Research Opportunities

 CURE (Consortium for Undergraduate Research Experiences)

Roger Griffith (2nd from right) receiving the 2005 LACC Jet Propulsion Laboratory Undergraduate Scholarship (JPLUS). Roger went on to participate in an undergraduate research program at the prestigious Mount Wilson facility.

For the past 9 years motivated students from the LACC Physics and Engineering department has been very fortunate to participate in several research programs funded by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and NSF (National Science Foundation). The name of the program which the Physics and Engineering department is currently involved in is called CURE which stands for the Consortium for Undergraduate Research Experiences. The research work is usually done at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which is located in Pasadena and is operated by CalTech (the California Institute of Technology). Current and previous projects being worked on by LACC students include building a camera and taking images of the Deep Impact Mission, working on telemetry for the Cassini Mission to Saturn, working on the Spitzer Space Telescope (an infrared telescope) and determining the ages of globular clusters to name a few of the projects. Students work full time during the summer and can continue their work part-time during the school year. Stipends are provided to all students participating in the program. For more information about the research programs at LACC please contact Professor Dean Arvidson or Professor Jayesh Bhakta. The only qualifications needed to participate in the research programs are strong motivation, an interest in science and engineering, and current enrollment or completion of Physics 101 or Physics 21. No previous experience or training is required.