Simone joined Wang’s lab team in January 2003 and used a
Provost’s Undergraduate Research
Award grant from the university to spend much of last
summer working on his project. “The chip has tiny wires,
each about one-fifth the diameter of a human hair, embedded
in a circular pattern,” Simone said. “When it’s connected
to a power source, it allows us to generate an electric
field that can transport molecules to a designated area for
study.”
The chips made by Wang and Simone take advantage of the
natural negative charge possessed by DNA or a surface
charge imposed on the molecules. A tiny drop of liquid
containing the DNA is placed atop the chip. The electric
field then guides the molecules to a designated area, where
they can be analyzed under a microscope.
Simone was one of the first students to work in Wang’s new
lab, which focuses on micro electro mechanical systems with
biological applications. “It was fascinating,” Simone said.
“It was like discovering a whole new field of science.”
After graduating in May, Simone hopes to continue his
education in a biomedical engineering doctoral program.
Wang, who now has several other undergraduates working in
his lab, was pleased to see how much these students can
accomplish. “Once they are motivated,” he said, “they do a
really good job.”
On March 11, Steven Knapp, university provost and senior
vice president for academic affairs, hosted the 11th annual
Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards ceremony, which
honored the 41 winners who conducted their projects in the
summer and fall of 2003. Since 1993, about 40 students each
year have received PURA grants of up to $3,000 to conduct
original research, some results of which have been
published in professional journals. The awards, funded
through a donation from the Hodson Trust, are an important
part of the university’s commitment to research
opportunities for undergraduates.
The Johns Hopkins University is recognized as the country’s
first graduate research university, and has been in recent
years the leader among the nation’s research universities
in winning federal research and development grants. The
opportunity to be involved in important research is one of
the distinguishing characteristics of an undergraduate
education at Johns Hopkins.
The Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards program
provides one of these research opportunities, open to
students in each of the university’s four schools with
full-time undergraduates: the Krieger School of Arts and
Sciences, the Whiting School of Engineering, the Peabody
Conservatory and the School of Nursing.