P.U.M.A. Students Discover and Create to Change the World

High-school students in the 2006 Princeton University Materials Academy (P.U.M.A.) learned about materials science while building solar ovens using basic materials available around the globe. Such solar ovens are to be used in developing nations where they can positively impact peoples’ daily lives, so at the end of the summer, Princeton undergraduates working with Professor Wole Soboyejo took these improved oven designs to Kenya and Tanzania. P.U.M.A. encourages curiosity and a passion for learning about science and engineering while addressing real-world problems.

P.U.M.A. “helped me realize that science is about discovery and engineering is about creativity. We are actually discovering and creating something for the world that can make a change.” -Deborah Ochoa, P.U.M.A. student and rising junior at Trenton Central High School
“This year, we're actually helping people. Being that people are less fortunate than we are, it's cool we can use wood and aluminum and string to help them make food so they don't have to starve.” - Kiara Fishburne, rising junior at Hamilton High School North, now in her second year at P.U.M.A.