Students Drive Development of Their Own Research Ideas

Every year, hundreds of high school students produce spectacular and remarkable research that enters the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) or the Siemens Science and Engineering Fair. This research is original research in topics most high-schoolers never learn in class -- knot-theory, nanoparticles, or cancer detection systems. The point is: if a high school student is capable of this kind of amazing research, why not a sophomore, junior, or senior at Georgia Tech?

In twenty years, the vast majority of research being conducted by students should be entirely original research. Students will not simply join into a lab group but will rather approach professors with their own ideas. Big ideas no longer will come from the top to the bottom but will be encouraged and sought after from every person. How can Tech achieve this?

  • Expose students earlier to the problems engineers are trying to solve. This should be addressed in class.
  • Make it possible one day for a BME, ME, BioChem and MSE student to get together to build a revolutionary stent or a hearing aid. In other words, allow students who are interested in solving a particular problem to find each other. Make a website that matches people with research interests. An eHarmony for researchers.
  • Give every student/group a graduate mentee to work with (This may inspire the graduate student) 
  • In addition to the Honors program, create a somewhat selective "Research Program." In this program, students with similar research interests will live together. Students will naturally share their ideas and come together to form groups that address problems.
  • Give students credit for coming up with ideas. Often times, students that have ideas are not at a level where they can carry them out.

 

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Comment (1)

Very Appropriate Submitted by Anonymous on Wednesday January 6, at 5:02 pm

I agree with this idea 100%! I feel that the Institute takes pride in its professional research conducted by professors and GTRI (and other avenues), but i never hear of student research. When i was in high school I participated in such Math, Science and Engineering Fairs and competed on the state level. Looking back on the original thoughts of my project and research I'm in awe to have produced such a practical and relevant solution to industrial problems. Now if I could do that as a Junior, how come I can't do this now at Tech. I also agree with having a site that helps students meet other students with similar interest and be paired up rather than having to do everything ourselves. I'm very interested in performing research that will culminate in a Senior Thesis but I'm solely responsible for getting it all done myself. This new Research venture undoubtably enhances the culture of research and the undergraduate experience. The Institute also makes mention that so many students participate in Co-ops but with new intitiative we can bolster that every graduate of the Institute is capable of Independent Research and orignal work at any level.