Posted on Aug. 16: Summer research projects open doors

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Summer-school.jpg”]Tim van Boxtel has learned a lot this summer.

The third-year engineering physics student was one of more than 80 students presenting summer research posters in the lobby of the Information Technology Institute Thursday. “Never have I learned so much in one summer,” he says.

His confidence level has increased as a result of the program that provides research-oriented summer jobs for first- and second-year students. “You gain so much confidence and it's great to be among people who do the research every day,” says the summer student in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Van Boxtel worked on chemical vapor deposition with Peter Mascher, an engineering physics professor who holds the William Sinclair Chair in Optoelectronics.

Students in the UROP, Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research (BIMR) and students in science and engineering, presented their summer-long research projects in poster format at the symposium.

Fifth-year engineering physics and society student Jeff McDonald feels the experience is good preparation for graduate work. “You get hands-on experience with things you wouldn't learn in your undergraduate programs,” he says. McDonald's research project was titled “Photolithograpy for Unconventional MEMS”.

“You're also dealing with cutting-edge research,” adds his brother Steve, a fourth-year student in engineering physics, who studied 'ultrafast diode lasers'.

Fourth-year materials engineering student Rajen Sidhu, in the BIMR program, says his experience studying 'damage analysis of strip cast automotive' has opened his eyes. “It's been a great experience and it gave me a real perspective on how relevant the research is,” he says. “It's a great stepping stone to grad school and it really defined what I wanted to do in grad studies.”

“I think it's absolutely critical that we are able to provide some of the best students with a research experience,” says Peter Sutherland, dean of science. “I was also impressed that while this was originally organized for students in engineering and the UROP program, many science students in physics, chemistry and biology saw this as an opportunity to showcase their summer activities.”

Photo caption: Third-year engineering physics students Charlie Elliott, left, and Tim van Boxtel present their poster on chemical vapor deposition — an area they worked on over the summer with Peter Mascher, professor and William Sinclair chair in optoelectronics, engineering physics and Centre for Electrophotonic Materials and Devices. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay