreed that they were very cute.

Written by Lisa Yang

Cluster 4

Cluster 4 kicked off Week 3 with a visit to the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). After a discovery lecture, students headed down the road to Baskin Engineering, where half the cluster began working on their final projects while Dr. Tom Yuzvinsky introduced the other half to the microscope. Samples are coated with gold, and the SEM scans them with electrons to produce highly detailed images. Students zoomed in on screws and pennies, which looked completely different up close. The SEM can also carve into materials, so the AM group engraved a soccer ball for the World Cup while the PM group created an image of Haaland. Before leaving, everyone took home rubber "electron" balls, which quickly turned into a game of electron tennis back in the quad. After dinner, the cluster also began brainstorming lip sync song choices, eventually settling on "Soda Pop."

On Tuesday and Wednesday, students followed their usual lecture schedule. In the morning, Professor Velasco taught about the periodic Dirac delta potential, a simplified model of potential wells that makes calculating electron band energies more manageable. Students then learned about Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES), which uses the photoelectric effect to measure the electronic band structure of materials, before exploring quantum dots in preparation for Professor Syzranov's lecture. During the afternoon sessions, Professor Syzranov introduced Grover's Algorithm, demonstrating how quantum computing can solve search problems more efficiently than classical algorithms by taking advantage of quantum superposition. He also introduced superconductors, which play an important role in qubits, the fundamental units of quantum computers. Students also had dedicated class time to continue working on their final projects. That evening, the cluster chose "Cupid" for the talent show and spent the night learning the choreography together in their dorms.

On Thursday, Cluster 4 joined Cluster 13 for a neuromorphic computing workshop, where professors and students from a variety of disciplines presented their research. Students were introduced to topics beyond the scope of their own cluster, providing a broader perspective on emerging technologies. While some of the material was challenging to follow, the experience exposed students to new areas of research. Many also used the workshop's independent work time to make further progress on their final projects.

On Friday, Clusters 2 and 4 traveled to Mountain View to visit Google Headquarters. Students learned about a variety of careers at Google and met engineers responsible for developing several of the company's key features. A panel discussion gave students the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about careers in technology before touring the Googleplex campus, where they were amazed by its size and creativity. After returning to campus, the cluster held one final dance rehearsal before taking the stage that evening. Their hard work paid off with a memorable performance at the talent show, providing an exciting conclusion to another eventful week.

Written by Madison Ding

Cluster 5

During the third week of COSMOS, Cluster 5 students began working on their final game projects.

The first day was spent brainstorming and pitching game ideas. Each proposal was presented through a slideshow that included key components such as a project overview, production timeline, and other details outlining the team's vision. The teaching staff provided both constructive feedback and encouragement to help students refine their ideas before development began. Over the next two days, students worked diligently on their projects in preparation for Friday's playtest.

On Thursday, Cluster 5 traveled to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The museum, home to one of the world's largest collections of computing artifacts, documents over 2,000 years of computing history. Among the standout exhibits were interactive chatbots and classic arcade machines. In the artificial intelligence exhibit, students met Ameca, a humanoid robot capable of communicating in eight different languages. Visitors were invited to interact directly with the AI, making it one of the museum's most memorable attractions. Another favorite was the video game exhibit, which featured working arcade classics such as Pac-Man and Mortal Kombat. The exhibit proved especially popular, with students and other guests eagerly waiting in line for a chance to play.

Friday featured Cluster 5's first official playtest, with one session held in the morning and another in the afternoon. Before testing began, instructors reviewed best practices for conducting a successful playtest, emphasizing the importance of observing without interfering so players' experiences remained as authentic as possible. Afterward, students interviewed participants to gather feedback on their games and better understand players' experiences. The responses proved invaluable, revealing issues that teams had not previously noticed and providing ideas for future improvements.

Week 3 was both exciting and productive, and Cluster 5 is well on its way to bringing its creative game ideas to life.

Written by Yisi Liu

Cluster 6

Welcome back to Week 3 with the best cluster—Cluster 6! We can't believe we only have one week left in the program. This week, our cluster stayed busy researching and finalizing our poster projects, which were due on Friday. Students explored topics ranging from the power grid to energy harvesting, and we're excited to see everyone's presentations next week.

Monday marked Professor Zhang's final lecture with our cluster, where we explored four major types of renewable energy and how each converts natural resources into electricity.

The first source we studied was hydropower, which generates electricity from flowing water. One of the key concepts was head—the vertical distance water falls before reaching a turbine. A greater head creates higher water pressure, allowing more energy to be extracted while reducing turbine size and cost.

