MNT-CURN Research Program

Micro Nano Technology Collaborative Undergraduate Research Network (MNT-CURN)

Gain hands-on research experience and build nanotechnology technical education skills through the MNT-CURN undergraduate research program.

In this playlist, you will hear and see nanotechnology and microtechnology professors presenting about their own research and work -- from biosensors to underwater drones to nanomaterials. Each one covers a different specialty or niche area that you might decide to learn about and pursue as an exciting undergraduate research project.

The Micro Nano Technology Collaborative Undergraduate Research Network (MNT-CURN) is a unique undergraduate research program for community college students. During an academic-year and two-week summer capstone research experience, you will have the opportunity to work and learn from faculty mentors, baccalaureate research universities and industry partners from across the nation.

Program Highlights

  • Work either remotely or on your respective campus sites

  • Visit a 4-year partner campus during the summer capstone research experience

  • Work with faculty mentors, using strategies that will provide you with challenges that will serve as a growing e-portfolio

  • Progress of research will be tracked by the Evaluate UR program

Apply to MNT-CURN

MNT-CURN welcomes applications from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. We encourage members of the Black, Latinx, Native American, and women to consider applying for this opportunity.

The MNT-CURN Student Application is now full for the Fall 2022 Undergraduate Research program. If you have questions about this program or want to inquire about future applications, please contact janet@micronanoeducation.org.

Meet the Students

Student Participants ofMNT-CURN Cohort 2

 Abdikarim Abdi

Abdikarim Abdi

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Name: Abdikarim Abdi

Majors:

Aerospace engineering / electrical engineering

School:

Highline college

Research Activities, Interests, and Experiences:

I am interested in anything to do with thermal heat, I think global warming is our biggest concern, and with no way to lower the CO2 level fast enough I believe using excess heat from things like nuclear power plants, and eventually warehouses can create real change.

Connection to Personal Interests or Passions:

my personal passion and interest are to create, I think the person who asks a significant question is leading the world more than someone who answers, I want to someday create rockets that lead us somewhere we could never imagine.

Current Job/Career Activities

I work in a warehouse sometimes

Emilio-Mendoza_Student-Photo_10-13-22

Emilio Mendoza

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Emilio Mendoza is a Mechanical Engineer major at Santa Monica College. Currently partaking in the NASA MINDS and NASA MITTIC competition, he hopes he will contribute in solving both space-related and earth-related issues. Emilio is interested in nanotechnology as he hopes to work in the space industry in the future.

Kateryna Melnychuk

Kateryna Melnychuk

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Kateryna Melnychuk - student at Community College of Philadelphia, major: Health Care Studies - Nursing.

I'm an explorer by nature. And I always was curious about biology, anatomy, microbiology, neuroscience, space biology, nanotechnology, immunology, pathology and medical science. Pursuing Nursing degree, I completed different courses in science and allied health, maintaining my 4.0 GPA, and gaining more interest in biomedical research, biotechnology and bioengineering. I want to turn this passion into career and aspire to double major in Biology.

Currently I involved in microbial metagenomics research project lead by Dr. Salerno, and eager to gain new knowledge and experience. I aim to earn PhD and hope someday to make a positive impact on humanity.

MNT-EC

Andy Lam

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School: PCC, Majoring in the Computer Science Program

Interested in: Coding

James Griffin

James Griffin

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James Griffin is currently a senior in the Cybersecurity and Forensics program at Highline College, where he also works in an IT Support role, and is involved in the Cyber Competition club that competes against other colleges and universities in a variety of hacking competitions and challenges, including a 6th place finish at PRCCDC. He is interested in researching about how nanotechnology can further the field of brain-machine interfaces and medical prosthesis. His educational passions include learning, supporting others in the learning process, and always striving for excellence.

