High School Students Begin Summer Engineering Research

On Monday, June 18, Brody Bishop, an aerospace engineering enthusiast who became a pilot at twelve, and Mei Lao, who in her free time explores the links between Alzheimer’s and populations of genocide survivors, joined 31 other high school students in the biggest and most impressive cohort yet of USC Viterbi’s SHINE program. Summer High School Intensive in Next-Generation Engineering is a seven-week research-intensive introduction to the various engineering departments and labs at USC. Monday saw the 33 SoCal high school students selected for SHINE18 journeying together with their families to USC’s University Park Campus for Day 1 of SHINE. The day’s festivities included welcoming the students and their families with an overview of USC Viterbi’s scope of research programs and a tour of the University Park Campus. After meeting their Professors and Ph.D. mentors over lunch, the SHINE students toured the lab they will be working in over the summer, said goodbye to their families, and attended lab safety training in preparation for their work this summer.   

The cohort of SHINE18 is an impressive and diverse lot. It consists of rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors from 29 different SoCal schools—all together with an average un-weighted GPA of 3.9. The group is 52% female, 48% male, and we are proud to welcome four first-generation scholarship students selected through our multi-year collaboration with the TELACU Education Foundation and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce's Linked Learning. This year’s cohort travels to the USC Campus from as far away as Irvine, the Pacific Palisades, and Rancho Cucamonga. 

On August 2, the SHINE program will culminate with a poster session during which the SHINE students will share what they learned over the summer with their families, friends, and lab mates. Come see what Brody, Mei, and the rest of the cohort come up with!