More than 70 high-achieving and high school students from around the world recently participated in six weeks of hands-on interdisciplinary research at UC Santa Barbara as part of the 18th annual Summer Research Mentorship Program.

Countries represented included the United States, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Paraguay, Thailand and Turkey. The average GPA of the 71 students was 4.34. Each student worked under the guidance of a UCSB research mentor. Lina Kim Ph.D. is the director of the Research Mentorship Program.

Each high school student gave a 10-minute research presentation on July 30 and 31 at Corwin Pavilion, and poster presentations took place on July 31. Research topics included Methacrylic Underwater Adhesives Inspired by Mussels; Stem Cells as a Model for Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Characterization of Patient Specific iPSCs; Using Finite Element Model to Analyze the Displacement Due to Vibrations in a Cantilever Beam; and Identification of new Function of Gene CED-4 in Embryogenesis in C. Elegans.

Among local schools represented were Bishop Diego, Dos Pueblos, San Marcos and Santa Barbara high schools

— Noozhawk contributing writer Rochelle Rose can be reached at rrose@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.