Professor Ed Thackston and Engineering student Amy Mawk discuss her team's research on the level and source of bacteria in Davidson County streams.

Taking samples of streams around Nashville to figure out what animals might be polluting the water might seem like an odd summer job for a college student to choose.
       But for Vanderbilt engineering students Amy Mawk and Pongsiri ("Eng") Prachyarantanawooti, it was an ideal way to earn summer wages while exploring the world of engineering research.
       Amy and Eng were two of 24 students who participated in the Engineering Undergraduate Summer Research Program last summer. The program, which was established to give undergraduates the opportunity to work directly with faculty and graduate students on an active research project, has become an increasingly popular summer option for students since its inception three years ago.
       "This year we had twice as many applicants as we had available positions," says Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Frederick R. Haselton. "Students are responding enthusiastically to the opportunity to spend the summer discovering new dimensions of engineering."
       Haselton, who has directed the program for the past two years, also points out that the program helps interest undergraduates in eventually pursuing graduate studies. "Students get a taste of graduate-level research through the summer program, and often it whets their appetites for further study."
       Part of the program requirement is to present results of the study to faculty in a format suitable for presentation at a scientific meeting. Students prepared their results at the Summer Research Poster Session held Sept. 7 at the Science and Engineering Building. Engineering faculty reviewed their displays and discussed their work with the students, and Dean Kenneth F. Galloway awarded Summer Research Fellow certificates in a recognition ceremony.
       Projects ranged from sampling and characterizing potentially contaminated soils and sediments from the Savannah River Site to creating interactive educational programs for the biomedical optics field.
       Summer fellows receive a stipend of $3,000 for the summer and $600 to help with living expenses. The fellows are selected on the basis of their proposals they submitted for projects chosen by School of Engineering faculty. Twenty faculty members, representing all engineering departments, participated in this year's program.