Next, we explored ocean energy through waves and tides. One wave energy converter we discussed was the Oscillating Water Column (OWC), which uses wave motion to force air through a turbine to generate electricity. We also learned about tidal energy, which can harness both the movement of tidal currents and the changing water levels between high and low tide.

The third renewable energy source we examined was bioenergy, which generates electricity by burning biomass, or organic materials. While biomass is considered renewable, it still releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants, making it less environmentally friendly than many other renewable energy sources.

Finally, we learned about geothermal energy, which uses heat from beneath the Earth's surface to generate electricity. We compared dry steam and flash steam power plants, both of which convert underground heat into usable energy through slightly different processes.

Later in the week, we met Professor Chen, who introduced us to the energy market by exploring electricity production, consumer demand, and step curves. We learned about merit-order production, a strategy that minimizes generation costs by using the least expensive energy sources first. To explain why demand decreases as supply increases, Professor Chen compared it to eating ice cream: the first bite is the most satisfying, but each additional bite becomes a little less exciting. We also participated in a mock auction for Yoda's "real" lightsaber to better understand consumer demand, willingness to pay, and the differences between uniform-price and discriminatory auctions.

Professor Chen also introduced us to optimization using Python. We learned the fundamentals of linear programming, including decision variables, objective functions, and constraints, before applying them to an electricity generation problem involving two power plants. Using the Python library scipy.optimize, we determined the most cost-effective way to meet electricity demand while calculating prices, costs, and generator profits. The activity demonstrated how optimization can be used to solve real-world energy challenges.

We also met our second TA, Caleb Lin, who introduced us to Python programming and machine learning. Students learned about variables, conditional statements, time-series data, forecasting models, and data visualization before creating their own chatbots with the goal of making them sound as human as possible.

On a fun note, we went out with a bang for week 3 with an energetic performance at Friday's lip sync battle. Dancing to a mashup of "Stateside," "Suit & Tie," and "Lush Life," the cluster proudly opened the show and brought plenty of energy to the stage.

That's all for Week 3—stay in step, and we'll see you next week!

Written by Tanisha Chatterjee and Vibha Hari

Cluster 7

Cluster 7 had an incredible third week of COSMOS. From investigating solar power and visiting the coast to conducting engaging labs and ending the week with a fantastic lip sync performance, Cluster 7 stayed busy every step of the way.

On Monday, students found themselves back in the classroom they had grown to love over the past few weeks. Professor Yanik introduced the Fermi-Dirac function and energy bands in metals, explaining how electrons can be excited into the conduction band or return to the valence band. Students also learned about doping semiconductors with elements such as arsenic and boron to create materials with an excess of electrons or holes, allowing semiconductor devices to function.

On Tuesday, the cluster took a break from the classroom to visit Pigeon Point Lighthouse. Since 1872, the lighthouse has guided ships along the California coast, with its light visible from more than 20 miles away. That impressive range is made possible in part by the physics of the Fresnel lens.

In 1822, Augustin Fresnel was tasked with improving lighthouse illumination in France. At the time, traditional lenses were bulky and expensive. Fresnel realized that a lens's effectiveness depended primarily on its curvature rather than its thickness, leading him to develop the Fresnel lens. Characterized by its concentric rings, the lens concentrates light into a powerful beam while using far less material than conventional lenses.

Seeing a Fresnel lens in person was a highlight of the trip, and students were amazed by both its enormous size and the history behind the lighthouse. Afterwards, the cluster enjoyed some well-earned time relaxing at the beach before returning to campus.

On Wednesday, students returned to the lecture hall to study the p–n junction. They learned how placing p-type and n-type semiconductors together allows electrons and holes to diffuse across the junction, creating a space charge region and an electric field. The class also explored forward and reverse bias and how each affects the flow of current through the junction.

Thursday was spent in the lab learning about photovoltaic solar cells—whose operation relies on p–n junctions—and later simulating them using Ansys Lumerical. Students also connected concepts from earlier in the week by exploring how Fresnel lenses can be positioned above solar panels to concentrate sunlight and improve energy collection.

Finally, on Friday, Cluster 7 traveled to Baskin Engineering for a hands-on solar cell lab. Using solar cells, multimeters, lamps, variable resistors, and plenty of alligator clips, students built circuits to measure voltage, current, and power. From their data, they calculated the fill factor, an important measure of a solar cell's performance. The experiment provided a fitting conclusion to the week's exploration of photonics and renewable energy.

