UCSD Summer Undergraduate Research Scholars Announced
San Diego, CA, May 1, 2006 -- The UCSD division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) announced the recipients of this summer's Undergraduate Research Scholarships on Friday, April 28. With 25 students, the class of 2006 will be the biggest group ever. From 15 to 22 student researchers have participated each of the previous summers.
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The Calit2 Summer Undergraduate Research Scholarship Program at UCSD is an unique opportunity for awardees to work closely with their faculty advisor as paid, full-time student researchers, doing real research work for a 10-week period during the summer. "It has been a great opportunity for students and faculty to work together on a broad spectrum of research topics," said Bill Hodgkiss, associate director of the UCSD Division of Calit2.
The 2006 awardees represent majors in diverse fields from across campus: biotechnology, cognitive science, communications, computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, engineering physics, general physics, earth sciences, economics, management science, political science, pure mathematics and visual arts.
The hands-on research experience is supplemented by a series of seminars provided by Calit2 during the summer. These cover a variety of topics relevant to academic, industry and research careers. Approximately 118 undergraduates have participated since the program's inception in 2001. Most have been seniors with some juniors and even a few sophomores getting a jump on their careers. This research opportunity has proven to have a strong positive impact on students and their post graduation paths, with many finding it invaluable.
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Three examples from the 2005 class of Calit2 summer scholars. Marika Cabral, a math and economics double major, worked with Ross Starr and Silke Forbes (both are professors of economics), examining the airline industry with regard to the effect of the Internet and its expansion on price levels and price dispersion of airline tickets. "The best thing about the program was the opportunity to work on a research project full time, without the distractions of another job, or classes," said Cabral. "I was able to do research and write an academic paper which I included with my applications to graduate schools." Her excellent work also helped her obtain a summer position working with economists at the Department of Justice's Antitrust division this coming summer. After which, she will enter Stanford's economics department to pursue her doctorate.
Gunny Lee also found the summer research experience invaluable. As a result of his work last summer, he is the co-author of a paper accepted for presentation by the 5th International Workshop on Scenarios and State Machines (SCESM'06), a major meeting in the field. "The summer research program was a fantastic experience for me," said Gunny Lee, a computer science major. "My advisor and the staff involved with the program gave me the kind of advice and attention that is rare to receive as an undergrad. It definitely helped me develop a clearer sense of what research is really about and how do it." Lee worked with Ingolf Krueger, a Calit2 research scientist and UCSD professor of computer science and engineering. Lee has been accepted into the graduate program at Stanford's School of Education. He will start there in the fall, or perhaps defer admission in order to join the Peace Corps.
The interdisciplinary nature of the research efforts of Calit2 affiliated faculty, scientists and engineers is reflected in the scholarship program. Computer engineering and economics senior David Martin is a repeating summer scholar. Last summer and currently, Martin is working with Ivan Schuller, a professor of physics and Calit2 affiliated researcher on two projects; one related to lithography and one to software. "Although David is an engineering student, he has had no problem in integrating himself into state-of-the-art physics research," stated Schuller. "His work was essential for much of the lithography that is going on in my lab. In both of this projects, he has taken a leading role and has done very well." After finishing his undergraduate education this summer, Martin will be entering UCSD's electrical and computer engineering department to pursue his doctorate. He is interested in new devices and forms of computing that will be enabled by the development of nanotechnology. He will continue to work with Schuller and his nanotechnology group.
Cabral, Lee, Martin and others have fully exploited the potential of this unique research opportunity for undergraduates, using the experience not only to learn more about their disciplines and the research process, but also to demonstrate their skills and potential for the future.
Regardless of their future field and path, the scholarship program is designed to provide a full overview of the research environment. Therefore, a poster session highlighting each student's work is held at the end of the summer. As Calit2's Hodgkiss, who is also a professor in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, explained, "Having a poster session provides the students with a good vehicle for summarizing their research results, as well as valuable practice in conveying the objectives and results of their work in a concise format."
Calit2 at UC Irvine has a similar program, SURF-IT -- the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Information Technology -- which helps students develop skills that will help propel them into graduate school or careers in telecommunications or information technology. Awardees will be announced later in the Spring.
The 2006 recipients of the Calit2 Summer Undergraduate Research Scholarship Program at UCSD:
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Media Contacts
Maureen C. Curran, (858) 822-4084, mcurran@soe.ucsd.edu
Related Links
Summer Scholars 2005
Calit2 UCSD Student Spectrum website
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Calit2 UCSD Summer Undergraduate Research Scholarships