A Summer of New Beginnings at CSULB BUILD

The CSULB BUILD program kicked off another season with an introduction to its new leadership team and incoming cohorts of Scholars and Fellows.  For year six of the grant, CSULB welcomed a team of five new CSULB Principal Investigators (PIs): Simon Kim, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs); Panadda Marayong, Ph.D., Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Chi-Ah Chun, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology; Kim Vu, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology; and Jesse Dillon, Ph.D., Professor of Biological Sciences. Each of the PI’s previously held a position as a director for one of the BUILD core groups or was an advocate for the program. 

Over the summer, two new student cohorts were added to the program--Fellows and Scholars. Sixteen students were admitted into each of the programs and completed the eight-week Summer Undergraduate Research Gateway to Excellence (SURGE) program. 

Over the course of SURGE, students met with their BUILD faculty mentors, training directors, staff, and members of other student cohorts. Students were oriented to their specific program, gained hands-on research experience and learned how to present and discuss their research to various audiences. Students went on a field trip to the University of California, Irvine campus, and learned about UCI summer internship opportunities and graduate programs, and met current graduate students.

SURGE culminated with the BUILD Summer Symposium, where the BUILD team learned about the research that BUILD students worked on with their faculty mentors, and met students’ family members and friends. During the event, 45 BUILD students conducted poster presentations, along with two visiting students who did summer internships at CSULB.