NASA Public Lecture Series Highlights

[Rondell Liverpool]

Alyssa Mike of San Fernando and Valmiki Ramroop of Cunupia engaged in cutting-edge research under the mentorship of top minds at the NASA Ames Research Centre in California, USA. Mike and Ramroop were part of a select group of international students that participated in the esteemed NASA International Internship Program (NASA I^2). Upon their return to Trinidad the both interns conducted presentations at the NIHERST’s Public Lecture Series, which was held at Noor Hassanali’s Auditorium, The University of the West Indies on Friday 1st September, 2017. They shared their respective research projects and experiences during their 2017 summer internship to an attentive audience.

The lecture highlighted Mike’s, a 21 year old BSc. student of Engineering (Biomedical Computation) at Stanford University, research on a project entitled “Biosensor Development”. The project involved investigating avenues that demonstrated the sensor functionality in a variety of testing conditions, e.g. water quality monitoring and devices that integrate one or several laboratory functions for astronaut health monitoring.

Meanwhile 23 year old Ramroop, a MSc. student of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at New York University presented his research in “Nanotechnology in Electronics and Sensor Development.” His project looked at the use of nano-materials for Sensor Development in Chemical and Electronic purposes. It included material growth, characterisation, device fabrication, device testing and evaluation, reliability and lifetime assessment of nano-materials.

The lecture ended with an interactive question and answer segment which emphasised the audience’s interest in the interns' research and the necessary steps to be future recipients of NIHERST/NASA International Internship Program (NASA I^2).

Look out for the video footage of the public lecture on our Social Media Platforms.

Calls for applications to the 2018 cycle will open in October 2017.