A document containing all research internship abstracts conducted in High School from NASA, University of Texas Medical Branch, Stanford University and Rice University.

1. Additional Information Zachary Ahmed
ABSTRACT: University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston National
Laboratory): Keiler building: Forrester Lab: Scott Weaver, Naomi Forrester,
Tiffany Kautz, and Zachary Ahmed.
Arboviruses are viruses transmitted by arthropod vectors. The arboviruses studied in our
laboratory are Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), chikungunya virus, yellow fever
virus, and Mayaro virus, which are all transmitted by mosquitos. These viruses cause disease
that range from flu-like illnesses to severe disease, such as encephalitis (e.g. VEEV) or arthritis
(e.g. chikungunya). The Forrester laboratory is interested in arbovirus evolution.
Our project being investigated is how to make live attenuated vaccines safer. Live-attenuated
vaccines are usually attenuated by only a few nucleotide mutations. This is problematic for
arbovirus vaccines, because most arboviruses are RNA viruses. RNA viruses have a high rate
of mutation, so there is always a concern about the vaccine reverting into a virulent form that
causes disease. Our laboratory is engineering high fidelity versions of arbovirus vaccines by
passaging virus under conditions that select for viruses that are less likely to mutate. Preliminary
data shows that these vaccines are safer and protect better than the original vaccines.
Additionally, these vaccines can also be used to study topics such as antiviral resistance or how
to make virus with an enhanced ability to mutate.
As a whole, I have gained exposure to cell culture, grow virus, and subsequently analyze the
sample through processes like sequencing. This includes learning about how to isolate
genomes from an RNA virus, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and DNA purification. Unlike other
laboratories, I am able to use the sequencing equipment, allowing me to learn the full procedure
in how viruses are sequenced. To measure the amount of infectious virus, we learn how to
perform plaque assays. We are also taught basic basic bioinformatics, such as how to design
PCR primers , how to identify similar sequences using ClustalW and BLAST, and how to
analyze sequencing results. Students will gain experience with equipment, such as incubators,
gel electrophoresis machinery, autoclaves, centrifuges, and PCR thermocyclers.
ABSTRACT: Stanford University: Aerospace Design Lab: Andrew Wendroff
(https://adl.stanford.edu/papers/AIAA-2015-1946.pdf)
This paper discusses the use of the continuous adjoint methodology for the design of
transonic aircraft configurations. The objective of the present study is to illustrate that, despite
the fact that continuous adjoint does not provide the numerically exact gradient of a discrete
objective function, it is an excellent choice for large-scale optimization with complex geometries
due to the accuracy of the computed gradients, the robustness of the method, and its efficiency
in terms of memory and compute time. This is demonstrated through a series of detailed design
studies on the NASA Common Research Model, which provides a challenging problem due to
its geometric complexity and the large, unstructured meshes employed. All design work is
completed with the SU2 software suite: an open- source, integrated analysis and design tool for
solving complex, multi-disciplinary problems on unstructured computational grids.

2. Additional Information Zachary Ahmed
ABSTRACT: Rice University: RYON Laboratory: Andrew Lynch (http://
mrsl.rice.edu/sites/mrsl.rice.edu/files/papers/McLurkin-
TeachingWithRone-TED2012-small.pdf)
This paper describes the experiences of using an advanced, low-cost robot in STEM education.
It presents three innovations: it is a powerful, cheap, robust and small advanced personal robot;
it forms the foundation of a problem-based learning curriculum; and it enables a novel multi-
robot curriculum while fostering collaborative team work on assignments. The robot design has
many features specific to educators: it is advanced enough for academic research, it has a
broad feature set to support a wide range of curricula, and is inexpensive enough to be an
effective outreach tool. The low cost allows each student to have their own robot for the
semester, so they can work on activities outside the classroom. This robot was used in three
different classes in which it was the foundation for an innovative problem-based learning
curriculum. In particular, the robot has specialized sensors and a communications system that
supports novel multi-robot curricula, which encourage student interaction in new ways. The
results are promising; the robot was big success in graduate, undergraduate and outreach
activities. Finally, student assessments indicate a greater interest and understanding of
engineering and other STEM majors, and class evaluations were consistently above average.
INFORMATION: National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Johnson Space
Center: Orion Project (From http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/about/
index.html)
For the first time in a generation, NASA is building a new human spacecraft that will
usher in a new era of space exploration.
A series of increasingly challenging missions awaits, and this new spacecraft will take us farther
than we’ve gone before, including Mars. Named after one of the largest constellations in the
night sky
and drawing from more than 50 years of space flight research and development, the Orion
spacecraft is designed to meet the evolving needs of our nation’s deep
space exploration program for decades to come. It will be the safest, most advanced spacecraft
ever built, and it will be flexible and capable enough to take us to a variety of destinations.
Orion features dozens of technology advancements and innovations that have been
incorporated into the spacecraft’s design. It includes both crew and service modules, a
spacecraft adaptor and a revolutionary launch abort system that will significantly increase crew
safety. Orion’s unique life support, propulsion, thermal protection and avionics systems in
combination with other elements will enable extended duration deep space missions. These
systems have been developed to facilitate integration of new technical innovations as they
become available in the future.
Orion has been rigorously tested as engineers prepare it for a journey beyond low Earth orbit. A
success-
ful test launch at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico of the vehicle’s launch abort
system was completed to verify the escape capability of Orion in the event of emergency on the
launch pad. A series of rigorous acoustic and modal tests on the Orion ground test vehicle at
Lockheed Martin’s test facilities in Denver validated Orion’s ability to withstand the harsh
environments of launch, abort, re-entry and space flight. In order to simulate the terminal
phases of landing, the spacecraft’s parachutes have been proven reliable.