Senior Laura Lewis attended The Massachusetts Institute of Technology MITES program over the summer where she received two top academic awards.
Laura earned the student award in Physics III and The Edna and Leon Trilling Award for overall academic excellence in all areas of study.
"I really enjoyed spending the summer on MIT's campus and making friends from all over the United States," shared Laura. "I was one of 70 students selected from more than 2,100 applicants from across the country. I was the only Pennsylvanian selected."
During the six-week program, Laura lived on campus in a dorm and took five college-level classes, including Calculus III (Differential Equations), Physics III (Statistical Physics), Biochemistry, a humanities course, and an Engineering Design elective.
"I took advantage of the connections and reached out to a graduate student researching at the famous MIT Media Lab, often coined the Future Lab," said Laura. "The graduate student gave me a tour of the Media Lab, including the Personal Robots division, where I got to interact with the world's most advanced robots like Jibo."
Other highlights included scavenger hunts around Boston and a trip to Maine. "I will never forget the beach trip we took to Maine, where it was 60 degrees outside but people still swam in the ocean," said Laura. "Another highlight was our Engineering Design competition, where our robots competed in FIRST Robotics style. Specifically, the night before the competition was the first time I've ever had to pull an all-nighter to fix our robot."
Laura also worked on an independent study on quantum mechanics with a teaching assistant.
