Summer Engineering Research for Community College Students (SERCCS) selects 4-5 students from (2-year) community colleges for eight-week internships in accelerator and x-ray sciences research, during which students also attend/lead formal seminars, tour research facilities, and enjoy social and recreational events.
The SUNRiSE Program (Summer Undergraduate Research in Science and Engineering) and PREM (Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials), are closely aligned with SERCCS, and areavailable for pre-selected undergraduate students from four-year degree granting institutions.
SUNRISE & PREM
The Summer Undergraduate Research in Science and Engineering (SUNRiSE) program invites students from Fort Lewis College (FLC) to participate in a summer research experience at CHESS that provides them with the chance to experience science and engineering outside the classroom. Coupled with FLC’s special commitment to educating Native American populations, the CHESS/FLC partnership has become an effective mechanism for broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in top-notch research experiences. Students interested in gaining hands-on experience in science, engineering and technology spend their summer conducting research at our state-of-the-art research facility on topics like: residual stress, fatigue, x-ray optics and detectors.
Closely aligned with the SUNRSE program, Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) summer students are visiting CHESS from the University of Puerto Rico. Students work directly on research projects related to x-ray and accelerator technologies, alongside collaborating faculty from their home institution and a CHESS scientist or graduate student mentor.
In the summer of 2022, the SUNRiSE and PREM programs each have sponsored four students.
Jessie Urban, a SUNRiSE student from Fort Lewis College is surprised and pleased with the collaborative nature of research at CHESS. "[Researchers] work together often, which I am happy about," she explained. "I was under the impression research was very solitary work."
Sophie Turner, another SUNRiSE student from FLC, when asked about how this experience has changed her views of becoming a researcher, explained, "this experience made me realize that people from all different backgrounds and fields make the research at CHESS happen. I never knew what researchers did and this gives me more of an insight of their tasks."
SERCCS
SERCCS is open to New York State community college students interested in a career in science, engineering, and technology. This summer, four SERCCS students are working on projects under the mentorship of CHEXS researchers ranging from automated control for mechanical loading experiments to simulating and animating x-ray solution scattering. Abstracts of the SERCCS projects can be found here.
CHESS's summer programs will wrap up in the second week of August, culminating with the students presenting posters on their research.