Outside the classroom, students also finalized their research projects and prepared for the lip sync battle. After many hours of collaboration—including extra time in the lab after class—the five project groups developed research exploring a variety of applications in photonics and optics. The week concluded with a memorable lip sync performance, reminding everyone just how talented and supportive the COSMOS community truly is.

Written by Isha Malhotra

Cluster 8

Cluster 8's third week began with Professor Tim introducing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Students learned that electrons and atomic nuclei possess both charge and spin, allowing them to behave like tiny magnets. When exposed to an external magnetic field, these properties make it possible to analyze molecular structures using NMR.

The class also learned how to use MestReNova, a software program for analyzing NMR data. Through the program, students explored concepts such as chemical shifts, signal splitting, and peak integration, all of which help identify molecular structures. To apply these ideas, Cluster 8 analyzed the structure of pyrrole, identifying three distinct proton environments that produced characteristic NMR signals.

On Tuesday, Cluster 8 traveled to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where students toured the facilities and learned about the laboratory's groundbreaking research. As described in the introductory presentation, SLAC is a hub for innovation, housing a linear particle accelerator capable of accelerating electrons to nearly the speed of light. Students learned how these accelerated electrons generate powerful X-rays that allow scientists to study materials and observe chemical reactions in real time.

The tour also included one of SLAC's experimental "hutches," where researchers use specialized instruments to investigate the properties of materials. Students learned about undergraduate internship opportunities, the highly competitive proposal process for using the facility, and the dedication required to conduct research there. The visit provided an exciting glimpse into cutting-edge scientific research and future career opportunities.

On Wednesday, Professor Ayzner introduced semiconductors and explained how doping transforms them into conductive materials by adding or removing electrons. Students also explored different types of dopants, including molecular dopants such as F4TCNQ and polymer dopants such as PEDOT:PSS. During the afternoon lecture, the class learned about solution order, free energy, and techniques used to evaluate material quality.

Thursday's lecture focused on one of the topics the class had been building toward since the beginning of COSMOS: organic solar cells. Students first learned how light-emitting diodes (LEDs) operate before discovering that an organic solar cell essentially functions as an LED in reverse. Rather than releasing light as electrons lose energy, solar cells absorb photons to excite electrons, allowing their movement to generate electrical power. Students are excited to apply these concepts by fabricating their own solar cells from synthesized porphyrin molecules next week.

Later that afternoon, students investigated how temperature affects the absorbance spectra and conductivity of semiconductors. Lab groups coated thin glass slides with a semiconductor, heated one sample while allowing the other to air dry, and measured both using a UV-Vis spectrometer. The collected data will be analyzed over the weekend.

Friday featured lectures from both Professor Alex and Professor Tim. Professor Alex introduced organic solar cells in greater depth, explaining excitons, photo-induced charge transfer, and the roles of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). Students also compared polymer electron donors with acceptor materials such as fullerene derivatives and porphyrins. Professor Tim then introduced Mercury, a software platform that allows researchers to visualize crystallographic data. The week concluded with students collecting additional UV-Vis data while continuing work on their final projects and presentations.

Written by Cambria Hu, Ari Perttula, and Harshika Thamizhselvan 

Cluster 9

Cluster 9 kicked off Week 3 with a series of phage amplifications during the morning session. Students calculated the area of their chosen plaques from the previous week's titer concentration to determine the total number of plaque-forming units (PFUs) needed to cover an entire plate.

Later that afternoon, students finished presenting their assigned research papers on how Cas9, CRISPR RNA (crRNA), and trans-activating CRISPR RNA (tracrRNA) work together to target and cut DNA for precise gene editing. Afterwards, the class plated yeast on different types of growth media. Some groups worked with the 3147 strain, while others used the 1934 strain, setting up an investigation into how different media influence yeast growth.

The discussion then shifted to reporter genes and how scientists use them to identify which molecular processes have been disrupted based on observable traits. One example was luciferase, an enzyme that emits light through a reaction with luciferin and is commonly used to study promoter activity. Students later performed another titer spot test, this time using dilutions up to 10⁻¹⁴ to determine the number of plaque-forming units at each dilution.

