This summer, more than 80 students and faculty kept campus abuzz with the hum of hands-on field and lab research. The Seaver Summer Research Community’s work covered topics in biology, health and human sciences, mechanical engineering, computer science and more disciplines across the college. With such a diversity of research projects to choose from, we spoke to some of the students about their unique summer experience. Today, we spotlight mechanical engineering major Alessandro “Sandro” Lee ’26, who answered some questions about his work with Summer Opportunities for Advanced Research (SOAR) under the faculty mentorship of mechanical engineering professor Mahsa Ebrahim.
Describe your research in a way that a high school student would understand it.
My research focuses on observing the effectiveness of different liquids in cooling surfaces. This is important for applications such as computers, vehicles, and many more electronic devices. In our case, we observed minuscule droplets of liquids like ethanol and isopropanol using a high-tech camera that can zoom in and capture the droplet. We also track temperatures on an aluminum block that is heated on a hot plate in order to see how much cooling is done with a spray.
Why would someone outside your field be interested in your project?
This project involves everyday appliances that we use and is therefore relevant to anyone who uses electronics. Though it is more useful for technical applications, people outside of engineering can see the usefulness of this project.
What are some of the lessons students learn while working on research?
We learn how to work as a team and learn on the go even if the core principles of our research haven’t been taught to us yet. We get to see our professors work and teach through an actual project, giving us valuable experience that we will carry on to our careers. We also learned to work efficiently in gathering data and making sense of them as we only had a limited time to conduct our research.
How does doing research complement coursework?
Doing research is like applying everything I’ve learned in class and seeing how the principles actually work. I personally learn better by doing projects which is why I enjoyed doing this research. In my case, my research project was a little advanced and involved things that I haven’t learned yet, so it feels like I got a head start. One thing that I appreciate is getting to work closely with my professor who helped guide my group and gave us insight into her work.
What advice would you give to someone on the fence about doing research?
It is an unforgettable experience that will boost your experience and relationships in your field.
Will your work this summer lead to any foreseeable outcomes (i.e. publications, presentations, poster sessions, patent applications, etc.)?
Our work will be part of our professor’s ongoing research paper and will hopefully provide more insight and credibility to what she has already done. We will be doing poster sessions on campus in the future.
Do you plan to continue your project in the future? If so, when?
I do plan on continuing this research during the semesters of my junior and senior years.
Do you have anything you would want to share with current or future donors to the SOAR program?
This program has opened my eyes to fields of the engineering world that I never considered or thought about. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work on advanced research that I wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else.
