Faces of Saint Monica Preparatory - Students

Saint Monica Preparatory Junior Allison Griffin completed a 10-week internship at UCLA this summer, part of the highly-competitive Army Educational Outreach Program (AEOP). She worked closely with leading researchers and shadowed Ph.D. students on cutting-edge projects in UCLA's Engineering Wing, Molecular Beam Epitaxy Lab and NanoLab. The AEOP pairs high school students, as well as undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students, with a university researcher or Department of Defense scientist mentor for authentic science and engineering research experience.

Griffin is one of only three high school students accepted into this program in the last two decades! Well done. Her primary focus at UCLA was characterizing AlN films using atomic force microscopy, and gaining hands-on experience with examination techniques and IV measurements for diode characterization. Additionally, she built skills in Python and MATLAB, developing scripts for efficient data visualization. Throughout the internship, she contributed to key laboratory processes, including wet etching of materials like Aluminum Oxide and Silicon Oxide, and E-Beam metal deposition on Gallium Nitride. Griffin became a certified user of the UCLA NanoLab, which allowed her to independently perform her round of lithography.

She shared, "The experience was transformative. It deepened my passion for math and science, clarified my future academic and career goals, and provided invaluable mentorship that shaped my understanding of STEM culture." Since middle school, Griffin has participated in GEMS (Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science), a STEM summer enrichment program also sponsored by the U.S. Army with opportunities across the country on Army bases and university laboratories. Both of her grandfathers served in Vietnam. Griffin's AEOP application resulted in an interview with an Electrical and Computer Engineering professor at UCLA and the rest is history. As for her future, she recently met with Duke and will visit both Berkeley and Stanford campuses in a few weeks to learn more about their research programs as she considers her college options.

Griffin is currently taking both Physics Honors and Pre-Calculus Honors at SMPREP, where she is a presidential ambassador, member of the Junior Class Council, vice president of the Pre-Med Club and part of both the Varsity Girls Soccer and Beach Volleyball teams. She received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for the last two years for her work with teens and young adults with neurological disorders at Adrian's Place in Santa Monica. We have no doubt her positive impact on our community and beyond will only continue to grow.