Thursday was another busy day in the lab. Students prepared genomic DNA by purifying DNA from their phage lysates through a series of centrifugation, washing, and incubation steps. During the afternoon session, after a walk through the greenhouse, the class explored Phamerator, a bioinformatics tool used to study bacteriophage genomes. Students selected bacteriophages with memorable names—including DaVinci, FlyingTortilla, and BabyYoda—before downloading amino acid sequences and visualizing protein structures using AlphaFold. Seeing the predicted three-dimensional structures of their proteins was one of the week's highlights.

On Friday, students used a NanoDrop spectrophotometer to measure the nucleic acid concentration of their lysates before being introduced to Benchling, a platform for visualizing and analyzing DNA sequences. As a class, students compared a normal CHD1 gene sequence with several mutated versions and concluded that the mutation resulted from a deletion.

Beyond the lab, Cluster 9 also spent the week making significant progress on its final poster presentations. On Tuesday, students divided into six groups, with three groups working during the morning session and three during the afternoon, to continue developing their research for presentation.

Written by Keira Eisenbud 

Cluster 10

The third week of COSMOS began on a familiar note for Cluster 10, with lectures, quizzes, and steady progress toward understanding one of the program's central concepts: the p–n junction. This week's lessons focused on the electrical principles governing electron movement, bringing students one step closer to understanding how semiconductor devices function. Meanwhile, project groups worked diligently to complete their research posters, with Professors Nobby and Oye even dedicating class time to help students refine their work. As the final week of COSMOS approaches, Cluster 10 is preparing to bring together everything it has learned throughout the program.

On Thursday, Cluster 10 joined Cluster 5 for a field trip to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The visit gave students the opportunity to explore the history of the technologies they had been studying over the past month, including the evolution of semiconductor devices. In addition to exhibits on early computing, students interacted with artificial intelligence demonstrations and explored a variety of hands-on displays. While the classroom had introduced the microscopic world of microelectronics, the museum highlighted the broader impact and history of computing technology. Whether learning about the earliest calculators, grabbing refreshments at the café, or browsing the gift shop, everyone enjoyed the experience.

Friday evening brought one of COSMOS's favorite traditions: the annual Lip Sync Battle. Cluster 10 performed a remix featuring "24K Magic" by Bruno Mars, "What Is Love?" by TWICE, "REDRED" by CORTIS, and "Clarity" by Zedd. After practicing throughout the week, the cluster delivered an energetic performance that was met with enthusiastic cheers from the audience. Their hard work earned them a narrow second-place finish, falling just two votes short of first place. It was an exciting way to conclude another memorable week at COSMOS.

Written by Sebastian Chen and Samuel Du

Photos taken by Samuel Du and Maxwell Liu

Cluster 11

This week, Cluster 11 transitioned from learning the theory behind differential drive robots to programming them in practice. Along the way, students kicked off their final projects and visited their professors' robotics labs to see how the concepts they had been studying are applied in real-world research.

On Monday, Dr. Himadri introduced the Artificial Potential Field and its attractive and repulsive components, along with the control laws that connect them. Students explored how these concepts enable autonomous robots to safely navigate toward their goals while avoiding obstacles, laying the foundation for the work they would complete in their final projects.

On Tuesday, Professor Ricardo introduced the micro:bit, a compact programmable microcontroller commonly used in embedded systems and robotics. After learning about its components, students assembled their own micro:bits and began experimenting with programming them. In the afternoon, Dr. Himadri connected the differential drive equations from previous lectures to a physical robot, demonstrating how the velocities of its individual wheels determine both its forward motion and angular velocity. Students then programmed the robot's LiDAR sensor to detect and avoid obstacles, gaining their first hands-on experience implementing autonomous navigation.

Wednesday began with Professor Ricardo introducing the cluster's final project and outlining the goals for the remainder of the program. Afterwards, students toured his indoor robotics laboratory, where they observed the testing environments used for many of his research projects. In the afternoon, the cluster joined TA Carlos on a field trip to see the GEM, a custom autonomous vehicle designed as an affordable platform for self-driving research. One of the highlights of the visit was the opportunity to drive the GEM while learning about the sensors and software that allow it to operate autonomously.

On Thursday morning, Cluster 11 joined the rest of COSMOS for the Discovery Lecture, presented by Professor Jason, the developer of the snnTorch library, who shared his work in neuromorphic computing. Back at Baskin Engineering, he expanded on the topic by introducing spiking neural networks and explaining how they relate to recurrent neural networks. During the afternoon, students divided their time between working on their research posters and programming their robots. In teams of five, they are developing differential drive robots capable of navigating real-world scenarios such as everyday traffic, emergency response, or police pursuits.

