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Cornell University
222 Day Hall
Ithaca, New York
14853-2801
P: 607.255.7200
E: VP Research
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 Jennifer
Zhao ’05 works as a research assistant in Stephen L. Sass’s
nanofabrication laboratory. The team’s research objective is
to create periodic surfaces on silicon chips at the nanometer scale.
These surfaces can serve a variety of purposes including biomedical
research on antibodies, manufacturing nanowires, and magnetic signal
storage on the nanoscale. Zhao prepares samples for viewing in the
transmission electron microscope (TEM), and she has recently been
trained to operate and interpret the results using the TEM.
Zhao first found out about the possibility of undergraduate research
from a presentation about Materials Science and Engineering in her
introductory engineering course. Zhao contacted Sass, landed the job,
and has been working for Sass's team ever since. Sass has always been
a strong advocate for getting undergraduates into research laboratories
early in their careers at Cornell. He explains, “If students
join our groups during their freshman and sophomore years, they learn
that all those math, chemistry, and physics courses that they are
taking are actually useful for solving problems in research. The students
get to share in the scientific enterprise and discover the excitement
of discovery. Imagine if they are so fortunate as to find something
important that no one else has discovered. That’s a real kick!"
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Yonina Fishoff '02 Comments on Her
Cornell Experience
Five years ago, I was a high school junior on a mission: to choose
the undergraduate institution that would be the best fit for me, allowing
for academic, personal, and professional growth. Was there a place
with opportunities that would allow me to flourish at a time when
I was bursting at the seams with energy? My inquisitive mind and curious
nature prompted me to pursue journalism as a major. However, as I
began researching colleges and their undergraduate curriculums, I
sat with students and professors at various institutions, interviewed
them, and pondered my career options. These sessions provided me with
insights that shaped my choice of undergraduate school and my career
objectives. I realized that a communication program that emphasized
social sciences, research, and humanities would provide me with the
broadest, most sensible, and rewarding education as opposed to a hard-core
journalism major, which would focus more on the “how” than
the “why.”
Cornell was the right place for me. ... On my first day in Ithaca,
I began looking for a position that would spark my intellectual interests
and allow me to work in communications. For the past four years, I
worked as the student writer and editorial assistant for Cornell’s
Office of the Vice Provost for Research, where I researched and wrote
articles for this publication, Connecting with Cornell. In order to
complete my writing assignments, I arranged and conducted interviews
with students and faculty on topics ranging from history to biophysics.
Writing about undergraduate research whetted my appetite for discovering
ongoing research in a wide range of fields and communicating it to
others.
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