High School Students Gain Real-Life STEM Experience Through Army Internship

As a high schooler growing up in rural South Dakota, Katrina Donovan enjoyed math and science, but an opportunity to participate in a study with the National Institutes of Health when she was 15 solidified her desire for a career in STEM.

Donovan, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at South Dakota Mines, is now providing similar opportunities to high school students all over the country.

She is the program director for the Army Education Outreach Program (AEOP). The internship program connects high school and undergraduate students to a university or U.S. Army Research Laboratories and Centers, allowing them to delve into the research world. The students spend the summer conducting cutting-edge research in state-of-the-art laboratories with renowned scientists and engineers in STEM fields that complement their interests and areas of study.

Mines has been part of the AEOP since 2012, with Donovan directing the program since 2022.

“When I was in high school, I had an opportunity to participate in a similar program. I already had a general interest in STEM, but that experience solidified my passion to pursue a degree in the STEM field,” she said. “Creating these kinds of opportunities for high school students is something that has always been important to me.”

Mines is one of 14 research sites nationwide from which students can choose. Donovan had six students this summer, each logging 200 hours during their summer research experience. “This is a pretty prestigious program,” she said. “I had students from all over the United States applying to come to Mines.”

Donovan said having high school students as a part of the research adds a new layer of thinking. “Many different perspectives are needed to solve these problems,” she said.

Students work at their own pace and mostly in groups. However, this summer, one student, Ann Sheehy, an incoming Mines first-year student, worked closely with Jon Kellar, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering. Sheehy spent the summer looking at the characterization, processing and performance of Belle Fourche shale for ceramics. “We are looking at improving brick quality using local materials,” Sheehy said.

Part of her research involved going into the field and collecting her samples. “This program has helped me realize how much I like research,” she said.

While most AEOP students came from the Black Hills region, one came from Texas. Aarushi Thatola, a rising junior from Houston, worked with Isabel (Izzy) Grinager from Rapid City Christian and Abigail Flanegan, a homeschool student, on a novel platform for engineering in vitro vascular grafts. The trio, mentored by Travis Walker, Ph.D., associate professor in the Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, helped in the construction, utilization and optimization of a new device for extrusion of tubular vessels.

"This program allowed me to visit South Dakota and gave me firsthand experience in the lab environment and to take part in the research Mines was doing," Thatola said. “I love learning, so coming into the lab every day and learning the different machinery and processes and learning from my mistakes was probably my favorite part of this program.”

Thatola said she also enjoyed collaborating with other students to solve problems.

Emma Kinyon and Shourya Goyal, incoming juniors at Stevens High School in Rapid City, worked with Donovan and Walker to synthesize new molecularly imprinted polymers for 3D printing applications.

Kinyon said being a part of the AEOP has piqued her interest in STEM. “This has been a super fun way to get deeper into the field,” she said. “I have more of a mechanical and robotics background. It has been fun to get more experience with lab research.”

Goyal agreed, adding that it was beneficial to get hands-on research experience that can't be learned in the classroom.