On Friday, students explored reinforcement learning with Binh and implemented their own reinforcement learning policies in Google Colab, training an elf to safely cross weak ice and reach a present. The afternoon was devoted to making further progress on final projects. Outside the classroom, the cluster also gathered during Rec Time and every evening after dinner with RAs Blue and Sri to rehearse for Friday night's lip sync battle, putting the finishing touches on another exciting and productive week.

Written by Delisha Manuel

Cluster 12

A fun weekend at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was just what Cluster 12 needed to refresh their minds and prepare for one of the most content-packed and exciting weeks of COSMOS.

Professor Dave kicked off the week with a series of morning lectures on phase transitions, beginning with a memorable demonstration. By placing a gas and a liquid into a pressurized tube at nearly 49 atmospheres and heating them to their critical points, he showed students how the two phases merged into a single supercritical fluid, demonstrating the unique behavior of matter under extreme conditions. In the afternoon, Dr. Stacey I. Zones introduced the cluster to the fascinating world of zeolites—crystalline materials widely used as catalysts and for removing heavy metals and pollutants.

Dr. Zones wasn't the only guest speaker Cluster 12 had the opportunity to learn from this week. Dr. Feng Ye, a colleague of Professor Dave's from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, gave students a virtual tour of the facility and an engaging lecture on neutron diffraction and the Spallation Neutron Source, offering a glimpse into one of the world's leading research centers.

The excitement continued with a visit to UC Santa Cruz's Baskin Engineering building, where students watched a live electron microscopy demonstration. They also observed powerful Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) instruments and learned how researchers use them to determine molecular structure, assess sample purity, and study materials at the atomic level. To conclude the visit, Professor Scott Oliver and Neo Bao welcomed the cluster into the Oliver Group materials laboratory, giving students an inside look at how research is conducted in a university lab and the equipment scientists use every day.

Week 3 was filled with memorable experiences, from special lectures and virtual tours to hands-on demonstrations and laboratory visits. Each opportunity gave Cluster 12 a deeper appreciation for X-ray diffraction, neutron scattering, and the fascinating behavior of materials at the atomic scale.

Reporting by Israel Lopez

Pictures by Kammen Milchev

Cluster 13

Cluster 13's third week was filled with exciting field trips and unforgettable experiences!

The first adventure came on Tuesday, when Professors Baumbach and Yan welcomed the cluster to their laboratories at the Westside Research Park. The morning began in Professor Baumbach's lab, where students learned about research focused on creating crystals that could become future superconductors. Members of the research team guided the cluster through their workspace, introduced the equipment they use, and demonstrated several laboratory techniques.

One of the highlights was the arc furnace, a device that uses an intense electric arc—similar to a concentrated lightning bolt—to melt elements together. Graduate student Antonio demonstrated how the furnace's brilliant green electrical arc could heat metals to white-hot temperatures within seconds. Students also explored X-ray diffraction equipment, microscopes, a hydrogen-oxygen torch, and several instruments used to generate powerful magnetic fields and extremely high temperatures. Before leaving, Professor Baumbach gave the cluster the opportunity to examine samples of pure elements, including silicon and sulfur.

After a quick lunch at Natural Bridges State Beach, the cluster returned to the research park to tour Professor Yan's laboratory. Unlike Baumbach's group, Professor Yan's research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of two-dimensional (2D) materials. Graduate students introduced the cluster to their laboratory, demonstrating chemical vapor transport, graphene fabrication, and the use of optical microscopes to examine 2D materials. Graduate student Hamid showcased a memristor built using graphene and silicon, while graduate student Ian demonstrated the famous "Scotch tape method" for producing graphene.

Students also toured Professor Yan's clean room, where much of the lab's fabrication and testing take place. Although they were unable to enter without specialized cleanroom suits, they were able to observe the facility and visit the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM), a powerful instrument capable of imaging materials at nearly the atomic scale.

The excitement continued later in the week. On Thursday, Cluster 13 joined Cluster 4 for a series of research lectures presented by faculty members from a variety of disciplines. Then, on Friday, students visited Baskin Engineering to explore the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). In addition to producing incredibly detailed electron images, the instrument can also use gallium ions to create nanoscale patterns. During the demonstration, Cluster 13 engraved a streamer design into a gold sample, creating a memorable keepsake from the visit.

As Presentation Day approaches, Cluster 13 has been working hard to complete its research projects and posters. The cluster looks forward to sharing everything it has learned throughout the program with the rest of the COSMOS community.

Written by Ava Campbell