2024 High School Summer Research Symposium

Featuring SpHERES, POETS, & Grainger Engineering Young Scholars

Friday, August 2, 2024   |    11:00am-12:45pm Poster Presentations    |    12:45pm-1:30pm Closing Ceremony

On Friday, August 2, 2024, the summer’s research experience for high school students came to an end with a showcase and celebration. Twenty six high school researchers their mentors participated in 6 weeks of study and research with the Center for Power Optimization and Electro-thermal Systems (POETS) Young Scholars program, the Sparking High Schooler’s Excitement for Research in Engineering and Science (SpHERES) program, and the Grainger Engineering Young Scholars (GEnYuS) program.

This symposium will feature the research projects from 12 different research groups. The high school students were mentored by faculty and students at the University of Illinois, and high school educators provided an added layer of mentoring during this expanded experience.

Young Scholars Program

Program Name

Coordinator

 

SpHERES

Sparking High Schooler’s Excitement for Research in Engineering and Science

Nicole del Castillo

SpHERES Logo

 POETS

Center for Power Optimization and Electrothermal Systems

Tracy Dace

POETS Logo

 GEnYuS

Grainger Engineering Young Scholars

Sharlene Denos and Bryana Rivera

Grainger Engineering Block I

 

Symposium Posters


Mentors:
Rachel Jackson-Gordon 

Session PI:
Jacinda K. Dariotis

 


Mentor:
Ali Nunes and Chia-Wen Cheng

Project Lead:
Sara Pedron-Haba


Mentors:
Jonathan Turnley and Staci Starkweather 

Session PI:
Paul Braun

 


Mentors:
STEM STARS

Session PI:
Becky Zimmerman and Joe Muskin

 


Mentors:
Ulsa Coskun and Jay Hooper 

Session PI:
Arijit Banerjee

 

GEnYuS Guidelines for Mental Health Chatbots: A Systematic Review Shreya Haran (Centennial High School), Samiha Thatikonda (Centennial High School)


Session PI:
Koustuv Saha

 


Mentors:
Hsien-Nung Wang and Bao Hoang Lam 

Session PI:
Qing Cao

 

GEnYuS Colliding Black Holes on Super Computers - Xavier Kader (Lane Tech College Prep High School), Jyotsna Velu (Adlai E. Stevenson High School)


Mentors:
Elena Kopteva and Frederick Pardoe

Session PI:
Helvi Witek

 

GEnYuS Infectious Diseases Detection: A Wastewater Surveillance Approach - Tam M. Do (Centennial High School), Trinity H. Ross (Stephen T Mather High School)


Mentors:
Nhung Do and Robbie Schmidt 

Session PI:
Helen Nguyen 

 

GEnYuS-Physics Light Collection Tests for New Reaction Plane Detector for the ATLAS Experiment at CERN - Kristina Semenova (Vernon Hills High School), Izzy Bellehumeur (Middleton High School)


Mentors:
Ella Dahle, Chloe Zhang, and Aadhavan Aadhavan

Session PI:
Matthias Grosse Perdekamp 

 

GEnYuS-Physics Quantum Sensing to Measure Magnetic Fields -Maya Carreto (Josephinum Academy), Khushi Pusnur (Walter Payton College Preparatory High School)


Mentors:
Cole Brookhouse and Riley Kibbee 

Session PI:
Doug Beck