Undergraduate Research Leads to Greater Success
As a high school senior, Kale Stephenson knew he wanted to go into engineering, but wasn’t sure of which engineering discipline to choose. Then he became involved in materials science engineering research with Professor David Bahr, and the rest, you could say is history. “I liked that materials science was a very science oriented engineering,” said Stephenson. Stephenson, who grew up in Pullman, hadn’t considered staying in his hometown for school, but while working in Bahr’s lab, he got the chance to speak to a few graduate students. “They told me that if I was planning on going on with graduate school that I should do my undergrad closer to home and from there it was an easy decision to make – WSU has a better materials science program than UW and I was already doing research here!” Stephenson hit the ground running once he began in earnest as a WSU student, participating in two NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs examining the characteristics of high-energy ion implanted titanium alloys to ultimately increase the ware resistance in metal for medical implants. “Kale's one of the students that is fun to work with, he's inquisitive and a self starter,” Bahr said. “He's someone that is good at writing, setting up experiments, troubleshooting, and in general a good problem solver.” In addition to research, Stephenson is an active member of Material Advantage, a student society designed specifically for students enrolled in materials science engineering. With a membership in Material Advantage, students gain access to four professional societies within the material sciences: The America Ceramic Society (ACerS), Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST), ASM International, and The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS). In March 2008 Stephenson was able to merge his REU research findings with his membership in MA by presenting his research at The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) Conference in New Orleans. He was all of a sudden thrust into the spotlight and fielding questions from panels and audience members alike. He did such a good job; they thought he was a PhD candidate. “People kept asking me if I was a PhD student – I kept saying, ‘no, no, no – I’m an undergraduate!’” he said. Stephenson did more than just impress the judges at the TMS Conference – he made critical contacts – in fact his session chair at the event will soon be his faculty chair at the University of Michigan where he will begin graduate school this summer. The work was so impressive that it went beyond the conference and will appear in the May 2009 edition of the Journal of Nuclear Materials. “I always wanted to go to a top 10 program for graduate school, and because of my networking, I will not only do that, but I will have a full research assistantship,” he said. As a member of Material Advantage, Stephenson not only gained very important conference experience, he was also able to help teach junior high school students about what materials science engineering is all about. Last year for example, MA students went to their former junior high schools to help explain elements found on the WaSL exam such as density and electrical conductivity with special tool kits they assembled to illustrate certain phenomena. Another example is the “Breakinator,” a system students designed that, well, breaks things so that third through fifth graders can better- understand materials science and its applications. Creating an unparalleled Undergraduate Experience The College of Engineering and Architecture continues to champion undergraduate research opportunities: boasting four NSF- supported REU sites and the NSF funded CURE (Cougar Undergraduate Research Experience) program for getting students started in research. This makes WSU the Northwest leader in NSF sponsored undergraduate research sites, said Bob Olsen, associate dean of undergraduate and student services. “In these trying budgetary times these are investments that clearly pay off in the long run,” Bahr said. “These types of experiences are viewed as ‘extra,’ but in reality they are often the most transformative experiences of a student's career at WSU.” While recognizing all his hard work, Stephenson also credits the opportunities presented to him as a student and the faculty expertise at WSU to his success. “It’s a big decision to go into engineering and you have to enjoy it because it’s hard work,” he said. “The faculty are excellent and will do anything to help you. You’ll get out of the program what you put into it. “In the end I want to contribute to society – I guess that’s really the end goal of engineering, right?” |
