Real-world research benefits Intel Scholars

1/15/2007 Rick Kubetz, Office of Engineering Communications

Catherine Wah, Intel Scholar"The Intel Scholars Undergraduate Program is a way to learn what research is about, while meeting some of your peers and finding out about the wide spectrum of research topics being investigated in the College of Engineering," explained Catherine Wah, an Intel Scholar in her third year studying electrical and computer engineering at Illinois.

Written by Rick Kubetz, Office of Engineering Communications

Catherine Wah, Intel Scholar
Catherine Wah, Intel Scholar

"The Intel Scholars Undergraduate Program is a way to learn what research is about, while meeting some of your peers and finding out about the wide spectrum of research topics being investigated in the College of Engineering," explained Catherine Wah, an Intel Scholar in her third year studying electrical and computer engineering at Illinois.

"Research isn’t something that you can learn by reading a textbook or attending lectures; it’s very hands-on," Wah added. "In this way, you have to take that extra effort to talk to a professor and work in a lab to find out what it’s about. This program just makes that step a bit easier and more organized."

Hosted by Women In Engineering and the Morrill Engineering Program, the Intel Scholars Undergraduate Research Program (ISUR) was founded to provide research opportunities to women and minority undergraduate students (African American, Latino/a, Native American). Through this program, Intel Scholars have the unique opportunity to expand their academic experience beyond the walls of the traditional classroom.

"Entering college and majoring in EE, I knew I wanted to do research as an undergrad, and the program seemed like a great way to do so in a more structured manner, while getting the chance to see what research other engineering students were doing," Wah said. "Now that I know more about this topic, it’s pretty cool being able to see how I can contribute to the cutting-edge research being conducted here on campus.

"My current research project, which I’ve been working on pretty much since freshman year, only different aspects of it, deals with a hand gesture recognition system. My task is to model the human hand and investigate various methods in reducing the dimensionality of my data, create a generative model, and ultimately incorporate my part into the recognition system. I’m hoping to write a senior thesis on this project as well."

Sponsored by Intel, Undergraduate Research Scholars spend two semesters working in a lab with a graduate mentor and a member of the faculty. The goals of this learning community are to introduce students to university research, involve students in the College of Engineering and Intel community--particularly through the learning-by-apprenticeship model--and expose students to semiconductor and information-technology research.

Cesar Pina, Intel Scholar
Cesar Pina, Intel Scholar

Undergraduate students applying to the program must be a woman and/or a minority (African American, Latino/a, Native American) student in electrical and computer engineering (ECE), chemical and biomolecular engineering (ChBE), materials science and engineering (MatSE), and computer science (CS). Students must be in their freshman, sophomore, or junior year. (Seniors are eligible only if they previously participated in the program). Students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and have a minimum cumulative UIUC GPA of 2.8 for sophomores and 3.0 for juniors.

Cesar Pina, a senior in chemical and biomolecular engineering, was initially drawn to ISUR because of the financial support that it would provide his education. This year, he decided to participate in the program because he enjoys working as a research assistant. Since joining the ISUR program, Pena has been part of the Strano Research Group.

"The group focuses on understanding the chemical and physical interactions that govern the ability to manipulate nanotube and nanoparticle systems," Pena said. "Last year, I studied the effect of ion concentration in SWNT electrophoretic separations. In approximately five and a half months, I was able to complete the project, and the results are going to be included in a published paper in the upcoming months."

"This year, I am studying the separation of single-walled carbon nanotubes by length via size exclusion column chromatography. Amanda Chaffee (another ISUR participant) and I, will work as a team to tackle the project. Because separation by column chromatography is a newer field in the research group, completion of the project will provide the research group with greater depth in that area."

"I decided to get involved in the Intel program because I was interested in possibly pursuing a career conducting research in either academia or industry," stated Elaine Wah, a junior in electrical and computer engineering minoring in mathematics, and Catherine’s twin sister.

"The most interesting research project that I’ve worked on was my first one, during my freshman year," Elaine Wah remarked. "I was in

"I really enjoyed this project because it was my first exposure to research, which was fairly different from my preconceptions, and because there were actual immediate applications to my results. The experience was drastically different from anything I was doing in my classes, and it actually involved a lot of time working independently. I’ve also greatly enjoyed the change of pace from school that hands-on experience in research provides."

As part of the 2006/07 ISUR learning community, participating undergraduate students will enroll in Intel Scholars Research Apprenticeship (ENG 199ISR) in both fall and spring semesters. This class includes formal lectures and laboratory research time as the students explore the semiconductor and information technology theme, the focus of the students’ year-long research projects.

The objectives of the class are to: introduce basic research concepts and approaches through illustrations drawn from complex engineering problems; teach students how to communicate the objectives, significance, methodologies and progress of their research; build community and leadership and teamwork skills with other Intel Scholars, faculty, graduate mentors, and Intel representatives; and create awareness and appreciation of semiconductor and information technology research and an understanding of the process to bring an industrial product from conception to realization.

To introduce students to research, small groups of students work closely with Graduate Mentors and faculty in complex research projects. Through hands-on instruction and collaboration, students will become familiar with research methodologies and begin to master them. The development of communication skills culminates in a research poster presentation (the "Intel Research Expo") in the spring semester.

Monica Usrey, a graduate student in chemical engineering, became a Graduate Mentor in 2004.

"The first year, my advisor accepted an Intel student, Christian Silva, and asked me to work with him," Usrey recalled. "The second year, an undergraduate in my lab indicated that Cesar had joined the program and needed a research position. I knew Cesar from TA’ing a class and recruited him to our group. This year, I applied knowing Cesar wanted to participate again and received another student, Amanda Chaffee, as well.

Graduate Mentor Monica Usrey
Graduate Mentor Monica Usrey

"Being a graduate student can become very confining, your life becomes singularly focused on the development of your personal experimental and analytical skills," Usrey stated. "Working with undergraduates, especially through this program, has provided the opportunity to development my interpersonal and management skills. It also helps my understanding of my research to explain it to others, including answering questions I hadn’t necessarily anticipated. Cesar’s work from last year, identifying a different effect for different sets of ions, is something we are still trying to understand. This year, I hope he and Amanda will once again discover something unexpected."

In the short run, Pena said, the goal of the ISUR program is to provide sufficient assistance to undergraduates to help them obtain a research position, get set up with a meaningful project, and most importantly to provide us with a number of resources to successfully accomplish the project. In the long run, tackling a research project will change the way we think and analyze real world problems that do not have clear cut solutions.

"One of the things I have learned from being at such a large university is that I have to be in charge of my education and my development," Pena remarks. "I would recommend the program to anyone that meets the requirements to participate in the program. In particular, I would encourage students that have never considered research and/or know very little of what research is--I was one of these students.

"This past summer I interned as a quality engineer for a company in the food industry. Although I knew very little about the food industry or area that my project was based on, I was successful because I had experience on how to approach problems that required a great deal of interaction with team members, creativity, and go beyond the typical textbook problem. I gained this experience through my participation in research and ISUR.

"In addition, by becoming engaged in the world of research, we have an opportunity to learn about graduate school. Without a doubt, participation in ISUR has encouraged me to consider graduate school as a career option."

"As of now, I am set on attending graduate school and earning a PhD, concentrating in image processing/computer vision," Catherine Wah stated. "I’m still not sure what my career plans are, but with all my experiences involving research, I’m contemplating going into R&D or possibly academia."

For information about the Intel Scholars Undergraduate Program (ISUR), contact Minosca Alcantara, 217/244-7673.


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This story was published January 15, 2007.