Alexander
Lyte is an Economics student at UCSB. He works in China, Washington DC, and Los Angeles on economic initiatives for multiple organizations,
including trade negotiations, research for antitrust litigation, and DOT-funded studies. He is currently working in the Center for Nanotechnology in
Society researching expertise in deliberations on nanotechnology.
Britt
Christy is an astrophysics major at Santa Monica College. This summer she is working as an intern in Dr. Phil Lubin's astrophysics lab with
mentor Ishai Rubin at UCSB helping to design and build a 10 Ghz microwave telescope. The goal of her assigned project, LATTE, is to study microwave
data from our galaxy in order to distinguish it from the cosmic microwave background radiation. Her number one passion in life is physics, her dream
is to one day work in Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory! (Or maybe even be an astronaut!)
Dylan
McCapes attends Santa Barbara City College. He is very interested in science and engineering and plans to major in computer engineering at
UCLA or UCSB. This summer he will be creating a process to remove surfactants from a liquid-liquid interface in Professor Gary Leal's fluid
mechanics lab.
Jose
Cruz attends Ventura Community College. His interests are mainly rooted in scientific inquiries and discoveries. He will be working in the
Gordon Lab on organic photovoltaic cells and using microscopy techniques to probe them.
Lara
Voelker is a second year student at Moorpark College. She is currently studying biochemistry and is hoping to transfer in 2012. She is
interested in learning about the way the world works, as well as coming up with functional methods to preserve this functionality through ecology.
This summer she will be studying tidepool organisms in Steve Gaines' lab, working closely with projects that graduate student Stephen Gosnell has
initiated.
Noe
Gonzalez, Santa Barbara City College, majoring in Electrical Engineering. This summer, I will be working in Dr. Katie Byl's Robotics lab
along with Guilia Piovan my mentor this summer doing research on a one-legged walking robot.
Sergio
Cardenas, recently a student at College of the Canyons community college, will transfer to the University of California, San Diego in the
fall of 2011, to pursue his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. Working with CNS fellow Roger Eardley-Pryor and Professor Patrick McCray in IRG 1,
Sergio will research the environmental health and safety issues of nanotechnology.
I’ve been happier this summer than I have been for a long time. I can’t even put into words how much fun I had learning all of these different skills: soldering electronics, machining, engineering software,design, programming…the list goes on and on. Not to mention how much I’ve learned about grad school and how to best succeed and be happy there. I didn’t get to finish what i wanted to do with my project, but Im going to work in the lab for another month before school starts, so i hope to finish Gathering the data that i want. I’m so grateful to have met my mentor Ishai and my advisor Dr. Lubin, as well as everyone else involved in the INSET program, this experience has definitely hanged my life for the better.
One problem for me right now is that I want to change my major from astrophysics to computer engineering. Over the summer I fell in love with both electronics and programming, and found out that I can combine both hardware and software studies with this major. I still love astrophysics an want to do it as a minor, but the process of using physics to design and create real life systems has taken over my interest, and I like the fact that I would actually have jobs available for me after I graduated. The problem with this is that I no longer feel that attending the school I have accepted (UC Santa Cruz) is the right choice. UCSC was great for astrophysics, but UCSB is much better for engineering, so I am actually considering spending one more year in community college; both to save 8000 dollars of debt for taking classes at Santa Cruz for engineering that I could take at a CC, and because I want the chance to apply to UC Santa Barbara. I’ve completely fallen in love with this school, and really cant imagine going anywhere else. It’s scary to think about rejecting admission to a UC when I’ve worked so hard to transfer, but it really wouldn’t be a step backwards when you consider all of the benefits. I’m still undecided though.
Advice to future interns: ask questions, as many as possible; the more you know about your project, the more you will enjoy your work. I never thought I would ever care about building a giant thermos, but I’m having a blast! Also don’t close your eyes to any doors or opportunities, keep your mind and future as open as possible. I wish I could go back on time and take my own advice. In closing, thank you to all the wonderful people who made this possible, I appreciate this experience more than words can say!
-Britt Christy
Filed under: Week 8 |
INSET Blog at UC Santa Barbara 
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