Students read page after page in science and engineering textbooks and complete problem set after problem set -- but what many of them find truly rewarding is seeing the concepts taught in class applied in the real world. Many University students are able to put the science and engineering they learn into action by volunteering or working in labs.
Second-year Engineering student Jessica Bashkoff, for example, works in the materials science department with Dr. Robert Kelly. She said she first became interested in research during high school.
"The first experience I had with hands-on work was at summer Governor's School," Bashkoff said. "I did a mentorship at NASA Langley Research Center. That hands-on work was really cool and I got to see a bit of what research they were doing there."
Bashkoff said she went on to do research in composite materials at NASA Langley last summer.
"When I saw there was a research opportunity for undergrads e-mailed out to one of my mailing lists, I thought it would be interesting, so I sent in my resume," Bashkoff said.
She is currently working on research related to crevice corrosion.
"When you have two things touching each other, they're not actually touching each other everywhere because they're not smooth," Bashkoff said. "The gaps you have between them is where corrosion occurs. So when you have a barrel sitting on something it's going to corrode -- what we're testing for is how quickly things corrode at different gaps."
Other students at the University are researching topics very different from crevice corrosion. Second-year College student Amna Khokar , for example, is working with hox genes.
"Hox genes control cell cycle and development," Khokar said. "Recently, they published an article saying there are certain hox genes that might be involved in causing brain tumors. I'm looking at three particular hox genes and figuring out what other proteins are involved. I'm sequencing the proteins by the end of the semester [but for] now I'm just preparing them with tissue controls."
Khokar said she got into this particular research upon talking to a professor at the Medical School.
"I was really interested in oncology, and I met this professor at a pre-med meeting and told him how I'm really interested in oncology and that I'm shadowing a neurosurgeon right now," Khokar said.
This professor then put Khokar in touch with another professor, and Khokar started her research on hox genes.
Khokar said she enjoys various aspects of research, especially the fact that research has the potential to help society. Another aspect of research she said she enjoys is the application that research involves.
"One advantage of research that I've noticed is in relation to class," Khokar said. "You learn all these techniques about how to purify proteins, create mutations in DNA, all this stuff, and you don't get to use it. But with research, you get to use it, and it aids you in learning the concept in class while at the same time you practice the techniques."
Bashkoff said she agreed, stressing the importance of applying knowledge learned in class.
"Without being able to see all the things you're learning applied, it just isn't worth learning it, because if you can't apply it you can't really use it," Bashkoff said. "It's just really interesting to see how new things are being developed through the work that you do."
In addition to the application aspect, Khokar highlighted the element of discovery found in research.
"You get to explore things and discover things that aren't out there already," Khokar said. "You come in with what [someone else has discovered], and then you try to further the investigation and find new things -- explore in more detail, trying to relate other projects with yours or trying to look at it with a different technique. There are always new things you can do."
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