Seniors Put Their Research to the Test

Now in its third iteration, Xaverian’s Science Research and Capstone class gives seniors the chance to explore independent projects driven by their own scientific curiosity. Mr. Sean Gunning ’11, chair of Xaverian’s science department and teacher of the capstone class, describes the year-long process of turning students’ ideas into reality as rigorous and intensive. In his class, he says, “Students learn the basics of how to run an independent research project, which involves a background in both statistics and research. But more importantly, seniors who are accepted into the class have a unique opportunity to explore and indulge their scientific and academic curiosity. Some do research, others build a prototype, but each student in this class enters senior year ready to apply to college, so their motivation is almost entirely intrinsic. They are deeply connected to their work – their passion project – and that connectedness is what compels them to spend hours in the lab working on these projects.”

During the class, students are charged with consuming project-specific academic literature, executing a procedure, compiling data, writing a research paper, and presenting their findings at a poster symposium at the end of the year. After baseline skills are developed in the first part of the year, the learning process changes from teacherinstructed to teacher-supported. This means that Xaverian seniors are driving their own research. Six seniors were accepted into this class during the 2024-2025 academic year, tackling an array of subjects from wellness and power plant pollution to regenerative tissue and photolithography.

As Mr. Gunning said, most students apply to the class with an idea already in mind, one they are often deeply passionate about. Take for example, Connor Coye ’25, a member of Xaverian’s robotics team, whose work on photolithography offers a unique and highly refined take on an existing process. Photolithography is a process used in semiconductor manufacturing (the microscopic on-off switches inside all of our electronics) during which patterns are transferred onto a silicon wafer using light and a light-sensitive material called photoresist. The pattern is then washed off, leaving only the transistor. Connor’s initial proposal was to find a way to make the transistor smaller. However, even with an offer to use a local college lab, the “one-atom-thick” requirement proved unfeasible.

So instead of transistors, Connor decided to switch his focus to larger-scale circuit boards. “Specifically, I was looking into getting an image from the computer onto a physical board,” he says. A common DIY approach would use a laser printer to create a mask that can be ironed onto a copper clad board. From there, the pattern can be etched into the copper layer, thus imitating the larger-scale commercial method. The paper’s shape is then “ironed” onto a copper board, and the board is exposed to light, increasing the exposed regions’ solubility. These regions are then washed off with a strong acid, leaving only the desired circuit board.

However, Connor found that lasers weren’t always accurate, and they could be expensive and dangerous. Instead, he used a “cheap 50-dollar projector,” eliminating the need for a mask entirely. This offered a streamlined process, while also improving accuracy and reducing the cost of production.

During his six-week experiment window, Connor required many trials to get a satisfactory result. His process included three main steps: projecting the image (imaging), making it visible with chemicals (developing), and removing the excess copper (etching). The academic literature he consumed spoke at length about the specific mixtures used in all steps, yet omitted the appropriate concentrations, so Connor had to put his knowledge to the test. “It was all up to me to figure it out myself,” he says, so he turned to trial and error. “I saw what worked, what didn’t, and when it didn’t, I looked to see why it didn’t work,” he explained. In doing so, he created a fully functioning circuit board that operated with the same output as the industry standard.

While he admits his process is certainly slower than the conventional method, he is confident that it can be improved, perhaps as a part of his future studies. “I have applied to get my paper published in a science journal specifically for high school students,” he says. “But in order to get it published, I would have to expand further on my idea as this was just a proof of concept.” This is something he sees himself continuing to work on and develop, maybe even as a part of his master’s thesis. “Connor was a great leader for his class,” Mr. Gunning says. “He took on the true persona of a scientist in that he identified a problem, specified a question, developed his own procedure, and stopped at nothing to make sense of the observations in front of him.”

While Connor’s work is one example of the high-level research taking place in the class, his peers also tackled equally complex topics and produced findings with real scientific and educational value. Owen Medoza ’25 focused on water purification, which means he was able to propagate microbes from several water sources as he tested his own spin on water filter pre-treatment. Tyler Holloway ’25 studied the correlation between autonomy and personal growth through statistical analysis of numerous qualitative survey responses. And Chris Theodoreau ’25 had promising results in his experiment which revealed that lithium chloride treatments significantly accelerated the regeneration of Planaria. Planaria, an organism with the unique ability to achieve full regrowth after being halved, may prove beneficial for regenerative medicine. Together, their work is a testament to the potential of student-led research – and we can’t wait to see how future classes will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

Photo one: Connor Coye ’25 presenting at the poster symposium
Photo two: Connor’s low cost, maskless photolithography machine prototype