When Beth
Stadler was an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University,
she got a summer job between her sophomore and junior years working in the
lab of one of her professors. Up until then, she says, her experience with
lab assignments had been fairly typical.
"When you do a lab assignment, it's supposed to end a certain way, but it never does," she jokes. "You do the assignment and then you spend the rest of the time writing the lab report, explaining why it didn't turn out the way it should have."
That summer job changed things for Stadler. "I found out just why [one] thing worked [in the lab] and why [another] did not. I really enjoyed being the one in the lab, the one in control," she says.
During those few weeks she experienced the thrill of hands-on science and envisioned a future for herself in engineering. She went on to earn a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994 and then joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as an assistant professor.
Because that summer job dramatically influenced her career choice, Stadler makes it a professional priority to introduce young students to the excitement of original research. She participates in the department's on-campus Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), a 10-week summer program funded through the National Science Foundation. Undergraduates from four-year institutions that lack research programs are matched with University faculty mentors and learn firsthand what it's like to work in a research lab.
Stadler's also involved in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), in which University students design and conduct research projects under faculty supervision. Instead of the standard part-time job delivering pizzas or waiting on tables, undergraduates can earn a stipend of up to $1,400 or an expense allowance of up to $300 (or both) while gaining invaluable research experience.
Electrical engineering junior John Reinke is working with Stadler on an element of optical isolator design known as "sputtering thin film magnets." Reinke describes his UROP project as "making a really small magnet" that will ultimately have applications for telecommunications and fiber-optic technology.
Like all researchers, he's learned that not everything goes as planned, and he emphasizes the importance of developing a research plan "way ahead, before you do the hands-on part."
Reinke says the most valuable aspect of the experience—"getting a taste of research"—has helped nudge him toward graduate study. He describes Stadler as being "very open to all my questions."
Stadler herself sees only positives in giving students like Reinke a place in her lab. "It's a preview of the talent," she says. "If they're good, they could end up as your student for grad school."
To foster a sense of independence and responsibility in undergraduate researchers, Stadler normally carves out small individual projects for them that complement a broader goal of her lab.
"Usually I'll give them something we don't really need [to have done], but if it works out, it's a real plus," she says. "The results can make me and my research group look great."
