Computational Engineering: Forces, Structures, and Design with Python
Meeting Day/Time: Thursdays, 6:00PM–8:30PM CST
Instructor: Ishita Dash, Ph.D. 

Software and Hardware Requirements: Students must have access to a Windows, Mac, or Linux laptop or desktop computer with reliable high-speed internet access. Chromebooks are not recommended. All programming activities will be completed using Google Colaboratory, a free cloud-based Python environment that runs through a web browser. No software purchases are required.

How do engineers know whether a bridge can safely support traffic, a building can withstand loads, or a structure will remain stable under different conditions? In this mentorship, you will explore the engineering principles behind safe and efficient structures while learning how computational tools are used to solve real-world design challenges. You will investigate forces, equilibrium, structural stability, and engineering problem solving through hands-on activities and real-world case studies. Using Python, you will build engineering analysis tools, automate calculations, visualize data, and evaluate how structures respond to different loading conditions. This mentorship emphasizes engineering thinking, computational problem solving, and project-based learning rather than advanced mathematics. You will gain exposure to concepts commonly taught in introductory college engineering courses while developing practical programming skills that can be applied across a wide range of STEM disciplines.

Topics may include:

• Forces and free-body diagrams
• Vectors and equilibrium
• Moments and structural stability
• Bridges, buildings, and transportation infrastructure
• Computational problem solving with Python
• Engineering data visualization
• Introduction to engineering design and analysis

You will work closely with the instructor throughout the semester to develop an engineering investigation or design project inspired by real-world infrastructure challenges. You will present your project findings and computational tools at the end of the mentorship. Along the way, you will gain insight into careers in civil engineering, structural engineering, transportation engineering, data science, and computational modeling.

No prior experience in engineering, physics, statics, or computer programming is required.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Dr. Ishita Dash is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Vanderbilt University. Her research focuses on transportation safety, with an emphasis on pedestrian and bicycle safety. She uses machine learning, computer vision, sensor technologies, and data analytics to study human behavior, traffic operations, and environmental conditions in real-world settings. A key area of her research involves integrating data from cameras, wearable devices, environmental sensors, and emerging technologies to better understand stress, safety, and mobility. Her work examines traffic-related environmental impacts, stress experienced by pedestrians and cyclists, heat-related stress among construction workers and first responders, and the factors that influence transportation safety and decision-making. Through this research, she aims to develop safer, more efficient, and more sustainable transportation systems. Dr. Dash also serves on the NDOT Vision Zero Advisory Committee, supporting local efforts to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries. In addition to her research, Dr. Dash has extensive experience teaching engineering, data analytics,
and computer programming. At Vanderbilt University, she teaches Energy Systems Engineering, and Statics and has developed and taught courses in transportation analytics, data science, and Python programming. Through Vanderbilt's pre-college programs, including VSA, SAVY, and PTY, she has taught courses such as Urban Transportation and Data Analytics, Data in Motion, and Introduction to Python for Beginners, emphasizing hands-on, project-based learning and realworld applications. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Dash spent more than a decade as a Technical Safety Engineer in the offshore and shipping industry, where she worked on safety, risk assessment, and operational reliability projects. This industry experience provides practical context that she brings into both her research and teaching. Dr. Dash holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Vanderbilt University, an M.S. in Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Norway, and a B.S. in Marine Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India.

Corporate Litigation and Trial Strategy
Meeting Day/Time: Tuesdays, 5:00PM - 7:30 CST
Instructor: Zach Richards, Esq.

