EDUCATION
On Campus EXTREME SCIENCE INTERNSHIPS
J
ohns Hopkins University and Morgan State University have joined forces in a new program designed to combine the strengths of both institutions to benefit their students and faculty members.
The “Extreme Science Internships” (ESI) program will build a bridge between science and engineering students at Morgan State and faculty and researchers at the Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute (HEMI) at the Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering, as well as other universities, laboratories and research institutes across nine states and Germany. Researchers at HEMI advance the fundamental science associated with materials and structures under extreme conditions, such as high-velocity impact. Through the five-year, $500,000 internship program,
Morgan State undergraduate and graduate students will spend eight to 15 weeks working with researchers and scholars at HEMI and 14 other institutions that are part of the Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments (MEDE) alliance. The funding also supports students working in internships at Morgan State in preparation for external internships next summer. Funding for ESI is provided by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory through HEMI as part of the Materials in Extreme Dynamic Environments Collaborative Research Alliance. The program’s first eight students will begin work this summer— three at Johns Hopkins, two at the California Institute of Technology, one at Drexel University, one at the Southwest Research Institute (Texas) and one at the Ernst Mach Institute in Germany. The student interns will work on projects involving computational mechanics, high-energy density physics, molecular dynamics, computational sciences, multi-scale materials research and more. Jaime Arribas Starkey-El, a 20-year-old Morgan State junior from Baltimore, is looking forward to the opportunity. “I am really attracted to Caltech’s interdisciplinary culture and small size; their research ecosystem is among the best in the
INNOVATION IN THE FAST LANE AT HBCUS If someday you’re eating peanuts and they don’t spark an
allergic reaction, think about innovation occurring at an HBCU. Or if your vehicle, supported by an artificial intelligence valet system, can find its own parking space and avoid collisions, think once again about innovation at an HBCU. Those represent two examples in a chest of technological innovation occurring on the campuses of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Statistics show that the 105 institutions with that designation produce 23 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, 13 percent of all master’s degrees and 20 percent of all first professional degrees earned each year by African American students.
“HBCUs conduct research in many areas of national
www.blackengineer.com
world. The faculty consists of top scientists who are extremely passionate about what they do. I aspire to go there for my graduate studies,” said Starkey-El, an engineering physics major. “Through the Extreme Science Internship program, I hope to make meaningful contributions to science and to make great connections in the process.” T.E. Schlesinger, Benjamin T. Rome Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins, sees the program in the larger context of Johns Hopkins Engineering’s mission to make a positive impact on the world. “In my view, the quality that defines the academic pursuit of engineering is its power to move beyond the traditional boundaries of universities to solve real-world problems and to make life better for people,” Schlesinger said. “It is partnerships such as this new one between Johns Hopkins and Morgan State that will allow us to do important work that makes a difference. The incredible global needs of the 21st century demand such strategic collaborations.” Alvin P. Kennedy, interim dean of the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Morgan State, agreed. “The JHU-Morgan Extreme Science Internship program enables us to redefine the model for undergraduate and graduate research opportunities. The antiquated model of simply sending students to institutions with no previous research experience is not viable in today’s competitive global STEM ecosystem,” Kennedy said. K.T. Ramesh, director of HEMI, considers the program a “major investment” in the future.
“Scientists understand the world. Engineers change it. Our aim is to educate the people who will change our world,” Ramesh said. “Just as important, Johns Hopkins and Morgan both are dedicated to engaging with and supporting Baltimore City and the state, and this program presents a concrete example of that commitment.”
by M.V. Greene
mgreene@ccgmag.com
and global importance, and HBCU faculty and students are advancing solutions to breast cancer, HIV/AIDS, and Parkinson’s disease,” said John Michael Lee Jr., who was appointed vice president of the Office for Access and Success for the Advancement of Public Black Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions, by the Washington, D.C –based Association of Public and Land-grant Universities in September 2012. Lee said the pace of innovation at HBCUs has grown steadily since the mid-2000s, noting that before 1970, no HBCU-affiliated inventor had received a patent for an invention, but more than 100 patents have been issued since that time, including 17 in 2012.
The expectation is that HBCU campuses will be as robust USBE&IT I SUMMER 2014 13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76