Kevin D. Ethridge

Kevin Ethridge

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Pleased to meet you, I'm Kevin D. Ethridge. I've worn many hats such as founding president of the Biology Club for the community college of Philadelphia and being the east district president for The middle states region of Phi Theta Kappa national honor society.I have extensive experience in the biology field working in food safety and Cancer research. I aim to get my Doctorate in virology and take part in any opportunity to better myself along the way. I look forward to meeting you.

Anton McFadden

Anton McFadden

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Anton McFadden

I am currently a bio major at CCP in my last year. I work at both the chem lab at CCP and UPenn’s Singh Center for Nanotechnology. I am interested in the link between biology and nanotechnology, specifically CAR T cells and microfluidic devices.

  • Behaving collegially
  • Communicating science
  • Team-Oriented
Jenna Miller

Jenna Miller

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Name: Jenna Miller

Major: Biological Sciences

School: Delaware Technical Community College

Research Activities, Interests, and Experiences: Molecular biology, marine biology, and chemistry

Connection to Personal Interests or Passions: Learning about the way things work on the molecular level (such as cosmetic chemistry) and gardening/plant science.

Current Job: Beauty advisor at Sephora and a Therapy Assistant at a Chiropractor's Office

Kiryl Zdor

Kiryl Zdor

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Kiryl Zdor is a chemistry major with a specialization in material science at Los Angeles Pierce Community College. I'm planning on conducting research to discover new reactions and material interactions to improve industrial output or develop new products. I'm planning to pursue a career as an R&D chemist.

MNT-EC

Benjamin Bekey

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Benjamin Bekey is a non-traditional student changing careers to STEM, exploring possibilities for graduate school while taking classes at Pasadena City College. He conducts research on alkali halide crystal growth in a materials science / applied physics lab. Career plans include scientific research, and mentoring aspiring scientists."

Jocelyn Zhu

Jocelyn Zhu

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Jocelyn Zhu is a Computer Science major at Pasadena City College. She currently participates in building an underwater ROV and researching the application of ROVs in climate action for the MATE ROV competition. She plans on pursuing a career in data science and research to contribute to scientific discovery and innovation.

Mahan Pourfakhr

Mahan Pourfakhr

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Mahan Pourfakhr is a biomedical engineering student at Los Angeles Pierce College where he currently maintains a 4.0 GPA and is the TA for the organic chemistry class. Mahan plans on transferring to a University of California campus to earn his bachelor's degree and start research and plans on eventually working in the biotech industry.

Brandon Wong

Brandon Wong

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Brandon Wong

I graduated high school in 2021, then applied to the Community College of Philadelphia. I am a double major in Criminal Justice and Biological Sciences. Criminal justice was my first major. In 2022 I just added Biological Sciences. Right now, I have known research activities or experiences. But doing the MNT-CURN Student every Friday on zoom seems very interesting.

Kasielynn Bussard

Kasielynn Bussard

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My name is Kasielynn Bussard, but I go by Kasie. I am majoring in Materials engineering and planning to specialize in Nanotech, Biotech, and Microscopy. I am a student at Salt Lake Community College. The current research projects I am working on are synthesizing nanowires with the Nanotech club, helping the Robotics club design the life-detecting section of a rover they are entering into the URC, and a personal project that involves creating a new kind of cortisol test. I am excited to pursue more medical and technologic research down the road.

Narely Rivas

Narely Rivas

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Hello everyone! My name is Narely Rivas. just graduated High-school and now I am a freshman at Highline Community College, my major is Electrical Engineering. I am excited to see what I will learn from this program and how it will help me and others in the future.

Nayely Rolon-Gomez

Nayely Rolon-Gomez

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Nayely Rolon-Gomez is majoring in laser technology and electronics technology at Pasadena City College. Nayely is passionate about conducting research at the intersection of optics and electronics, with a particular interest in remote sensing and quantum hardware. They hope to one day have a career developing enabling technologies that will aid humanity in moving toward a more sustainable future.

