RESEARCH and INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES!

College of Science and Technology undergraduates can apply for funding to participate in research or internship experiences through a NASA award to the College and through the Office of Research at Fairmont State.

• SciTech SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) and Office of Research SURE students work directly with faculty mentors on independent research projects related to their majors for 4 to 8 summer weeks. 
• SciTech UIP (Undergraduate Internship Program) students work with faculty mentors to set up industrial, laboratory and business professional experiences, ideally during the summer between their junior and senior year.

Research and internship activities supported in 2007 included:

Zach Brewer (Accounting major pursuing pre-medicine studies) worked with faculty mentor Sarah Dodson, biology, on a project jointly funded by SciTech SURE and the Office of Research SURE program.  The project was entitled "Examining the effects of homocysteine on the ability of bone marrow stromal cells to support developing immune cells."

Zachary Campbell (electronics engineering technology major) worked with faculty facilitator Gene Turchin, electronics engineering technology, to design a SciTech UIP project in the Clinical Engineering Department at United Hospital Center.  The on-site supervisors were Brian Cottrill, Director of Clinical Engineering and Joe Robinson also of Clinical Engineering.

Alyssa Childers (biology major) worked with faculty mentor Mark Flood, biology, on a SciTech SURE project entitled "Response of Endothelial Cells to Homocysteine with Smooth Muscle Cell Co-Culture."

Greg Dononoe (chemistry major) worked with faculty mentor Andreas Baur, chemistry, on a SciTech SURE project entitled " Investigation of intracellular homocysteine levels of human umbilical vein endothelial cells by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)."

Joshua Frick (architecture major) worked with faculty facilitator Philip Freeman to design a SciTech UIP project involving an Architectural Internship at LAI, a Morgantown branch of Lakeside Architecture, Inc.  Jason Miller, Project Manager/Graphic Designer served as the on-site supervisor.

Adam Hamrick worked with faculty mentor Jess Cunnick, biology, on a SURE project.

Alan Leary (electronics engineering technology major) worked with faculty facilitator Gene Turchin, electronics engineering technology, to design a SciTech UIP project in the Clinical Engineering facility at Fairmont General Hospital.  The on-site supervisor was John Brolin, manager of Clinical Engineering and David Reedy, also of Clinical Engineering.

Amanda Reed (biology major) worked with faculty mentor Mark Flood on a SciTech SURE project entitled "Determining the Effect of Genotypes on Plasma Homocysteine Levels."

Kristie Rhodes (forensic science major) worked with facutly facilitator Mark Flood to undertake an internship involving attendance at the Forensic Death Investigation course organized through the office of the Chief Medical Examiner, WV Dept of Health and Human Resources. The professional short course was held at Stonewall Jackson Resort March 12-14, 2007, and Kristie's on-site supervisor was Dr. John Carson, Chief Dental Examiner.

Adrienne Riggi (chemistry and biology double major) worked with faculty mentor Andreas Baur on a SciTech SURE project entitled "Investigation of extracellular homocysteine levels of human umbilical vein endothelial cells by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)."

Todd Tichenor (mathematics major) worked with faculty mentor Jeanne Harris on a 4-week SciTech SURE project entitled "A Study of Additive Functions."