L to R: SHINE Students Sarah, Tobias, Brody, and Skyler.
L to R: SHINE Students Jessica, Mei, Ashley, Jessica, and Phoebe.
It was a beautiful sunny day when SHINE students gathered together with other summer researchers on the E-quad to celebrate the 4th of July this Monday, 7/2/18. The sounds and smells of summer were all around. Hotdogs, hamburgers, and cheeseburgers sizzled on the grill; Frisbees and footballs sailed through the air; and dance music grooved from the DJ booth. Young engineers from the greater SoCal area and around the country were there to relax, mingle, and beat the heat with design-your-own ice cream sundaes.
L to R: SHINE Students Marcus, Alex, Luke, and Manaeha.
L to R: SHINE Students Maylin, Erica, Iris, Anouk, Stephanie, and Brian.
The young engineers present at the BBQ deserved this break. They are participants in research programs taking place at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering over summer 2018. Together with their research faculty and Ph.D. and postdoctoral mentors, the high school researchers from the SHINE program and the undergraduate participants of the SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) daily conduct cutting-edge research and experiments. They spend their days in the lab running tests, writing code, and performing calculations on some of the most socially significant engineering projects of today. So while many could mathematically model the optimal flight path of a tossed Frisbee, they were at the BBQ to have fun and enjoy themselves—and leave the calculations and optimizations for later.