Rachael Orkin_Student Photo Update_10-9-22

Rachael Orkin

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Rachael s a biochemistry major at Los Angeles Pierce College. Since participating in MNT-CURN, she has had many opportunities that validate her choice in pursuing pathology and structural biology. She is currently doing research with electronic noses, biomechanic software, leprosy, and plans to engage in more. However, she would also like to participate in research regarding micronanotechnology and its intersections with medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry. She is also interested in food chemistry! Rachael hopes to be a pathologist or clinical geneticist in the MD/PhD route.

Robert-Valtierra_Student-Photo_11-5-22

Robert Valtierra

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Robert Valtierra is a Computer Science major at Pasadena City College. Robert explores the different ways to implement object-oriented programming in the context of data structure. Robert continues to learn other SFML techniques for the purpose of adding graphics to C++ projects.

Rukia Adan

Rukia Adan

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HI, my name is Rukia Adan I’m a sophomore currently attending Highline College and majoring in Electrical Engineering. I was first exposed to STEM in middle school so it’s always been in my back pocket. It really piqued my interest but I also had a thing for the medical field. Wanting to find a bridge between Medicine and Engineering, I thought Nanotechnology would be a great place to explore it. I’m sure through this internship I’ll find the kind of exposure that’ll help me succeed in my future field.

Rukia Yahya

Rukia Yahya

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Rukia Yahya

Major: Respiratory Therapy

School: Salt Lake Community College

Connection to Personal Interests or Passions; and Current Job/Career Activities: I work Intermountain as a Physicians answering service. I like reading and photography

Stephanie Escoto

Stephanie Escoto

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My name is Stephanie Escoto and my major is Aerospace engineering. I am currently studying in Pasadena City College. My current research interest is metrology, aerodynamics and material science. I have some amount of experience as I have already worked in a clean room. My personal interest is some day work at formula 1 being a technical engineer as cars are part of my passion. I do not have current jobs but I am always looking for new internships.

Thet Paing Da Na (David Da Na)

Thet Paing Da Na (David Da Na)

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Thet Paing Da Na (David Da Na)

Major: Electrical Engineering

School: Pasadena City College

Current Job: Physics lab assistant at PCC and Math Tutor at the PCC Pathway center

Extracurricular activities: The founder of the Burmese Club at PCC, ICC representative of International Christian Fellowship

Career goals: Want to have an Engineering startup company which innovates and invents the products which will help people’s lives easier.

Ulysses-Contreras_Student-Photo_10-19-22

Ulysses Contreras

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I'm Ulysses Contreras My major is Electrical Engineering and I'm currently at Highline College. I'm unsure on what to research, but I think researching and developing prosthetics would be cool. I currently work as a Writing tutor at the Highline Writing center. I'm passionate about technology and want to learn how it works to fuel my curiosity and to help create innovative technology in the future.

Valentina-Arce_Student-Photo_11-8-22

Valentina Arce

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Valentina Arce is a current student in Pasadena City College in California pursuing a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. Since being in the MNT-EC program it opened the door to opportunities in the internship of many fields in research of Biosciences. She is interested in biomedical research focused in cancer mechanisms, the use of bacteriophages and its clinical applications.

Yucheng Zhao

Yucheng Zhao

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My name is Yucheng Zhao I am currently a student from Pasadena City College who is majoring in Computer Science. I am interested in building games and software development. I don’t have any experience in doing research but I have taken an AP Course during high school. I am very passionate about things related to computers.

Meet the Mentors of Cohort 2

As a research participant you will work alongside Faculty and Student mentors.

Student Mentors

aagam_headshot

Aagam Rajeev Shah

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Aagam is a doctoral student studying Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he works with Dr. Sameh Tawfick and Dr. Elif Ertekin. He develops data-driven predictive models for graphene synthesis by chemical vapour deposition and laser powder bed fusion. He also works on using machine learning for segmentation of electron and optical microscopy images.

