Summer Programs - UNH PROJECT SMART

Pre-College Topics Summer Programs
1

<p>OVERVIEW</p>

<p>This particular summer program is not that well known, but I did want to offer a review because I did it this summer and just came back last week. It took place at the University of New Hampshire. I will offer more details on the campus later. It is titled Project SMART, it has three modules: 1) Biotechnology and Nanotechnology 2) Environmental Science, and 3) Space Science </p>

<p>I did the module on Biotechnology and Nanotechnology, but I know some information about what the other two groups did too. </p>

<p>MY EXPERIENCE</p>

<p>Basically, I would say that this summer was the most amazing summer of my life. I met people from “six states, two countries, and one territory” (2 students from greece, one from Virgin Islands, 3 from Alaska) There was definetely aton of diversity and the best part was hanging out with everyone and making so many friends. My roomate was awesome, I loved the weekend activities, and I loved the labs we did. </p>

<p>DAILY SCHEDULE</p>

<p>Every single day was definetely an experience, we did like 10 different topics each day for the entire month. For Biotech and Nanotech, we basically had lectures in the morning and after lunch that were supplemented with laboratory experience. It was so worth it because we learned all the basics that a real scientist would do in a large company, we learned PCR, Gel Electrophoresis, Animal Cell Culturing, plant cloning, electron and confocal microscopy, spectroscopy, the history of chemistry, making Nanotubes and a Monolayer. We did a ton of discussions on things such as patents, gentetic engineering ethics, etc. For more information, contact me I would love to explain. And then…we go back to the dorm at around 4:30 P.M.</p>

<p>MEALS</p>

<p>The food was one of my favorite parts, we all dined at the dining hall called Halloway Commons on campus, and its absolutely amazing because we have a million choices for breakfast lunch and dinner, this was the FIRST thing I missed when i got home ; )</p>

<p>WEEKENDS</p>

<p>This is only for the people that decided to stay for the weekends too, we did a ton of amazing stuff. We had a whole day dedicated to unlimited laser tag, go carts, and mini golf at a fun center, we went whale watching, we went to the aquarium and science museum in Boston, we went to the mall multiple times and shopped, we also went to the movies. It was a total blast. </p>

<p>AFTER CLASS</p>

<p>We’re basically free to do whatever we want, of course we have to be back by around 8:30 pm and curfews at 11pm. PPl played tennis, basketball, volleyball, walked around campus, played ultimate frisbee, chilled in the dorms with the music blasting, watched movies, went to the library, played DDR, Rock Band, had super fun dance parties, we did anything and everything, it was awesome. We went on secret walks where the RA takes us to a surprise location (the one i went on was to this mini waterfall and we stood on a bridge watching the stars and the waterfall). We go get late night ice cream </p>

<p>THE CAMPUS</p>

<p>UNH is definetely a really safe and nice campus, there were like alot of summer sports camps going on for other high schoolers at the same time, so there is alot of prospects of meeting tons of new people. The college also has a lot of resources, we were able to use state of the art technology in learning laboratory work and the experience was defientely worth every penny and left me with a new love for science. It was so much fun walking around campus with a group of friends in rain or shine, going to different buildings for our lectures. I definetely got a nice feel for college campuses and college life. </p>

<p>It is not free, there is a payment required of around $2600 but lately its been receiving a lot of funding, so financial aid is freely available to whomever needs it. </p>

<p>I remember space science did really cool stuff and they launched a balloon 100,000 feet above earths surface with a camera (they saw the earth’s horizon, and i think outer space too). And Envronmental went hiking a lot, and canoeing, and observing lakes, ponds, trees, etc. They also climbed a mountain. It seemed a lot of fun. </p>

<p>For more info, feel free to reply.</p>

2

<p>I just wanted to add my two-bits about my experience at the University of New Hampshire, Project SMART 2012. I can honestly say that this summer has been the best summer of my life due to Project SMART – it was such a perfect combination of learning the uses and applications of biotechnology/nanotechnology, meeting the most amazing people from around the world, and getting my first taste of what college life is like!</p>

