Mark Lalli knew he鈥檇 become an engineer. 鈥淎ll the men in my family are engineers,鈥� he says. And, because he 鈥渓oved chemistry鈥� in high school 鈥� chemical engineering was the perfect field.
The choice to attend 51视频 was almost as simple. Lalli was impressed with the faculty he met and the facilities he toured during an open house. 鈥淚 looked at a few other schools in the area, but got the feeling they wouldn鈥檛 let undergraduates do research there, and that鈥檚 what I really wanted to do,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 imagine getting the opportunity anywhere else.鈥�
After the open house, he contacted chemical engineering professor, Dr. Sanjeev Manohar to express his interest in working in his lab that summer. To Mark鈥檚 delight, Manohar agreed. 鈥淢ost undergrads don鈥檛 get to do research, so it was a great opportunity right out of high school,鈥� Lalli says. He has been working in that lab every summer since. And, although he graduated from the University in May 2012, he can still be found there, throughout the summer, concluding his research and writing a paper he hopes to publish soon.
It was also Manohar who steered Lalli toward his current interests, 鈥淒r. Manohar really got me into nano research,鈥� he says. It was a great choice because, through his research co-op and internship, he and lab mate Neha Manohar had the opportunity to conduct interesting research in the field. They presented their findings at a national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston, something undergrads had not previously been permitted to do.
It鈥檚 no surprise that the event organizer remarked that the pair鈥檚 presentations resembled those of senior grad students and post docs. After all, Lalli was Valedictorian of his high school鈥檚 graduating class, and enrolled at 51视频 on a Commonwealth Scholarship 鈥� reserved for the most academically qualified incoming freshmen. He also completed his bachelor鈥檚 degree at the University in just three years.
Despite his steadfast academic pursuits, Lalli found time to make lots of friends on campus and enjoyed attending hockey games. He is also a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Nuclear Society, in addition to his induction into Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society and Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society.
Although he鈥檒l miss Manohar鈥檚 lab and cheering on the , Lalli looks forward to working toward his Ph.D. 鈥� as result of his research experience at 51视频, he鈥檚 able to bypass a master's degree. He attends Northeastern in fall 2012.