{"id":16307,"date":"2023-03-22T15:52:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T15:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/?p=16307"},"modified":"2023-03-22T15:58:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T15:58:22","slug":"engineering-undergrads-conduct-research-in-japan16307","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2023\/03\/22\/engineering-undergrads-conduct-research-in-japan16307\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering Undergrads Conduct Research in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published March 10, 2023 on\u00a0news.fiu.edu.<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Adrienne Sayer<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a biomedical engineering major at Florida International University, Rebekah Arias understands the value of working in multicultural groups. And after spending six weeks last summer at Kochi University of Technology in Japan, she returned with a sense of excitement about the advantages of collaboration on a global scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made me realize just how global research can be,\u201d Arias said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what country you come from or if you can speak the same language. If you have a common goal, you can help each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arias was one of six College of Engineering and Computing students who took part in the International Research Experience (IRES) program, designed to give undergraduate students an opportunity to perform research related to nanotechnology and learn more about the impact that a global perspective can have on technological advances.<\/p>\n

The program, funded through a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, is also intended to increase interest and enrollment in STEM fields, particularly among traditionally underrepresented students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough this program, students had the opportunity to work frequently with faculty and graduate mentors and not only learned many new high-quality research skills, but they got a look at how people from different cultures and backgrounds solve problems. It\u2019s really interesting to see how the thought process differs,\u201d said Chunlei (Peggy) Wang, professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. She is co-director of IRES along with Nezih Pala, professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.<\/p>\n

International collaboration among research scientists has increased significantly in the last decade. According to the NSF, one-quarter of peer-reviewed published papers today have co-authors from multiple countries, up from one out of seven in 2000. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the critical importance of bringing the world\u2019s experts together to quickly develop diagnostic testing, best-practice treatments and vaccines.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very impressed by the science in Japan, particularly coming from a smaller rural school there,\u201d said Vijay Paharia, who is in the accelerated degree program at FIU, pursuing a bachelor\u2019s in mechanical engineering and a master\u2019s in biomedical engineering. \u201cThis was a very specific research journey that led to me being in a publication and presenting in front of a scientific community in Japan. It was a life-changing event for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Lauren Hattaway, a mechanical engineering major, the IRES program allowed her to learn more about nanomaterials and zinc oxide film and made it possible for her to achieve her dream of studying abroad. \u201cI play volleyball at FIU so a study abroad semester was impossible during the school year,\u201d she explained. \u201cWhen the summer opportunity came up, I thought it was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

FIU students Vijay Paharia and Rebekah Arias work in the Kochi University of Technology lab.<\/p>\n

The students worked on research ranging from mist chemical vapor deposition for nanomaterials synthesis to the production and control of reactive plasmas. At the end of the program, each of the students gave poster presentations on their research and faculty mentors assessed their performance using a common rubric.<\/p>\n

In addition to their time in the lab at Kochi University, the students took Japanese language classes, joined other students from China, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Spain and other countries for cross-cultural programs and visited historically significant cities such as Kyoto and Osaka.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe held a 4th of July party and cooked burgers for all of the International House residents, and we went to a middle school and had conversations with students who wanted to improve their English,\u201d Hattaway said. \u201cBut one of my favorite times was when I played volleyball with a few girls. Absolutely none of them knew English so it was an interesting day. We were still able to bond over the love of our sport and it honestly showed me that sports are, in a way, a universal language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paharia, who had traveled to Japan previously and hopes to return to further his studies, also had an experience outside of campus that will always stick with him. \u201cI had expressed my interest in metallurgy and my lab professor took me to meet his friend, who was a knife master. It was a highlight of the trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cultural component of the program is as important as the research itself, said Wang, who added that the trip was the first study abroad experience for each of the participants. After their time in Japan, at least three of the students expressed interest in attending graduate school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope the students who participate will go on to become ambassadors for FIU and with international mentoring and training, they will be prepared for employment in a global industry or company,\u201d she said. \u201cClearly the summer was very memorable and will stand out in their personal and professional development.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally published March 10, 2023 on\u00a0news.fiu.edu. Written by Adrienne Sayer   As a biomedical engineering major at Florida International University, Rebekah Arias understands the value of working in multicultural groups. And after spending six weeks last summer at Kochi University of Technology in Japan, she returned with a sense of excitement about the advantages of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[369,195],"tags":[505,12],"class_list":["post-16307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","category-career-development","tag-fiu","tag-fiu-alumni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16307"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16307"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16311,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16307\/revisions\/16311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}