Princeton University Materials Academy Brings High School Students into Labs

Princeton University Materials Academy (P.U.M.A.) opens doors to cutting edge research for traditionally underrepresented high school students from Trenton, Lawrence Township, and Middlesex County. P.U.M.A. is a summer program (three sessions, each two weeks long, full-day programs) of intensive materials science courses and laboratory experiments that allow these students to experience first-hand what it’s like to work in a research laboratory. Students are recruited into the program through partnerships with local organizations Mentor Power and Trenton Upward Bound.

P.U.M.A. provides these students, most from economically disadvantaged families, with lessons in science beyond the offerings in their high schools. In P.U.M.A.’s first session, students learned from professors like Claire Gmachl, who does research on tiny cutting-edge devices called quantum cascade lasers, redesigning known technologies for far more advanced purposes. Similarly, P.U.M.A. students explore the properties of materials and ways of manipulating those properties to redesign products for improved performance based on their experiences in the lab. P.U.M.A. trains the students to think like materials scientists, dealing with complex concepts, to better prepare them for college and to appreciate research.