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ME faculty and student promoted summer STEM education

September 21, 2016

 

ME faculty member Sachin Goyal and his graduate student researcher Soheil Fatehiboroujeni helped promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in the Merced county this summer. They presented workshops in the TEAM-E[1] initiative coordinated by Merced County Office of Education (MCOE). The initiative provides mentoring for the K-12 teachers to design classroom activities that show interconnectedness of science, engineering, and technology, and how together they influence society and the natural world.

Soheil’s research focused on the structural mechanics of the DNA lies at the interface of biology, mechanical engineering, and applied mathematics. The unique structure of the DNA molecule and its mechanical deformations play an important role in its genetic activities. Therefore, understanding the sequence-dependent mechanics of the DNA is necessary to advance the technology of gene therapy.

First workshop offered on 21st June 2016 in the summer institute was dedicated to the basics of the DNA chemistry and important mechanical features of its double helical structure. The second workshop offered on 17th Sep 2017 translated some of the key ideas of the research for the teachers.