FRESHMAN SUMMERRESEARCH INSTITUTE

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Dear Friends, During the Summer of 2019, the Freshman Summer Research Institute hosted22 students - our largest and most diverse cohort of students to date! Thisincluded 10 women, nine Latinx students, and eight African-American students.This program year, students participated in cutting edge research in areasincluding  astrophysics, chemistry, engineering, and neurobiology. FSRI’s comprehensive program is designed to introduce incomingunderrepresented and/or underserved first-year students to Caltech's researchand math curriculum, culture, academic and student support services. Theintegration of orientation and academic support ensure a smoother transitionfrom high school to college while building a strong research foundation. The Freshman Summer Research works collaboratively with our communityand institute partners to create an innovative academic and research-basedprogram that supports underrepresented students from diverse backgrounds aresuccessful in their academic and personal endeavors. We thank you for your continued interest and support of this vital program.

THE FRESHMAN SUMMERRESERACH INSTITUTE

Taso DimitriadisAssociate Director

Caltech Center for Diversity

Monique ThomasProgram Coordinator

Caltech Center for Diversity

ABOUT FSRIThe Freshman Summer Research Institute(FSRI) is designed to introduce incomingunderrepresented and/or underservedfreshmen students to Caltech's research andmath curriculum, culture and college life, andacademic and student support services. Theobjective of the program is to create a "learningcommunity" for students where they candevelop the academic and social skillsnecessary to achieve academic excellenceduring their freshman year. This fully-funded program offers eachparticipant: • A 5-week summer research assignment• A 4-week math-intensive course • Room and board on Caltech’s campus• Group field trips, excursions, and activities• Opportunities to learn and engage in first-year student programing and Caltech culture • A service learning/volunteerism experience

The FSRI five-week residential programattracts highly motivated students frompopulations traditionally underrepresented inscience and mathematics. The program looks atvarious identities including: race/ethnicity,socioeconomic status, and gender identity todetermine eligibility. We also consider thestudents’ high school preparation and theirprevious exposure to math and research. The 2019 FSRI program had record number oftwenty-two student participants: • 10 Female students• 8 Black/African-American students• 9 Latinx and/or Hispanic students• 1 American Indian or Alaska Native student• 4 Asian students• 11 First-generation students• 7 Pell Eligible students• 4 Questbridge students

RESEARCH MENTORSHIP

The 2019 FSRI cohort had a team of twenty-two faculty, postdoctoral scholar, andgraduate student research mentors.

Aaron Ames, Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering and Control andDynamical SystemsDinakar Ramakrishnan, Professor of MathematicsRobert Tanner, Visiting Associate in Chemical EngineeringArpita Roy, Postdoctoral Scholar in AstronomyMuhammad (Arslan) Ahmed, Postdoctoral Scholar in AerospaceAnqi (Angie) Liu, Postdoctoral Scholar in Computing and Mathematical SciencesMichael Kuhn, Postdoctoral Scholar in AstronomyAmruta Jaodand, Postdoctoral Scholar in PhysicsMauro Rodriguez Jr, Postdoctoral Scholar in Mechanical and Civil EngineeringQuanying Liu, Postdoctoral Scholar in Computing and Mathematical SciencesStephen Appert, Mechanical Engineer – LIGO CaltechChristopher Barnes, Postdoctoral Scholar in Biology and Biological EngineeringSahil Shah, Postdoctoral Scholar in Electrical EngineeringMaegan Tucker - Graduate Student, Mechanical EngineeringClaudia Kann, Graduate Student – Mechanical EngineeringLeah Ginsberg, Graduate Student – Mechanical EngineeringKyle Virgil, Graduate Student – ChemistryKarli Holman, Graduate Student – ChemistrySarah Sam, Graduate Student – NeurobiologyCaitlin Lacker, Graduate Student – ChemistrySilken Jones, Graduate Student – AerospaceNewton Nguyen, Graduate Student – Environmental Science & Engineering

Each FSRI participant is carefully matchedwith a research mentor. Participants havethe opportunity to work on engagingresearch projects with their mentors, andconnect with other postdoctoral fellows,graduate students, and undergraduatestudents who work in Caltech/JPLlaboratories during the summer. As amember of the Caltech researchcommunity, FSRI participants attend groupmeetings, present their findings, and learnabout the ongoing work of their assignedresearch group. In addition to technical skillbuilding, the FSRI participants learnimportant skills on how to collaborate in alab setting and present their research tocolleagues and peers.

