Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Claudio Escalante for completing his Summer Research Internship! Claudio worked with mentor Dr. Tamara Kinzer-Ursem on his summer 2023 research,”Particle Separation: Harnessing Inertial Microfluids for Precise Particle Sorting”. His research was presented August 16, 2023 at the McNair Summer Research Symposium.
In Summer 2023, Claudio attended Purdue University‘s Tier 1 Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) for 8 weeks. Purdue’s SROP provides: mentoring with faculty, a stipend, graduate panels, multiple meals with Purdue’s Dean Mason, the “Boiler Challenge” (a team-building ropes and obstacle course), wellness and skill workshops, guidance on graduate applications and support skills, GRE workshops, a fee waiver for Purdue’s Graduate School Program, and social activities. 
Of their program, Purdue states:
“This program is designed to provide equal access and opportunities to underrepresented and diverse students by preparing students for Graduate School by offering eight-weeks intensive research experiences, and graduate school resources that contributes to student’s professional and academic growth“
Claudio’s work utilized the ‘expanded channel microfluidics’ chip design to explore how the size and shape of transport vessels (tubes) effect separation of EColi particles from mammalian cells. Claudio speaks to the immediate use of their work, noting “the outcomes of this research hold significant potential in various fields, including medical diagnostics, drug delivery, environmental monitoring, and nanotechnology research”.
