College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Major: Physics and Computer Science with a minor in German
As most students close their laptops and take out sunscreen to relax for the summer, Megan Campbell prepares for cold Boston weather at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Campbell has worked throughout high school in pursuit of scientific knowledge. She will spend the upcoming warm months wrapping up her computational research before leaving for college. In her sophomore year, Campbell was put in contact with her research mentor at MSU, Dr. Pablo Giuliani, and they began working together on Campbell’s current research which contributed to her getting into MIT.
“[Dr. Giuliani] got me involved in a computational research project,” Campbell said. “I’ve done semiconductor analysis, beamline experiments, isotope identification and neutron detector creation.”
As Campbell begins to wrap up her research, she will publish two papers: one about produce basis methods and another about isotope identification. Campbell said the flexibility she’s had at KHS has allowed her to pursue many opportunities she otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.
“They just let me do what classes I wanted to do,” Campbell said. “I asked, ‘Can I go into German III [without having done it before]?’ And they said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ It was that easy.”
An important figure in Campbell’s academic life is Austin Lane, gifted specialist. Lane said he believes Campbell was always going to do amazing things, with or without his help.
“One thing that makes [Campbell] so special is that she was pursuing opportunities on her own,” Lane said. “Her having the enthusiasm to pursue things on her own is what’s going to get her to those big schools. She was always going to get to where she was gonna go.”
As Campbell moves on from KHS, she said she has begun thinking about her future in the workforce. Campbell has always wanted to go into physics research, but with recent governmental cuts, she believes that may be out of reach.
“For a long time, I wanted to do physics research,” Campbell said. “But with the political state of the country, it’s not looking too great. In the current job market, having a degree from a place like MIT is going to help.”
Instead, Campbell has turned to engineering and computer science. She said she believes these fields have job opportunities that will still allow her to pursue science.
“Getting that double major really sets me up for success to have access to a diverse set of opportunities,” said Campbell. “I want to work on future technological innovations in the private sector like quantum computing, robotics or space technology.”
