(462e) Summer Research For High School Students

Since 1995, every summer I have supervised a high school student during the summer on various research projects as a part of STAR program (high school students and teachers Research program). This program is currently directed by Dr. Kenneth Mares at University of Missouri ? St. Louis and is sponsored by Pfizer and Solutia with the goal to encourage these students to study science and engineering. A large number of high school students and teachers are placed during the summer in many research laboratories in the local universities and research centers to do research in summer in addition to other activities such as seminars and field trips. Many of my students won awards and scholarships as a result of their achievement on the projects they worked on with me. Also some of the work resulted into publications jointly with the high school student. The students worked and interacted with the doctoral students and work with them while they do their own research. Most of these students went to very good schools and joined various science and engineering departments achieving the goal set for this summer research program.

In this presentation I will discuss the overall STAR program with the focus on my experience with the high school students. I will summarize the projects they worked on and their achievement.