Isiah-Ramos_Student-Mentor_Photo_12-15-22

Isiah Ramos

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Isiah Ramos (he/him) is a graduate student in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign under Dr. Elif Ertekin. He previously earned his B.S. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering with a minor in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois, as well as an associates in Engineering at Parkland Community College. Previous research experiences include but aren’t limited to; impact of influenza on remyelination of neurons, composing a review on graphene-lipid biosensors, and SEM masking for model training.

Justice robinson

Justice Robinson

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Justice Robinson is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill pursuing a B.S. in Neuroscience with minors in Chemistry and Biology. She graduated with an Associate degree in Biology from Tulsa Community College in Tulsa, Oklahoma as an Honors Scholar and Barry Goldwater Scholarship recipient. She holds a current position as a Research Assistant with the Frohlich Lab at UNC School of Medicine where she assists in studying neural oscillations and psychiatric illnesses.

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Kat Nykiel

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Kat Nykiel is a graduate student working with Dr. Alejandro Strachan at Purdue University. Her research focuses on density-functional theory simulations to predict stability of atomically thin materials. Prior to Purdue, Kat completed a double major in Materials Engineering and Applied Physics in her undergraduate degree.

Sophia Barber

Sophia Barber

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Sophia Barber is a Neurobiology major and CS minor at the University of California, San Diego. She spent her time at Pasadena City College co-leading the NanoBio mAB for Cancer Therapies project, the Analysis of Remote Research in COVID-19 project, and the Student Engagement and Statistical Analysis team while also tutoring Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. In 2021 she pursued an internship at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine where she worked with mice models to identify neurogenesis and neuroplasticity in α1A adrenergic receptors. Sophia then joined the Wu Lab at UCSD where she first studied chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathies and now tracks lysosomes and mitochondria across various disease models. She also collaborates with the Berns Lab at UCSD where she studies Wallerian degeneration upon laser ablation in dorsal root gangions.

Faculty Mentors

Adarsh-Radadia_Faculty-Mentor-Photo_12-2-22

Adarsh Radadia

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Adarsh Radadia Adarsh Radadia is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Nanosystems Engineering at Louisiana Tech University and is also affiliated with the Institute for Micromanufacturing and the Center for Biomedical Engineering. He joined Louisiana Tech in 2011 and prior he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois in 2009. Prof. Radadia’s research interests include surface characterization and modification of carbon nanomaterials, the microfabrication of chemical and biological sensors, 3D printing conductive nanocomposites, and wireless passive sensing. Undergraduate students in his lab learn to use experimental tools for photolithography, metal deposition, chemical vapor deposition, probe station, or scanning electron microscopy. Undergraduate students also learn to use complementary computational tools such as COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate device behavior.

Aron-Kamajaya_Fac.-Mentor-Pic_12-6-22

Aron Kamajaya

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Aron Kamajaya is a faculty and the director of the ASPIRE Biotechnology Training Program at Los Angeles Pierce College, CA. Dr. Kamajaya began his non-traditional academic path at Pasadena City College (PCC). Upon completing Biotech certification at PCC, he transferred and completed 2 Bachelor's Degrees at UC Berkeley with honors and the highest distinction in both majors. He is also the recipient of the 2009 Jesse Rabinowitz Memorial Prize for junior research Biochemistry. He then moved back to Southern California to complete his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the California Institute of Technology, working on membrane protein structure (Trp channels and Piezo Channels), under Dr. Douglas C. Rees. He is now leading the development of a Biotechnology training program and expanding research opportunities for community college students as a tenured faculty at Pierce College. His group currently focuses on industry-relevant projects, such as enzyme Biomanufacturing (Taq, Pfu, and others), formulation, and Nanobody Engineering. Dr. Kamajaya also provides mentorships to students in various academic research projects in biological sciences, including DNA barcoding and Tiny Earth. Dr. Kamajaya has involved community college students in productive research projects that have led to peer-reviewed publications (DOI:10.1016/j.str.2014.08.009, and DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2019.00499). Dr. Kamajaya is the faculty (Pierce College) representative to InnovATEBIO, MNT-EC, and BioMADE

