By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, June 08, 2026)—Research culture needs to grow from high school level to build innovation ecosystem.
The Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University has been engaged with school students to cultivate research curiosity for a few years now.
Summer is the best time to have undergraduates and high school students in laboratories. Faculty will have more time to engage one-on-one in research with upcoming researchers.
In the annual speech on June 2, 2026, the United States’ National Academy of Sciences’ President Marcia McNutt emphasized the importance of strengthening STEM pipeline and boosting innovation for the U. S. to remain a top leader in STEM and innovation.
Texas Tech University through the College of Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Research Academy (CASURA) is endeavoring to build research interest among undergraduates and boost innovation by supporting undergraduate research. The program provides short term summer fellowships to undergraduates to get connected with research laboratories and be involved in research.
The laboratory has been fortunate to obtain two CASURA fellowships to support undergraduates in research. Juan Garcia, majoring in Physics and Mathematics at Texas Tech University, is undertaking research on cotton nonwovens for advanced applications.
It was such a relish to watch Juan learning the mechanical testing of nonwovens taught by my graduate student Mirza Khyum.
Programs like CASURA needs to be encouraged so that a research pipeline is established in academia and entice more students to graduate studies in STEM disciplines.
The video taken in Nonwovens Laboratory shows how the student is quick to grasp the technique. Such enthusiasm is research must be encouraged.
