Malik Smith was one of eight ECC MESA|STEM students who attended an eight-week UCLA student summer research program this past June. He joined other engineering students from Los Angeles-area community colleges to assist researchers in the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science Transfer Student Summer Research Program. Students also attended numerous professional development and networking activities while working and living on campus.
"Working in the lab can be quite inspiring because we get to see how much effort our mentors put into making their ideas tangible," said Malik, an aerospace engineering student and a member of ECC's Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement | Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (MESA|STEM) program. "Also, my mentor showed me when you're creating something you're passionate about, then it's more fun than it is work."
The full-time, summer undergraduate internship is designed specifically for community college students who plan to transfer to a university to study engineering. Each scholar was challenged with extensive hands-on research activities and will have his or her work published in the annual Summer Undergraduate Scholars Program journal. ECC students were supported by a NSF REU UCLA Wireless Health Research Education grant, the Washington Baltimore Hampton Roads-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation grant and the El Camino College Foundation.