The Rupert Group Outreach Program
Supported by the National Science Foundation through awards:
DMR-2011967 (MRSEC Program)
The underrepresentation of minorities and women within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is an important socioeconomic problem and a great challenge to the scientific community. The Rupert Group Outreach Program aims to motivate and enable students from diverse backgrounds at the high school and undergraduate levels though a multi-tiered approach.
An effective outreach program should at the very least be sustainable, while the best programs find ways to reach progressively larger groups of students with a constant amount of resources. This program accomplishes the latter goal by establishing a network of scholars and mentors through the thrusts described below. An essential component of this work is that the participating students and teachers will permanently remain in our Rupert Group Outreach Program “network” through continued participation in planned events. For example, we host an annual barbeque at Professor Rupert's home, to connect current researchers and summer scholars with past participants who have continued on to achieve graduate degrees and technical employment. We are also working to create a resource database accessible from the group website where past and present participants can connect, to create an additional level of mentoring resources beyond what Professor Rupert can personally provide.
Thrust 1: Rupert Group Summer Scholars
First, to mentor and provide research experiences for students from underrepresented groups, we actively recruit summer researchers from Orange County school districts. In particular, we are interested in engaging students from nearby communities with large minority populations, such as Santa Ana. Whenever possible, we aim to provide these students with paid fellowships to help offset the opportunity cost of forgoing summer employment. In the past, summer research opportunities were out of reach for these students, as they needed to pursue summer employment and did not have the luxury to be unpaid volunteers. The students, Rupert Group Summer Scholars, work with Professor Rupert and senior graduate students on research programs which give them a glimpse of the power of scientific discovery and expose them to cutting-edge research techniques. At the end of the summer, the students give presentations at a Rupert Research Group meeting and often prepare posters to be entered in the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair (OCSEF) and the California State Science Fair (CSSF). Professor Rupert aims to give these students direct research experience, be a mentor who is available at all times to provide career and educational advice, and light a spark of enthusiasm for scientific discovery.
Rupert Group Summer Scholars, 2012 - present (reverse chronological order).
Student |
Time at UCI |
Graduation Year |
High School |
Project Title |
Next Stop |
Dominique Sun |
02/2022 - present |
2023 |
Arnold O. Beckman High School |
Atomistic Analysis Tools |
|
Kirthin Rajkumar |
06/2018 - 09/2018 |
2021 |
Northwood High School |
Computer Modeling of Dislocations |
Student at UCSD |
Snehin Rajkumar |
06/2018 - 09/2018 |
2019 |
Northwood High School |
Ternary Nanocrystalline Alloys |
Student at UCLA |
Maria Zepeda |
06/2014 - 09/2014 |
2014 |
Century High School |
Computer Modeling of Radiation Damage |
Student at UCLA |
Jesus Garcia |
06/2014 - 09/2014 |
2014 |
Saddleback High School |
Nanocrystalline Aluminum Alloys |
Student at UCSD |
Rocky Mandayam |
06/2013 - 09/2014 |
2015 |
Irvine High School |
Atomistic Modeling of Wear Damage |
Student at UC Berkeley |
Meril Tomy |
06/2012 - 09/2013 |
2013 |
University High School |
Electrochemical Deposition of Nanotwinned Cu |
Student at Scripps College |
Thrust 2: Undergraduate Researchers
To address collegiate students, Professor Rupert acts as a faculty mentor for UC Irvine students (often from the California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) program, a University of California initiative to diversify the student population and the future faculty) who want to pursue research challenges within an academic setting. These students are given their own self-contained project that supports the overall goals of the lab. We strongly believe that this autonomy is required to give the student a fulfilling research experience. In addition, the research experience and mentoring from faculty that the undergraduate students receive will help enable their continuation towards graduate STEM degrees. Since prior research experience, solid letters of recommendation, and a coherent view of the scientific method are essential for a winning graduate application, the students we mentor will have the resources needed to be accepted at elite graduate institutions.
Undergraduate Researchers, 2012 - present (reverse chronological order).
Student |
Time at UCI |
Graduation Year |
Major |
Project Title |
Next Stop |
Charles Drew |
06/2022 - present |
2024 |
Materials Science and Engineering |
Automated TEM image analysis |
Syracuse undergraduate |
Gill Tubay |
06/2021 - 09/2021 |
2023 |
Materials Science and Engineering |
Modeling of high entropy alloys |
Michigan undergraduate |
Jingting Chen |
09/2020 - 09/2021 |
2021 |
Materials Science and Engineering |
High entropy alloys |
Cornell Univ. graduate student |
Ian Geiger |
01/2020 - 09/2020 |
2020 |
Materials Science and Engineering |
Bicrystal analysis |
UCI Ph.D. student |
Brenda Cruz |
09/2017 - 06/2018 |
2020 |
Materials Science and Engineering |
Analysis of atomistic models |
UCI undergraduate |
Kelsey Safar |
09/2016 - 08/2017 |
2017 |
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering |
Nanostructured metals |
Saratech |
Jim Mendez-Lopez |
06/2015 - 08/2015 |
2016 |
Mechanical Engineering (UC Merced) |
Crystal orientation coding for LAMMPS |
UC Merced undergraduate |
Carlos Ramirez |
05/2015 - 05/2016 |
2017 |
Mechanical Engineering |
Electrodeposition; Nanocrystalline wear |
Northrop Grumman Corporation |
Jesus Ramos |
09/2013 - 10/2014 |
2015 |
Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering |
Analysis of Molecular Dynamics Simulations |
Northrop Grumman Corporation |
Simon Pun |
09/2013 - 06/2014 |
2014 |
Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science |
Processing of Nanostructured Cu Alloys |
Divergent3D |
Abdullaah Tarif |
05/2013 - 12/2013 |
2015 |
Mechanical Engineering |
Functionally Graded Ceramic-Polymer Composites |
RBC Lubron Bearing Systems |
Trent Nash |
06/2013 - 08/2013 |
2014 |
Mechanical Engineering (UC Riverside) |
Powder Route Processing of Tough Nanocrystalline Alloys |
UC Riverside graduate student |
Daniel Grant |
03/2012 - 06/2013 |
2014 |
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science |
Processing and Thermal Stability of Nanostructured Cu-Zr |
GKN Aerospace |
Andrew Moodie |
01/2012 - 06/2013 |
2013 |
Mechanical Engineering |
3D Printing of Ceramic-Polymer Composites |
Smart Wires Inc. |
Clarita Vargas |
03/2012 - 03/2013 |
2013 |
Aerospace Engineering |
Shear Localization in Nanocrystalline Metals |
UCI undergraduate |
Danny Rodriguez |
07/2012 - 09/2012 |
2013 |
Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering |
Topology of Grain Boundary Networks |
Lockheed Martin |