The U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory hosted a summer program where 13 students conducted research projects across three key facilities: the Tandem Van de Graaff facility, the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), and the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II). This initiative was part of the inaugural Brookhaven User Facility Summer School, which took place from July 8 to August 2.
The four-week program targeted underrepresented and underserved community college and upper high school students, providing them with hands-on STEM experience. The aim was to demonstrate how research can be conducted collaboratively between user facilities.
“Part of the goal of this program is to introduce students to a national laboratory, the mission of DOE, the types of research that are conducted here, and how they can be a part of that,” said Sharon Pepenella, senior research programs representative and program co-lead from the Office of Educational Programs at Brookhaven Lab.
Funded by the DOE Office of Science Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce Pathway Summer Schools and supported by the Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists, the program allowed students to explore careers at national laboratories.
Educators and lab staff designed a project where students examined how silicon components in microelectronic devices might be damaged by cosmic radiation over time. “This is the first summer program where students saw three different facilities and each of the facilities was crucial to one stage of the method of their study,” said Will Bertolotti, a Plainedge High School science teacher involved in developing the curriculum.
Research began at Tandem Van de Graaff where two accelerators deliver ion beams to experimental chambers. Under expert guidance, students bombarded silicon wafers with ions to simulate space radiation damage. “Our operations staff knocked it out the park,” said Tom Kubley, Tandem operations coordinator. “The students were very engaged, very interactive.”
Following this, students took damaged silicon wafers to CFN where they used advanced microscopes to observe and extract small samples for further imaging. “It’s like we’re using a milling machine but at the microscale,” said CFN staff scientist Fernando Camino.
At NSLS-II, another DOE Office of Science user facility, students imaged their samples using beamlines that direct light beams much brighter than sunlight. Beamline scientist Xianghui Xiao guided them through mounting samples for full 360-degree imaging. “It’s very much like a hospital CT scan,” explained Lisa Miller, chemist and manager at NSLS-II.
“The students conducted a true, real-world experiment,” Miller said. Kaylie Michael from Rocky Point High School highlighted her positive experience with hands-on learning across multiple facilities: “Seeing so many different people who have so many different specialties…is really cool.”
Throughout their time at Brookhaven Lab, participants toured various facilities and interacted with staff about potential career paths. Ian Chitty from Suffolk County Community College noted finding inspiration during his visit to the Superconducting Magnet Division.
The program concluded on August 2 with student presentations attended by mentors and instructors. "We had a lot of people come check it out,” Darienzo said. “I think the students touched some lives here too.”