“The Amgen Scholars Program: Encouraging a new generation of biomedical researchers”
“A chance encounter with a funny-looking rock when he was 8 years old helped launch Phillip Poonka’s lifelong interest in research. Now a junior at the UW and a student in the highly selective Amgen Scholars Program, Poonka is on a trajectory that is likely to culminate in graduate school and a career in biomedical research.
‘It was lying in my street among some small chips of asphalt,’ he explained. ‘I came to the conclusion that it was a meteorite based on the impact it left on the asphalt, its charred appearance, and its dense metallic feel. My mom did not find the rock very interesting and almost threw it away when cleaning the house, but I was inspired to learn more about these rare extraterrestrial objects and I later made some simple experiments to support my find.'”