This is my paper's pdf version.
D. Reeping, S. Padhye, and N. Rashedi, “A Process for Systematically Collecting Plan of Study Data for Curricular Analytics,” presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, pp. 1–20.
This is the work I presented at the Protege Symposium towards the end of Summer where I won the Herman Schneider Best Paper Award for my research and achievements over the Summer.
On-Campus Co-op 1 (Fall 2022)
Welcome
This was my very first Honors experience at UC. When I started work as a Research Assistant, I got an email about enrolling for this course. Initially, I didn't really think it was a big deal. But over the course of the Fall 2022 semester, I found this course extremely useful.
As you work, you don't really care to take a moment and review how far you have come from when you started, or areas where you need to improve. But, this course has guidelines in the form of assignments where I was told to talk to my supervisor, in my case the PI on my research project, and establish SMART goals for myself and use those to gauge my development. I was also asked to have check-ins with the course instructor to evaluate if I have made sufficient progress towards my goals and to see how my work evolved with me.
This course really helped me to understand and improve upon my strengths and my shortcomings. In fact, for the Spring 2023 semester, I have enrolled for the 2nd part of this course which will help me achieve similar goals in my work as an SI Leader.
On-Campus Co-op 2 (Spring 2023)
This was the 2nd on-campus co-op experience I had. This time, I chose to be a Supplemental Instruction (SI) Leader and help out my peers in Calculus-based Physics 1. I took the class during my 1st semester at UC, but a lot of my friends and peers took the class in their 2nd semester. So, I thought that I could use my experience and help them to ace this difficult freshman class. The class I took alongside this was quite similar to the 1st On-Campus Co-op class except this time, it focused more heavily on professional development than just the work. I feel that this made the class feel better than the 1st in the series since it shed more light on different aspects of how to make my career progress.
As a Supplemental Instruction (SI) Leader, my primary responsibility was to lead group study sessions for the students enrolled in the Physics 1 class. These sessions were held twice a week and were designed to be interactive, collaborative, and engaging. I worked closely with the course instructor to ensure that the sessions complemented the material covered in class and provided students with a deeper understanding of the subject matter. In addition, I also created study materials such as review sheets, practice problems, and quizzes that students could use to reinforce their learning.
Being a SI Leader was a fulfilling experience as it allowed me to not only help my peers but also develop important leadership and communication skills. It was challenging to cater to the diverse learning styles and abilities of the students, but I learned how to adapt my teaching strategies to meet their needs. Moreover, I had to effectively communicate complex concepts in a way that was easy for the students to understand. These skills have been valuable in my personal and professional life and have given me the confidence to take on leadership roles in the future. Overall, being a SI Leader was an enriching experience that allowed me to make a positive impact on the academic journey of my peers while also enhancing my own skills and knowledge
Learning Academic Writing (Spring 2023)
My experience as an Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) on Dr. Reeping's NSF Project "SUCCESS" proved to be a transformative journey in academic writing and research. As a co-lead of the URA team, I actively contributed to a research paper by detailing our unique data collection procedures and showcasing my coding and automation skills. Immersing myself in previous research papers, I gained insight into effective presentation techniques, enabling me to articulate my thoughts seamlessly within the paper's constraints. This experience also nurtured my ability to navigate the realm of research literature, an invaluable skill that proved instrumental during my subsequent summer research on superconducting nanoelectronics. Beyond honing my academic writing prowess, this opportunity exposed me to essential aspects of collaboration, research literacy, and quant/qualt analysis. By regularly reflecting on my progress and setting specific goals, I sharpened my communication skills and developed the confidence to present our research findings. Ultimately, this experience laid a solid foundation for my future research endeavors, empowering me with a diverse range of skills and knowledge in academic writing and research practices.
The output of this experience was 2 research papers: one discussing the data collection procedures, and the other one detailing the outputs of the first year of this SUCCESS project and the data collection phase's results.
Protege Summer Undergraduate Research (Summer 2023)
This program was the only one that allowed me to explore research in interdisciplinary fields, and only engineering freshmen can apply for this. I was very fortunate to be one of almost 20 students selected for this. I worked with Dr. Evgeny Mikheev, Assistant Professor in the Physics Department and Dr. Marc Cahay, Head of ECE department for 15 weeks during the Summer. My project focused on superconducting nanoelectronics with perovskite oxides. These are a type of material that haven't been researched as much as others like Silicon, Sapphire etc. but have very interesting properties and applications in the superconducting and quantum computing fields.
My research goals were to design microscale patterns that Dr. Mikheev would etch on chips, namely Strontium Titanate (STO) and Niobium thin films on STO and Sapphire. I would then use these chips and test them on a probe station in his lab. These measurements would then be used to inform fabrication procedures.
Along the way, I learnt a ton of new things. Since thew professor just recently joined UC, he had new instruments and devices coming in almost every other day. I was able to get experience setting up a lab- from receiving and calibrating new instruments to writing drivers for them and using those drivers to automate measurements in Python. I also got the opportunity to learn soldering, making custom lab packages with measurement automation scripts, instruments etc. and cleanroom fabrication.
Overall, this was a very well-rounded experience and I learnt a lot of new things. I am continuing research with his group. In the Fall of 2023, there are new students joining the group for postdoc, graduate studies and even undergraduates. We are also going to get a cryocooler delivery and a dilution refrigerator later in the year. I am very excited for upcoming research with his group and I look forward to collaborating with his group throughout my undergraduate studies.