Ah, summer memories. Ice cream and trips to the pool and using a molybdenum disulfide membrane to separate the rare-earth element neodymium for industrial uses.
Vivanya Dissanayake, a 16-year-old junior at Taft High School, spent her summer interning with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) through the After School Matters STEM Lab Internship program.
“I was very intrigued by the hands-on experience the program offered in a real lab,” Dissanayake said. “It seemed very exciting to conduct a research project that could contribute to something meaningful, even as a high school student.”
After School Matters is a nonprofit group that provides after-school and summer programming to about 20,000 Chicago teens each year. The STEM Lab Internship program is a partnership between ASM and UChicago PME to host high school interns in labs across UChicago.
"This program connects students with cutting-edge research in fields like energy storage, immuno-engineering, materials chemistry, and human-computer interaction,” UChicago PME Assistant Dean of Education and Outreach Laura Rico-Beck said. “But it’s not just about learning the science — it’s about learning from the scientists themselves, as they mentor and inspire the next generation of researchers."
Dissanayake spent six weeks working in the lab of UChicago PME Assoc. Prof. Chong Liu to develop efficient and environmentally friendly ways to separate valuable rare-earth elements from water.
“My best memory of the program was how welcoming everybody at the Liu Group was,” Dissanayake said. “They never hesitated to help me or share any advice they had. I truly felt supported and that I belonged, which helped me grow my confidence as someone new to the field of research.”
'Supportive community all around’
Rather than putting the students on menial tasks or finding them busywork, UChicago labs participating in After School Matters puts the teens on projects vital to their overarching mission.
Miley Rodriguez, 17, a senior at Lane Tech College Prep, spent the summer interning in the lab of UChicago PME Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Molecular Engineering Chibueze Amanchukwu. She helped measure how different electrolytes can suppress chemical reactions, part of the Amanchukwu Lab’s goal of limiting side reactions when recycling carbon dioxide into other products.
“I feel this is one of the very few programs that offer such a unique and authentic research experience,” Rodriguez said. “The program has been built to not overwhelm but still challenge students at the high school level and there's a lot of supportive community all around."
In addition to providing hands-on research experience, the program provides college preparation workshops and one-on-one mentoring from current graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.
“Something I didn’t realize was that we’d be leaving with so many other valuable skills than just research experience,” Rodriguez said.
‘A wave of excitement’
“Every morning when I come into the lab, I feel a wave of excitement rush over me; the ability to explore the unknown lies right in front,” said Ariel Tvishor, 17, who spent the summer in the lab of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Assoc. Prof. Minglei Zhao.
Tvishor, a senior at Jones College Prep, conducted research on trafficking proteins in the Golgi apparatus, an organelle found within living cells. She learned how to apply fluorescent tags to the proteins so they would glow, making it possible to watch and track them under a microscope.
“The most exciting moment was when my mentor and I were looking at two of the proteins we had fluorescently tagged under the microscope, and the second that we hit the brightfield view button on the microscopy program, we saw that the proteins had properly transformed,” Tvishor said. “Observing the green fluorescence was truly thrilling.”
Dissanayake had some words of advice for any CPS student considering applying to After School Matters.
“Just go for it!” she said. “You do not need to know everything about being a researcher; all you need is to have a passion for learning, especially about STEM fields. This program will push you in the best way possible and will offer you amazing experiences and valuable knowledge.”