Jun 25, 2008 - Claremont, Calif. - Despite a rigorous spring semester, more than 170 Harvey Mudd College students were ready for another round of challenges as soon as classes ended.

The group, along with a number of peers from The Claremont Colleges, recently embarked on 10 weeks of full-time research alongside 45 faculty members, as part of HMC's Summer Research Program.

"Participating in this research has so many benefits," said Emily Snyder ’11, whose research project examines the barrier behavior of skin. "Of course, it is good experience for later on and looks good on a resume. But it also helps with problem-solving skills, is good leadership practice and helps you work efficiently as a team."

"These experiences allow testing the waters," added Gerald Van Hecke ’61, associate dean for administration who oversees the program. "Sometimes students discover that their research is exactly the area they want to work in later in life. Others find that it’s not for them, which is better to discover at this juncture than investing many, many years in the field."

The more than 100 research projects in progress vary in scope and span the fields of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics and physics.

From finding ways to synthesize anti-inflammatory plant products to implementing algorithms that identify sketches drawn on tablet computers to strengthening one's physics background before diving into complex string theory, the diverse projects offer a unique hands-on experience that not all undergraduates have access to.

"I don't think any institution in the country can come close to the number of undergraduates we have doing this kind of research, certainly not on a percentage basis," said Van Hecke.

The genesis of the Summer Research Program, established formally in 2005, stemmed from a National Science Foundation grant that funded six HMC chemistry students to undertake research in the summer of 1960.

Since then, summer research has only grown larger and more interesting.

"I'm really grateful that Mudd nurtures an environment that encourages students to work on projects that interest them," said Raffi Attarian ’10, an engineering major working on developing a mechanical support device designed to enhance cerebral palsy students' self-feeding abilities. "Ours is a student-inspired project that would not have been possible without the support of the faculty and administration."

But the 10-week program—designed for rising sophomores, juniors and seniors—offers more than just research opportunities.

Students have access to a number of professional development activities, including workshops on how to make oral and poster presentations, sessions with a librarian regarding information in the electronic world, formal lab safety classes, a lecture series on topics of general interest given by faculty and staff members, and industry tours to local firms and laboratories.

This summer, tours have been set up to visit Beckman Coulter, Three Valleys Municipal Water District, The Rand Corporation and South Coast Air Quality Management District.

During previous years, tours took students to sites including NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a Chevron refinery, Raytheon, Qualcomm and Amgen.

"Through such tours, students get to see how an industrial laboratory is organized and managed, how research areas are selected and how research leads to new products," said Barry Olsan, director of HMC's Office of Corporate Relations who works with Van Hecke to organize the visits. "They also see the typical career paths at these firms and the importance of intellectual property."

Adds biology major Snyder, who went on the recent Beckman-Coulter tour: "We use Beckman products in our lab, so it was very interesting to see the company that makes them. We got to see some of the first Beckman instruments invented and walked through rooms filled with both original and current instruments. It was fun to see the research that they are conducting, as well as the different things that Beckman is doing to make researching easier for others."

The firms gain something through the tour visits as well.

"The companies are willing and more than happy to have us there," explained Van Hecke. "They're often amazed by the types of questions HMC students ask, and, for many of them, they see this as a cultivation for new prospective employees.

"The loss of scientific manpower that we hear about in the media is very real. Many medical technicians, engineers and laboratory personnel are close to retiring age and there's nobody in the pipeline ready to take over their jobs."

To help ensure that HMC students are more than prepared to join the workforce when their time comes, Van Hecke has been facilitating the collection of survey data for the past couple of years from students and faculty participating in the Summer Research Program.

By comparing students’ thoughts and perceptions before and after the summer program with data from faculty members regarding activities they offered their fledgling researchers, Van Hecke and colleagues Eric Ditwiler, director of academic operations, and Janel Hastings, assistant vice-president for institutional research, hope to identify what works best in the program and areas that could use improvement.

A preliminary view of the data thus far has revealed that younger, less experienced students clearly gain from working alongside older, more experienced students.

“From an overall viewpoint, one of the things we can now say in our third year of the Summer Research Program is that we have made strides to better centralize the infrastructure of all research occurring on campus during the summer,” said Van Hecke. “We’ve also made great progress in promoting a community of scholars among the students and faculty participating the program.”