Kelly Meng of Plano is conducting research with Dr. Warren Burggren in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas. She is studying the effects of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Betta Splendis aggression and developmental physiology. She is also breeding them to see the trans-generational effects of this essential component of Surface Oil B (i.e. oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico). Aside from research every day, she also cooks and bakes a lot with her lovely roommates and spends a lot of time planning her days in her Moleskine planner.
Student Summer Activities
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AnneMarie Sabatini of Saginaw (friend of Jake from State Farm) has continued work from the Spring with a graduate student in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of North Texas. AnneMarie recently assisted with a project titled "Gifted Students' Perspectives on Their High School STEM Experiences" by carrying out thematic analysis over the interview transcripts. Otherwise, AnneMarie has been studying for Physics, writing college essays, reading new things off of her novel list, visiting friends, finding Dory, discovering zeugmas and other new words for Scrabble, and loitering at her not-so-local Barnes and Noble in Southlake. She will be traveling to Kansas and Colorado later in July and August, respectively, where she will get to feed some chipmunks, go hiking, and maybe find herself up a tree.
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Nikitha Samy of Flower Mound is currently conducting research with Dr. Pudur Jagadeeswaran in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of North Texas, where she focuses on thrombocyte formation. In her spare time, she is learning to drive. Later this summer Nikitha will backpack through Canada.
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Somesh Singh of Plano is shadowing an orthopedic surgeon at OSSM Orthopedics as well as preparing for his upcoming classes in the fall.
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Jeffrey Song of Plano is researching at the University of North Texas in Dr. Witold Brostow's Materials Science and Engineering lab. He is also volunteering at Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
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Ashish Vasa of Northlake is researching under Dr. Nicoladie Tam in her neuroscience laboratory at UNT, where he is using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to observe and decode brain signals and hemodynamics. He is also working on getting his driver’s license and considering a part-time job.
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Vihaarika Vysyaraju of Plano is conducting research on proteins at the University of Texas at Dallas under Dr. Faruck Morcos in the Department of Biological Sciences. She is replicating proteins with a 3D printer, and using a modeling software to create bases for these proteins that contain a binary/QR code. These bases will connect the physical proteins to digital images of the protein on an app that she and her classmate Neha Kodali are developing. The app will provide an interactive image of the protein and information about it, creating an innovative way to educate K-12 students on proteins. Outside of her research and app development, Vihaarika is working at a tutoring service where she teaches first through sixth grade students how to solve word problems and basic math problems, occasionally teaching reading classes as well.
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Daniel Zhong of Plano has been spending most of his time doing simulation research for Dr. Zhenhai Xia’s biomimetic project in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of North Texas. Every day for Daniel has been a blur of hours spent listening to music and building and running models. Daniel also recently entered a fanart contest so that he could try to win a few prizes for his friends. His waking hours are now comprised of a cup of coffee in one hand and a stylus or mouse in the other, a computer screen eternally stretched out in front of him and thoughts of college apps looming.