Electrical engineering student Nelson Karnowski works on a project at his Oak Ridge National Laboratory internship. Photo by Angela Foster.
Working at one of the most prestigious science labs in the country can be intimidating, especially when you’re surrounded by some of the top researchers in the field.
For Nelson Karnowski, a junior in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Engineering and Computer Science, interning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory over the summer gave him a touch of impostor syndrome.
“I’m the type of person that gets motivated by that,” explained Karnowski, an electrical engineering major from Knoxville, Tennessee. “I have to work the hardest. I have no other choice.”
Megan Black, a senior chemistry major, had a similar reaction when she arrived at ORNL.
“You never know who you’re sitting down at lunch with,” said Black, a Chattanooga native. “There have been times when I will be talking about something and realize a very established researcher is sitting next to me.”
Laurel Washburn, who received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from UTC in May, was blown away by Oak Ridge’s high-tech resources.
“They have a supercomputer here which I have access to,” Washburn said. “I’m going to be able to actually run a calculation or multiple calculations for my research on it, which is one of the fastest in the world.”
Regardless of their experience level, each student is contributing to real research projects in a national lab.
“Experience is the best way to learn,” said Washburn, who didn’t expect to end up in chemistry, let alone Oak Ridge.
She earned a degree in apparel merchandising from Indiana University in 2015 before deciding to switch fields.
“Going back, I have a stronger drive and understanding of what I want to do and what I want to accomplish,” she said. “I went in with the mindset of what I was going to be doing after and what I can do to make sure I have a good career.”
Washburn is working in a biochemistry group running simulations of adenine, one of the four components of RNA and DNA. Using computer models, she studies how these molecules interact when stacked together, which helps researchers understand the behavior of RNA strands in different environments.
She’s also learning to automate her workflow, writing scripts that allow her to run hundreds of calculations with the click of a button.
Her classes at UTC helped lay the foundation, and she thanked her faculty mentor, Dr. Luis Sanchez Diaz, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics.
“I think that my ability to do research at UTC in the chemistry department is what really made it possible because I’d already had some experience,” she said. “It’s pretty cool to be able to get research experience as an undergraduate and have a full project that you worked on.”
Laurel Washburn
Black is getting her second ORNL research experience.
She previously worked with Diaz for a different undergraduate research program that led her to Oak Ridge for the first time, where she spent a few days a week using equipment and meeting researchers.
“They told me to apply for the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) program,” Black said. “I actually got accepted into a different group, which turned out to be a really cool thing.”
Black is now working in the carbon fiber composites group, where she’s helping turn biomass—plant-based material—into carbon-rich samples that could eventually be used in battery technology.
On a typical day, she prepares samples, monitors their transformation inside a furnace that reaches 1,000 degrees Celsius, or uses x-ray scattering to analyze how their structure changes during the process. She’s also learning how to interpret the data.
“The biggest portion of my time is spent trying to read more about the project and understand as we’re getting data on where things are going,” she said. “Something that was kind of unique to me with this project is that it didn’t have a developed methodology already.”
With all of the knowledge she’s gained, she said she can see how her coursework applies in ways she didn’t expect.
“You are taking the class and you can say, ‘I’ve learned this instrument and that instrument,’” Black said, “but then you’re doing a project and getting data … you can see the utility in knowing how to use all of these techniques.”
Megan Black
Karnowski’s path to Oak Ridge was a little different. He didn’t find out about the internship through a professor or a research program, but rather through his dad—who works at the lab as an electrical engineer.
Initially, he planned to work somewhere else over the summer, but when a hiring freeze shut down his other options, his dad suggested he apply to the SULI program.
“It was a great decision, I’ll tell you that,” Karnowski said.
As part of a hardware cybersecurity team, he has been testing the vulnerabilities of standard Internet of Things devices—such as smart lighting systems—to better understand how they could be used for purposes like energy grids or military equipment.
With a busy 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. schedule, Karnowski said he is getting valuable time with mentors in the field. He said he has also been able to use his skills from his classes at UTC and his experience in the University’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers club.
“If I didn’t take circuits class or even digital electronics with those two professors, then I don’t think I would be able to do what I did,” he said.
Even though his dad works at ORNL, stepping into the lab came with a wave of self-doubt, Karnowski said. But over time, that started to shift.
“I feel like I’m finally doing something for my future,” he said. “This is the best summer I’ve had.”
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