Summer Internship Program Returns This Year, Continuing a Tradition of Success

A scientist pushes a small gray button on a red metal box, activating a pump that shoots clear fluids from two syringes into a small compartment just a few square centimeters in size. From there, the mixture is forced through a thin tube into a thumb-sized glass vial, where it pools with a few small bubbles. That scientist, Caleb Anderson, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at NCI Frederick’s Chemical Biology Laboratory, was hired to solve a problem, and this machine and its contents represent the solution he has spent months designing, calibrating, and testing.

Genevieve Burns and her teammates watched as another team’s tiny robotic car collided with their own. Then the shouting started. “Get out of our way!” came the gleefully impatient cries from both teams. “Move it, people! Move it!”

After eight years, the annual Technology Showcase isn’t showing any signs of slowing. In fact, according to members of the planning committee, there are still abundant opportunities to do more. The 2024 Tech Showcase, the eighth annual, will be held at FNL’s Advanced Technology Research Facility on September 4.

NCI Frederick recently bid farewell to its 33rd class of Werner H. Kirsten student interns. Having completed their senior year of high school—and a rigorous year-long internship—the students are off to confront their next big challenge. The campus recognized them all in the program’s first in-person closing ceremony since 2019.

Steak is always good, but it’s better with some sizzle. So said Kedar Narayan, Ph.D., in preparation for his keynote address at the 2024 Fort Detrick Spring Research Festival. Like a chef preparing a meal, he aimed for his lecture to offer the audience something particularly enticing.