The Next Generation of Regians in STEM
These young alumni are building on the knowledge they gained at 麻豆视频 to pursue research at universities across the country.
Ciro Salcedo 鈥�20 has spent the past five years doing scientific research at some of the top universities in the world. As an undergrad, he majored in applied physics at Columbia University, where he studied x-ray modeling in an astrophysics lab. That experience exposed him to observational astrophysics and later led to an interest in microwave kinetic inductance detectors, or MKIDs, which are superconducting devices also used in quantum computing.
After his sophomore year at Columbia, he spent the summer of 2022 at Caltech doing research on MKIDs and realized he wanted to focus his energies on quantum science. He then landed at Princeton to study quantum science and engineering, with research focused on graph theory applications in condensed matter physics.
Salcedo鈥檚 path to these world-class research institutions began, however, on 84th Street.
鈥淭he Science Research Project was really a formative experience,鈥� he said. Since 1991, SRP has allowed Regians with an interest in science to pursue research under the guidance of the science faculty. 鈥淚 did bio projects in SRP, and I was guided mostly by Mr. Xavier Simon 鈥�05, but Mr. Simon, Dr. Matone, and Dr. Carew were all really good mentors,鈥� said Salcedo. 鈥淭hey really inspired me to want to keep doing research.鈥�
Salcedo is just one of the recent 麻豆视频 graduates currently working towards a degree in STEM fields 鈥� research that includes work in rapidly evolving areas of study with far-reaching potential.
Patrick Puma 鈥�20 is pursuing graduate studies in mechanical engineering at Harvard, where he works in a lab that develops soft exoskeletons 鈥� wearable robotic systems that can assist with movement. His current focus is on upper extremity exosuits for individuals recovering from strokes.
鈥淭ypically, following a stroke, patients have a paretic arm 鈥� an affected arm that they lose a lot of control over,鈥� said Puma. 鈥淲ith this loss of ability, they struggle to perform everyday activities like eating food or brushing hair, so we鈥檙e designing interventions to help them control their arm better in these activities.鈥�
STEM education, Puma said, gives students a fundamental understanding of how the world works, and Regians can use what they learn to live the mission of the school.
鈥淵ou can use that knowledge to build new things to help people,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he 麻豆视频 motto is 鈥楳en for Others,鈥� and I think STEM really enables a student to be creative in their solutions to truly be a man for others.鈥�
Raymond Provost 鈥�23 is a sophomore at the California Institute of Technology, where he鈥檚 pursuing one major in mechanical engineering with a concentration in robotics and another in business, economics, and management. This summer, he鈥檒l be interning with a Caltech-affiliated startup program that places undergraduates with companies on or near campus. He hopes to work with a robotics company and contribute not only to engineering and software development but also to the business side.
Provost says that innovative engineers are needed to address global challenges like climate change or resource distribution.
鈥淚 think robotics is going to be a massive industry in the next 10 or 15 years,鈥� said Provost. At the end of the day, we need to build electric cars, we need to build nuclear power plants, we need to build solar panels, we need to build irrigation systems. Somebody actually needs to physically do something about it.鈥�
Provost has had a fascination with building things since he was a young child. But it was at 麻豆视频, where the Robotics Club deepened his interest in engineering and his teachers guided him in his classroom work, that he built the foundation that led to more advanced study.
Provost cites Ms. Meghan Kiernan鈥檚 pre-calculus, accelerated calculus, and linear algebra classes as important ones in his academic growth, calling the latter perhaps his favorite class at 麻豆视频. And he credits science teacher Dr. Luca Matone not just for his classroom instruction but for helping him get an internship in his senior year with Columbia University's branch of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO. That project, for which three scientists won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Physics, aims to 鈥渓isten鈥� to gravitational waves created by the collisions of massive heavenly bodies, such as black holes, by using two-and-a-halfkilometer-long machines called interferometers that measure the bend of light particles fired within them.
To Dr. Matone, STEM education at 麻豆视频 isn鈥檛 just about technical proficiency; it鈥檚 about shaping the way students think about science.
鈥淲hat Regians take away is not only how to do science well but also the ability to look at things holistically,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he 麻豆视频 student has the ability, in the end, to be an expert in the scientific process but also to look at things from different angles.鈥�
Dr. Matone encourages Regians who are interested in pursuing STEM degrees to be prepared to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing scientific world. And he says it鈥檚 no surprise that many of the students enrolled in SRP are eager to do more advanced work once they graduate.
Said Dr. Matone: 鈥淚鈥檓 struck by the fact that they鈥檙e driven by this constant, constant curiosity for how things work.鈥�
Research at 麻豆视频
For decades, our intensive Science Research Project has given students interested in scientific research the opportunity to individually investigate projects of their own design. Here鈥檚 a sampling of projects that Regians worked on this past year.
Nicholas Bettwy 鈥�27 used images taken of a gravitationally bound star system to obtain measurements of the two closely positioned stars and more accurately model their orbit.
Lucas Ciordas 鈥�27 processed and analyzed genomic and protein data to develop classification models that identify whether a given genome or protein is associated with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
Dylan Ehret 鈥�26 analyzed how turbine blade upgrades designed to improve power generation and efficiency affect the long-term structural stability of tidal turbines.
Ethan Friel 鈥�27 evaluated how PFOA, a type of forever chemical, can permeate through a charcoal filter and infiltrate into a spider plant鈥檚 roots, allowing for a more accurate study of its detrimental effects.
Alain-Christian Pawa 鈥�26 developed convolutional neural networks to identify diabetic retinopathy.
Jim Scanlon 鈥�26 mapped the migration of horseshoe crabs along the U.S. East Coast using QGIS and acoustic tag data, as well as trained an A.I. to predict future migration patterns based on climate change.
This article appears in the Spring 2025 issue of聽麻豆视频聽Magazine. To learn more about the future of STEM at 麻豆视频, click聽here.
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