Future of Research
High school students exposed to engineering research at ECU
In continuing efforts to study electrical activity in the brain, Dr. Sunghan Kim had a thought to give high school students a glimpse into hands-on university research.
“The whole idea is to expose them to this type of research so that they may do it again later,” said Kim, an associate professor in East Carolina University’s Department of Engineering. “At the same time, selfishly speaking, I want to promote neuroscience, and I just want to show that it’s cool and they might want to consider engineering in the College of Engineering and Technology.”
Meredith Phillips, left, adjusts the sensors on the head of Camille Stewart as the high school students get a glimpse into university research.
Kim is recording and processing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals to develop a platform that can monitor subtle changes of the brain due to various cognitive deficits such as sleep deprivation, dementia, anxiety, schizophrenia, ADHD or normal age-related cognitive deficits. The goal is to provide a tool for doctors and nurses to quantify changes earlier so treatment can begin sooner.
As part of this process, Kim and his team use a cap with sensors to measure the brain’s electrical activity. With many college students returning to their hometowns for the summer, Kim decided to use the break to have high school students get some research experience by helping with the work.
“I like actually putting the electrodes on the brain and figuring out how the equipment works with the programming in order to capture those signals that we need and then how to interpret those signals,” said Meredith Phillips, a rising senior at Pitt County’s Innovation Early College High School. “That’s what is fun to me, interpreting them to figure out what the data mean.”
Camille Stewart, also a rising senior, said Kim gave a presentation at the early college and asked if anyone was interested in spending a few hours a week on the project.
“Mostly everyone in this research project wants to do neuroscience, so it’s a good way to further our study so we know exactly what we want to do in our future,” Stewart said.
Krishna Patel is a rising junior with two years of high school remaining but jumped at the opportunity to be part of the project.
“It exposes us to research and that’s something I haven’t experienced in the past,” she said. “Having this opportunity, it can help me with more research in the future.”
Kim gives the students about an hour of instruction and lecture each week and provides reading materials as well. They’ll spend another hour or two each week on the hands-on research.
ECU engineering student Keaton Caldwell adjusts a sensor cap on Camille Stewart during a research session.
Keaton Caldwell, an ECU senior engineering major with a concentration in biomedical engineering, works with Kim as part of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program. The federal program is designed to address a National Science Foundation priority to increase the number of STEM degrees awarded to underrepresented populations.
Caldwell said she has enjoyed passing her knowledge and experience to the high school students.
“It’s what they could expect to experience once they get to college and start pursuing their degree in engineering,” Caldwell said. “They’re meeting with me, somebody that already has a little bit of experience, to help them and be a role model to them in a way. I actually enjoy having this leadership role and seeing them learn new things and using the information that I have to teach them and help them out.”
Caldwell is interested in writing about research in medical journals and said explaining complex subjects to the high school students fits perfectly with her goals.
“Having hands-on experience of what’s going on would be really beneficial so you know how to tell other people about what engineers are doing and make it so that everybody can understand it,” she said. “Having that experience, you need to understand first before you can explain it to anybody else.”
Beyond the research, Caldwell said she’s excited about the prospect that the high school students she’s helping to mentor may decide to attend ECU for engineering.
“I think it would be really cool because for me, I wasn’t really sure about what I wanted to do when I came to college,” said Caldwell, who grew up in Thomasville. “I feel like this is giving them an idea to let them decide. I think it’d be a great thing if they’re interested in it, but I think this was an opportunity for them to decide if this is something that they’re really interested in or not.”