The students enjoyed collaborating withtheir mentors and lab groups to learn newskills and techniques in the lab environment.Many of the students found that in theprocess of research, things do not always goas planned, and they learned to develop newstrategies for problem solving and new waysfor addressing challenges. Others found aclearer sense of direction in the academicfields they may want to pursue. The studentshad the opportunity to present their findingsand share their experiences in lab, whilebuilding their presentation skills andanswering questions in front of the Caltechcommunity. As a collective, the FSRIparticipants learned computer programmingskills, lab techniques, and contributed toresearch discussions with mentors and labgroups.

In addition to working in a laboratory, FSRIparticipants attend weekly research seminarsgiven by faculty or staff from the JetPropulsion Laboratory (JPL). Speakersprepare their talks for students at all levelsand in all disciplines to provide a full scopeof the work carried out at the Institute andNASA's JPL. FSRI participants also have anopportunity to interact with faculty in a moreinformal space at summer faculty-studentlunches. Many of these faculty members willbe teaching core-curriculum courses, thusthese interactions are important andbeneficial.

"Before this, I did not understand the nature ofresearch and how one goes about conducting it. Ifeel that I now have a much better perception ofwhat it actually is. For this reason, I am gratefulfor the opportunity that FSRI gave to me."

2019 RESEARCHPROJECTS

An Inverse Analysis: Characterizing Mechanical Properties of Biofilms through Single-Cell Indentation / Evan Dicker

Assistive Technology / Diana Frias-Franco & Annabel Gomez

Characterization of Cylinders for Thermal Ignition Tests / Esmir Mesic

Creating a Mask for G-Type Stars / Elsa Palumbo

Exploring Self-Healing of Passivated Perovskite Solar Cells / Ismail Elmengad

Human Driving Behavior and Brain Signal Analysis / Sandra Chea & Makena Rodriguez

Measuring Methane, CO2, and NO2 from Space / Aubrey Stevens

My LIGO Experience / Daniel Contaldi

Neural Decoding with Linear Filtering / Joshua Rosenberg

Ni-catalyzed Reductive Cross Coupling Using Triflates / Robin McDonald

On the Effects of Near-Field Compressibility and Elasticity on Bubble Oscillations / Chase Blagden

Pd-catalyzed Cyclization Reactions to Synthesize Noraugustamine / Mahideremariyam Gessesse

Pulsar Exploration with NuSTAR / Tea Freedman-Susskind

Spiking in Enzyme Kinetic Systems / Erik Imathiu-Jones & Nathan Lopez

Structural Characterization of a Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Targeting HIV-1 Env / Aaron Dubin

The Habits of Cortexless Mice / Aanica Gonzales-Rogers & Owen Jenkins

Visualizing Stratified Resolvent Modes in 3-D / Gabriel Aguiar

Young Stellar Objects / Angel Rodrigo Avelar Menendez

MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM

The FSRI participants attend daily mathclasses and evening math workshops thathave been aligned with Caltech's first-yearmath program. The FSRI Mathematicscurriculum is specifically designed to takeadvantage of an intensive summer settingwhile preparing the FSRI student for researchand the transition into the Caltech’s mathcurriculum. The four week-long modules forthe FSRI Math course are: Set Theory &Logic; Differential & Integral Calculus; LinearAlgebra; and Ordinary DifferentialEquations.   These topics were chosen to prepare studentsfor the mathematics they may see in theirsummer research experiences and to preparethem for much of the rigorous topics taughtin the first two years of Caltech’s requiredmathematics sequence. Based on previousassessments, statistically FSRI studentsperform significantly better than theirmatched counterparts in first year mathscores. This success can be directly attributedto the preparation, exposure, and trainingthey receive during their intensive summercourse. Instructionally, the course is designedas a hybrid lecture/workshop model.   Basic definitions and concepts are presentedin lecture, and students work in small groupsettings to complete their homeworkassignments and problem sets. Students havea mix of computational and proof-basedassignments, exposing them to the type ofcoursework they will be engaging in duringtheir first quarter at Caltech.  Beyond merelyconstructive correct solutions, students arerequired to present their solutions orally in away that demonstrates their contentknowledge.