Ozgur-Cakmak_Faculty-Mentor_Photo_12-25-22

Atilla Ozgur Cakmak

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Atilla Ozgur Cakmak got his PhD from Bilkent University, Turkey in 2012. He was a member of Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU) from 2013 to 2021 where he taught various courses in the field of nanotechnology. Dr. Cakmak joined Grand Valley State University as an assistant professor of electrical engineering in 2021. Dr. Cakmak’s expertise and interest lie in the field of nanophotonics, solar cells, nanofabrication and nanocharacterization.

Cait Cramer

Cait Cramer

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Cait Cramer is Engineering faculty at Highline College in Des Moines, Washington. Cait earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering for Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2012 and moved to Phoenix, AZ to work at Intel as a Process Engineer in Chemical Vapor Deposition & Quality Engineer in Defect Metrology. In 2014, she returned to school to complete a Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Washington. Her research involved roll-to-roll printing of flexible solar cells, screen printing of metallic inks for semi-transparent electrodes and electrode grid optimization. For the last five years, Cait has taught Mechanical Engineering Technology in Indiana where she managed several research projects related to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) including MEMS packaging design and prototyping, strain gauge printing and optimization, and the development of hands-on kits for data acquisition of MEMS sensors. Having now returned to Washington state, she looks forward to bringing Micro and Nanotechnology research into her Engineering classroom.

Dominic Salerno_Mentor Photo_3-4-22

Dominic M. Salerno

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Dr. Dominic M. Salerno is a tenured assistant professor of biology at The Community College of Philadelphia. He also serves on the Biotechnology committee, which seeks to develop further training and research capabilities at CCP. He continues to pursue a program of research and training through grant funding and collaborations. Through a recent Department of Defense Grant, CCP Foundation Grant, and a Department of Education RISE (Raising Interest in Science and Engineering) Grant, he developed a research training course which aims to retain students in STEM fields of study as well as investigate the effectiveness of using a research based laboratory courses. Dr. Salerno has served as the academic coordinator of The Biomedical Technician Training Program since 2018. He serves as academic coordinator, mentor, and also trains students directly in the laboratory. He currently is (2021) serving as Co-PI on an NSF grant entitled “Expansion, Curriculum Evolution, and Enhancement of Biotechnician Training” which seeks to improve this already outstanding program.

Research Activities, Interest and Experiences:

Research Activities, Interest, and Experiences: The role of P-TEFb on HIV replication and T Cell activation, antigen presentation using a mouse model of smallpox, innate immunity and inflammation in a mouse model of septic shock. Currently interested in studying the microbial composition of surface waters in Philadelphia county. Connection to Personal Interests or Passions: Interested in training the next generation of scientists and building undergraduate research programs. Loves to cook, garden, ski, snorkel and travel.

James Hewlett_Faculty Mentor Photo_2-25-22

James Hewlett

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Professor Hewlett currently serves as the Director of Biotechnology/ Biomanufacturing at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, NY. In addition to teaching, he serves as the Executive Director/Principal Investigator for the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI) and a Co-PI on the InnovATE BIO National Center for Biotechnology Education.

Professor Hewlett serves on the Editorial Board of the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science and the Editorial Board of The American Society of Cell Biology's CBE Life Sciences Education journal. He serves on the Advisory Board for Rochester Institute of Technology's Center for Bioscience Education and Technology (CBET) and is a member of the Steering Committee for the University of Georgia's RCN-UBE Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences Network (CUREnet).

The current research in Professor Hewlett's lab focuses on optimizing the production of fungal exopolysaccharides using a submerged fermentation of fungal mycelium in stirred-tank reactors.

