The NEWT and Nano REU programs hosted an in-person orientation for the first time since 2019! It was really nice to host students from ASU, Rice and UTEP in Houston again–and we were joined this year by two visiting undergrads from Northern Kentucky University.
After the REUs introduced themselves and their summer projects, we talked about what research means to all of us and where to publish research results.
We also ran a marshmallow challenge as you can see below:
Planning the spaghetti structure
What is the best way to go?
Starting to build the structure
After 18 hectic minutes, the final structures:
The winning team: Yves, Carlos, Jorge, and Sharifa
In second place, David, Hannah, and John
Libby, Chris, Miley, and Olivia
Alma, Alexa, Katya, and Cindy
Melanie, Juan, and Noelia
Michelle, Aislinn, and Jordyn
We ended the first day of orientation sharing dinner together at the South Servery and looking forward to the next day!
Our second day was mainly about strategies to read and understand peer-reviewed papers and, for the Rice REUs, meet their mentors in person and get settled in their labs. Our guests from El Paso and Phoenix flew back home and will be meeting their mentors on Monday. Looking forward to a great summer!
REUs analyzing a research paper.