Research

NSF-REU at the Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering

What is a NSF-REU?

NSF-REUs (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) are highly selective and prestigious fully-funded summer research internships hosted at various research universities nationwide. Groups of ~10 students from other universities travel to the REU site, where they research full-time within a lab.

What was the program at VINSE like?

At VINSE, I was honored to be among a group of 11 students (chosen from over 500 applicants) spending my summer working on nanoscale engineering research. I worked within the Jiang Lab, which focuses on computational chemical engineering and materials science research.

My project over the summer was to investigate potential catalyst materials for use in chloride-ion batteries, a potential alternative to lithium-ion batteries that solves the issue of lithium scarcity. I spent my summer independently improving my knowledge of lattice structures, crystals, and adsorption, materials science concepts I hadn't encountered before the summer. I then worked closely with my graduate mentor to develop computational models of several candidate materials and test their efficacy according to our goals using density-functional theory. More technical details are in the poster below!

The program also offered various incredible enrichment opportunities tailored toward teaching students about careers in academia. I attended talks on the importance of ethics in research, scientific communication, and more. The program concluded with a poster symposium, during which I presented.

What did I take away from the summer?

This summer was the first time I fully committed myself to research. I was attracted to the program at VINSE as it was in my area of interest (batteries and energy storage) but allowed me to explore it from the different perspective of a materials scientist, rather than that of a mechanical engineer.

I gained skills in reading research papers, developing effective figures and pieces of scientific writing, and creating specific and actionable research questions.

While I learned that I much prefer the highly collaborative and fast-paced environment of industry to than that of academia, the technical knowledge I gained during the program gave be a better grasp on battery chemistry and construction that I will draw on in future positions.

UCLA Sensing and Robotics for Infrastructure Lab

This was my first lab experience at the university level. I worked alongside a small team of ~5 other undergraduates to design and 3D print mounting hardware for research instruments used within the SRI lab, specifically those focused on the lab's proprietary marine robot and their project on quantifying the effects of seismic activity on buildings.

Since my work was limited to one project, I decided to pursue research further during the summer of this year, leading me to apply to various REU sites and being accepted to a program hosted at Vanderbilt University (detailed above!).

Below is the completed product. I built the white plastic mounting plate in the back.

UCSC Science Internship Program

This program in high school was my first brush with research! Alongside a team of students, I worked with a graduate mentor on her project, which focused on investigating the use of blockchain technology for transactive energy (the practice of allowing consumers to buy and sell excess locally-generated electricity) to further the adoption of renewables. I gained basic knowledge in AMPL mathematical modeling for electric grids. My work consisted mainly of analyzing and synthesizing previous literature, and I gained skills in project management and presenting findings to large groups of fellow researchers.

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