Yu Chung Chang

Yu Chung Chang

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Yu-Chung Chang-Hou obtained her Ph.D. in mathematics from UCLA. During her postdoc at New York University and at Caltech, she co-developed a level-set method for computing multi-phase flows, which has generated a lot of excitements in the computational fluid dynamics community. Besides teaching mathematics at Pasadena City College, she has devoted herself to developing effective teaching and learning strategies. Encouraging students to showcase their STEM learning with real life applications, she has initiated and led the annual Pi Day Student Conferences at Pasadena City College since 2013. She has participated in the Undergraduate Research program at PCC in STEM fields since 2020. Currently, she is participating in a blockchain research project in molecular dynamics led by Professor Strachan at Purdue University, and the MATE ROV team of Pasadena City College.

Elif Ertekin

Elif Ertekin

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Elif Ertekin is Associate Professor, Andersen Faculty Scholar, and Director of Mechanics Programs at the Mechanical Science and Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She focuses on developing a microscopic understanding of atomic and electronic scale processes, with applications areas in thermal transport, energy conversion, and defect chemistry. She received her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley, and carried out post-doctoral work at the Berkeley Nanoscience and Nanoengineering Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before moving to Illinois. She has received the NSF CAREER Award, the TMS Early Career Faculty Fellow Award, the Emerging Leader Award from the Society of Women Engineers, the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, and the Rose Award for Teaching Excellence at Illinois. She currently serves as the Director of the Network for Computational Nanotechnology Nanomanufacturing Node and Co-Director of the HDR Institute for Data-Driven Dynamical Design.

Neda Habibi

Neda Habibi

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Dr. Neda Habibi has a PhD in Nano-biotechnology specializing in Bionanomaterials and drug delivery. She received her PhD degree from the University of Genova, Italy in 2012. From 2012 to 2016, she was Assistant Professor with Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Institute at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran.

She is an alumna of the Division of Engineering in Medicine and Renal Division of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard University where she was visiting Assistant Professor at Dr. Shafiee’s Laboratory. From 2016, she has been a research assistance professor with Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Prior to join UNT, she was coordinating a Nano-engineering program at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio.

Her works have been published in prestigious journals such as NanoToday, Advanced Functional Materials, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research and Collides and Surfaces. As a program coordinator, she has been involved in couple of grants from National Science Foundation NSF as both PI and Co-PI with more than $9.3M in total, towards variety of different academic activities such as interacting with graduate and undergraduate students, establishing her research area, collaboration with other faculty members as well as industrial partners. 

Tanya Faltens

Tanya Faltens

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Dr. Tanya Faltens is the Assistant Director of Community Engagement for the Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN), which created the open access nanoHUB.org cyber-platform. Her technical background is in Materials Science and Engineering (Ph.D. UCLA 2002). Dr. Faltens taught materials engineering courses and mentored undergraduate research students while at Cal Poly Pomona. Now at Purdue University, she runs the NCN Undergraduate Research Experience (NCN-URE) Program, and has worked with over 130 undergraduate research students.

TJ Sego

T.J. Sego

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Dr. Sego’s overarching research seeks to build and enable informative and predictive mathematical and computational models and simulations of complex biological systems on the basis of individual, dynamic, interacting cells, and in the context of whole organisms in homeostatic and diseased states. Dr. Sego’s basic research interests focus on the coordination and action of the human immune response to viral infections, especially in the context of spatially resolved, dynamic multicellular systems and lung epithelial and endothelial tissues. Dr. Sego uses computational models to elucidate the mechanisms of tissue-, organ- and organism-level host-pathogen interactions on the basis of individual, autonomous, interacting, spatially located cells, and likewise to describe the properties, processes and interactions of those cells on the basis of dynamic, interacting subcellular states. Dr. Sego leverages his multidisciplinary background to develop computational modeling and simulation technologies and infrastructure targeting multicellular, agent-based and multiscale modeling, interactive and high-performance simulation, and collaborative and community-driven research projects.

Previous Cohorts

Meet the participants of past MNT-CURN cohorts and see the final research projects.