This past summer, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) hosted high school students from across Georgia, who tackled hands-on STEM projects with real-world impact. 

The five-week program, which was held June 9 to July 18, hosted 74 students from 16 Georgia school districts who were selected from an application pool of 1,104. The students worked under the direction of 46 professionals at GTRI, who represented six of the eight GTRI labs and one support unit. At the conclusion of the program, students showcased their work during a daylong event attended by GTRI leadership, mentors, and special guests, including parents and families. 

The ultimate goal of the program is to provide students with real-world experience in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and to create awareness of future STEM career opportunities. 

“Year after year, my favorite part of this program is having the opportunity to work with such talented students and witness their impressive achievements in five short weeks,” said Therese Boston, a GTRI senior research associate and co-director of the program. “I look forward to seeing how the interns leverage the skills they have developed during their internships in their academic pursuits and future careers.”   

The participating students represented the following Georgia school districts: Atlanta Public Schools, Bibb, Cobb, DeKalb, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Houston, Lowndes, Marietta City Schools, Oconee, Paulding and Rockdale.

Some of the students and mentors were equally optimistic about their experience in the program. 

Judd Ebert, a student in Fulton County, said he most enjoyed working alongside other talented and ambitious students while receiving guidance from professionals who are among the best in their respective fields. 

Ebert supported a project to develop an eyeblink detection tool to help students in special needs classrooms communicate their bathroom needs to teachers. The device is intended for preschoolers from the ages of 3 to 5 with developmental delays such as autism and down syndrome. 

“We’re trying to step in and make that process easier,” he said. 

GTRI Research Associate Michele Burts and Research Scientist Hannah Foster served as mentors for this project. 

For GTRI Research Engineer Andrew Stevens, this was his second year serving as a faculty mentor in this program. He said this role has allowed him to give back and prepare students for future personal and professional success. 

“Giving these high schoolers opportunities before college to help them figure out what they’re interested in is really important to me,” Stevens said. 

Stevens led a project that taught students to develop a Raspberry Pi-based health monitoring system that uses biometric sensors to track vital signs and provide real-time alerts for managing chronic conditions such as heart disease and inflammatory bowel disease. 

STEM@GTRI is GTRI's K-12 outreach program. Funded by the State of Georgia, the mission of STEM@GTRI is to inspire and engage Georgia educators and students by providing access to experts in STEM fields.

To learn more about STEM@GTRI’s High School Internship Program, please visit: High School Summer Internship | GTRI.

Writer: Anna Akins 
GTRI Communications
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia

About the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)
The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 3,000 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $919 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.