<p>Project SMART has three modules: Biotechnology/nanotechnology, Marine and Environmental Science, and Space Science. I was in the bio/nano-technology group and I loved it, but if you ask other students they all would claim that their was the best, simply because all three were amazing. The space science group ended up launching their balloon up to 105,000 feet and their story was published in over 10 newspapers all over the United States, which was pretty cool.</p>

<p>Before I went to Project SMART, I wanted to go into science mainly because of how my parents always inculcated the importance of it, but Project SMART let me see for myself how incredibly interesting biotechnology is, especially with its multitude of applications in the future. With genetic engineering, we can cure world hunger through genetically modifying plants to be more resistant to drought, invasive species, etc. (manipulating the polyamine levels in the plant). With the innovative nanoparticles and nanobots, we can specifically target the cancerous cells in the body without harming the surrounding normal human cells, ultimately finding a cure for cancer. Or through taking advantage of the strong carbon linkage of graphite on a 2-dimensional level (graphene) which makes it even stronger than diamond, could graphene be the metal of the future?</p>

<p>I guess that’s what is really cool about Project SMART – it gets you to think about all the future applications of biotechnology, but not only does it prompt you to look at the scientific side of things, but also the ethical components to it. For example, take gene therapy – it has wonderful uses in preventing disease through altering mutations in one’s genes, but what happens when people start changing their genes for aesthetic purposes too – to become skinnier, stronger, or taller? Gene therapy may be only used to cure diseases, but then again, is obesity considered a disease? And if, say, Jack could change his genes to become skinnier, why can’t Jill change hers to become taller? And in the end, would we be creating designer babies?</p>

<p>In terms of daily schedule, we usually have a lecture in the morning on topics about biotechnology – genetic engineering, recombinant DNA, DNA cloning, animal culture, PCR, gene therapy, biomonitoring, etc., which is usually supplemented by a lab in the afternoon. Some of the biotechnology labs we did include learning basic lab techniques such as learning how to use a pipette, growing bacteria and isolation of plasmid DNA, cloning plant cell culture, gel electrophoresis, bacterial transformation, and more. We also had nanotechnology on some days, where we had labs that included determining Avagadro’s number using a monolayer experiment, synthesizing nylon through mixing two immiscible liquids, using electrolysis to create nickel nanowires, and such. </p>

<p>The day usually starts at 8:30am and ends at 4:30pm – afterwards, we get free time to hang out. There’s a ping pong table, basketball court, beach volleyball facility, and pool table downstairs, and the RA’s plan out some fun activities that is a great time for bonding! </p>

<p>The weekends are a real treat to every week – we went on trips to the Boston Museum of Science, the local fun center which has laser tag, go-carting, and mini-golf, the White Mountains, whale watching in the Atlantic, Gundalo sailing in the estuary, and the old town of Portsmouth for exploring. It’s a great way to bond with the kids there as well as get to know the local places better. </p>

<p>My favorite part of the program was when we created a research poster at the end – I chose the topic: the use of chemically synthesized bryostatin analogue to activate latent HIV viral reservoirs; in other words, a new approach to cure AIDS. My roommate and I stayed up late for the last three days working on our project, but I felt that creating the poster was probably the most rewarding part of the program and was a great culmination to it.</p>

<p>Oh, and the food was absolutely amazing! They have all sorts of varieties of food I seriously had to control myself so I wouldn’t gorge on everything because they literally have every combination of food you can think of.</p>

<p>Finally, I could probably write pages and pages about the amazing people I met there, because they are honestly just really cool. They’re so different from the people here (I’m from California), since my school is predominantly (95% Asian), while everyone there is so diverse and unique! While my school emphasizes studying all day for the sake of test scores/GPA, the people there are more about intrinsic learning because they are genuinely interested in the subject, and it’s really awesome talking to them because some of them really know a lot! </p>

<p>Sorry for the chunk of text – there really is a lot to write, and if you would like to know more feel free to PM me. Overall, I’d really recommend all of you to apply for this program! The cost is $3,200 if you stay there for the weekends as well, but they do offer grants for those who financially need it. Best experience ever!!!</p>