This summer, 53 high school students from the greater Los Angeles area, Northern California region, and a couple students from other states gathered at University of California, Los Angeles.
Part of an outreach program led by the Henry Samueli School of Engineer of UCLA called High School Summer Research Program (HSSRP) that runs for eight weeks; an exceptional group of students was selected to expose them early to the world of engineers.
Thrown into top notch laboratories with current ongoing research, the high school students each received unique projects that were widely applicable. Sam Bozin, a rising junior at University High in Los Angeles, had a moving experience while working under Professor Yang in the Materials Science Department.
Working in the California Nanosystems Institute (CNSI), Sam had the chance to meet day by day some of the most experienced graduate students in one of the most advanced laboratories for solar cells worldwide. Contrary to what many would believe, Sam was given his own separate project. His job was to use aerogel, a lightweight material that acts as a semi-conductor with a high surface area to volume ratio. Solar cell is growing field with which future generations will adopt as the main source of electricity.
After eight weeks of pure research, Sam described his whole experience as a high school engineer as, “My project seemed fun at first, but I didn’t expect the failures and mistakes. I got really discouraged when my ideas seemed to fail. I think that was the hardest part to overcome. Besides that, I mean, I enjoyed it so much.”
Future technologies are already being led by future engineers.
