I just got off the phone with Evan Doney, one of the scientists at Notre Dame featured in Wired magazine this past spring. Under the direction of Dr. Matthew Leevy, Evan and his colleagues used x-ray data from their lab to print a 3D mouse skeleton, complete with a pair of lungs.
Evan was a sophomore when JoVE published this technique. His colleagues were young too: Justin Deiner was a sophomore, Lauren Krumdick was a junior, and Connor Wathen was a senior. Tony Van Avermaete, who they called “the 3D printing whisperer,” was a senior too … but at Penn High School. Look up Tony on google. He has already been published four times!
According to Dr. Matthew Leevy, his success with undergraduates has had to do with the fact the school provides robust funding for undergraduate research — that and the fact that the students at Notre Dame are just plain bright.
Leevy’s lab illustrates this. There is no one more open-minded and ready to experiment then our youth, it may perhaps be time for us to bring more young-talent under our wings.
I asked Evan how a high school student could have possibly earned the epithet “3D printing whisperer." Evan laughed and said, “I think it's just about jumping in there. That was my experience, that was Tony’s experience — all of us … brought our ideas to the table. Matt’s a great professor because he’s really open to new ideas. If I was encouraging younger students, I’d say professors and researchers are looking for new ideas… You really have to find what you like and honestly just knock on doors until someone says, ‘Hey, that is a good idea.’ ”
Think about taking on some young talent in your lab. You never know which youthful questions could spark your next groundbreaking project. And Wired, if you’re reading, keep an eye on Dr. Leevy and his unusual recruits.
How young is your science research team? Let us know in a comment below, and you could be featured on the JoVE blog.