The FSRI participants have direct exposureto the expectations of how Caltech definesacademic rigor and math readiness. Studentsget their first glimpse of college midtermsand finals, as well as receiving test scores andfeedback from a college professor andteaching assistants. The students learn how tobetter communicate and ask clarifyingquestions to the lecturer, in addition toseeing the value of proof-based math throughcollaboration. Throughout the summer, thesestudents found themselves learning mathskills and concepts that they did not learn inhigh school in group settings instead ofindependently solving problems.

“It was great being exposed to so many new topicslike stochastic matrices, Fourier series, and non-separable differential equations. I loved theemphasis on proofs, and really enjoyed workshop."

The Freshman Summer Research Institutecreates an engaging and intellectually richresidential experience for students thatextends student learning beyond theclassroom and into the everyday lives of ourstudents. The FSRI Residential Life staff,composed of FSRI alums and graduatestudents, plans and implements weeklyprogramming to help students transition intocollege life and learn about campus-wide andlocal resources. During the program, FSRI participants arepaired with roommates, establishcommunity normative and expectations, anddevelop skills in communication and conflictresolution. The students learn independentliving skills and are better prepared tomanage living away from home andbalancing college life.

The 2019 residential experience was excitingand eventful, as students learned how tobalance research, math, and their personallives while beginning the transition to collegelife. The students enjoyed the ResidentMentors evening events that helped themform bonds and learn about each other andCaltech’s culture. In particular, the groupenjoyed the excursions off campus andexploring the Los Angeles area, as well thesocial opportunities and time making friends.

WELCOME TO CALTECH

"I’ve never been with such an incrediblegroup of people. Everyone was kind and

interesting and exciting and just ingeneral wonderful to be around.Theresearch component and student life

component were immersive and amazing.I’m so grateful to have spent time with

some great people."

“I think this is one of the, i f not the most, beneficial and fun experiences of myacademic career and definitely a great introduction to life at Caltech. There is nothingelse I wish I would’ve done with the past five weeks and I know for a fact that I wouldhave done basically none of this if it wasn’t for FSRI. This has truly been an incredibleexperience.”

STUDENT LIFE

As part of the program, the FSRI participants attend group excursions highlighting Pasadenaand the Los Angeles-area during the weekends of the program. From hiking and biking totrips to the beach and museums, the five-week residential experience provides meaningful,and fun activities to engage the diverse interests of the students. These excursions give FSRIparticipants an opportunity to become familiar with public transportation, cultural events,service-learning opportunities, and community resources. The 2019 FSRI Excursionsincluded:

Exploration at Huntington LibraryService-Learning Experience with Habitat for HumanityStargazing at Griffith ObservatoryVenice and Santa Monica Beach TripGetty VillaLos Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)Pantages Theater Experience - RentJet Propulsion Laboratory Tour Disneyland/California Adventure Trip

SERVICE  LEARNINGThis year’s program featured anexperience working with the SanGabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity.Students had an opportunity toparticipate in activities ranging fromstructural framing and hanging sidepaneling, to painting and managingmaterials and supplies. While beingequipped to have a successful firstyear at Caltech with the necessarymath, research, and independentliving skills required, the opportunityto build a cohort amongst a diversegroup of students has directlytranslated into an increased sense ofself, confidence, and belonging forthese students.

Upon completion of FSRI, these studentsare situated to "hit the ground running"when their first quarter begins and thus,display more self-confidence, leadership,and perseverance than their peers. ManyFSRI alumni hold student leadershippositions, aspire to attain a graduatedegree, and maximize the opportunitiesoffered to them at Caltech.

"We had a lot of unexpected

expenses due to the influx of

product launches and

marketing activities."

"I’ve actually always wanted to try to contributeto some kind of building of a house, but never hadthe opportunity to. Being able to service thecommunity and do something that I’ve never donebefore for a good cause was the most rewardingpart."

DONATE

Your gift will go far to ensure that we continue to develop a morediverse and inclusive community. Contributions from individualshelp us meet the evolving needs of Caltech’s students, researchers,faculty, and staff.

Support the Freshman Summer Research Institute!

To make a contribution, please contact:Checks should be made out to:“Caltech” with “Center for Diversity - FSRI” in the memo line Gifts can also be made online by visiting:

www.caltech.edu/content/annual-giving Click  the “Give Now” buttonWrite-In: “Center for Diversity - FSRI” in the “Other Designation”field

FRESHMAN SUMMER

RESEARCH INSTITUTEThank you to the Twenty-Seven Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, theCrossland Student Success Fund, Mason Smith, and the Andelins fortheir support.

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