In 1998, the four largest tobacco companies in the United States paid $206 billion to settle lawsuits claiming that these companies violated various consumer protection laws in marketing and selling cigarettes despite knowing of the medical harms associated with smoking. In 2014, a well-known oil and gas company paid over $20 billion to settle legal claims relating to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the environmental damage it caused to the Gulf Coast. In 2021, an established social media company paid $809.5 million to settle claims raised by its shareholders that the company had been over-reporting its user count since 2016. In the world of corporate law, it goes without saying that the stakes are high. In this mentorship, you will learn about the legal infrastructure, laws, rules, regulations, and strategies that guide business leaders, lawmakers, and legal advocates in the world of business. You will read real cases, listen to oral arguments, and together, we will examine both hypothetical and real case studies invoking these laws and rules. Through this advanced mentorship on corporate law, you will dive deeper into specific areas relevant to the world of business that many law 2L or 3L students study in their second and third years of law school. Each week, you will dive deep into topics like fiduciary duties, regulatory bodies, antitrust, consumer protection, labor law, and tax law. As part of these lessons, you will examine multiple case studies reflecting real companies and how they faced these very real, very high stakes challenges. This mentorship will also involve a litigation simulation wherein you will assume the role of either plaintiff or defense attorneys in a mock trial that will require each side to develop case strategy, conduct discovery under the rules of evidence, depose witnesses and experts for testimony, and brief and argue your case before the mock judge under the rules of civil procedure. As a final project with the guidance of the mentor, you will research and write an original piece of scholarship and an accompanying presentation on a legal issue of your choice which currently impacts the business world. This mentorship is great for anyone who enjoys reading or writing, anyone interested in politics or law, or anyone who wants to better understand the rules and regulations surrounding business and commerce.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Zachary Richards is a corporate prosecutor who focuses his practice on antitrust and consumer protection litigation and investigations. Zach is a 2014 graduate from Vanderbilt’s College of Arts & Science with degrees in the History of Art and Philosophy (Highest Honors), and he graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. in 2018. After graduating law school, Zach clerked in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky and then spent a year working at a major corporate law firm in Washington, D.C. Between his time in the public and private sectors, Zach has worked on cases in in the telecommunication, mobile software application, airline, fashion, and finance & banking industries. In his spare time, Zach enjoys working on his willow farm in Kentucky with his partner, three dogs, and a cat.

Dynamic Cells to Disease Cures: Using Stem Cells to Understand and Treat Rare Diseases 
Meeting Day/Time: Mondays, 5:00PM-7:30PM CST
Instructor: Sudiksha Rathan Kumar, Ph.D.

In 2012, Drs. Yamanaka and Gurdon were awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery that mature cells can be converted back to stem cells. More than a decade later, these discoveries have revolutionized the world of science and medicine. Stem cells serve an essential role in development, starting as blank canvasses and differentiating into everything from the firing neurons in our brain to our beating hearts. Now, we can use these building blocks to not only understand development but also study diseases and potentially cure them. In this mentorship, you will learn about the world of stem cell biomedical research, starting from the laboratory, moving to clinical trials, and ending at the patient’s bedside. You will learn about the role of stem cells in human development, moving on to how they are created in the laboratory and how we use them for research. The mentorship will then progress to how we move these therapeutics to clinical trials and how they can be utilized in the hospital. You will also be exposed to various topics essential to research, including ethics, data, scientific literature, and more. During this mentorship, students will also conduct their own research on a rare disease of choice, proposing ways to study and treat it with stem cells and intertwining the worlds of science and medicine.  

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Sudiksha Rathan Kumar is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Pediatric Neurology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her passion is using stem cells, gene therapy, and drug development to treat rare pediatric diseases. Originally from Bangalore, India, Sudiksha earned her BS in Biomedical Science and Forensic Science from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she conducted research on molecular biology and viral therapeutics. She then worked at Vanderbilt University Medical Center researching rare gastrointestinal diseases and trafficking mechanisms before starting her graduate work. She earned her PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from Vanderbilt University in 2026, with her dissertation work focusing on using human-derived neural cells to understand and treat hypomyelinating leukodystrophies. Outside of lab, Sudiksha enjoys the outdoors, travel, cooking, reading, and spending time with her dog, Fuzzy. 

Hacking Cells: Engineering Living Factories to Fight Disease
Meeting Day/Time: Sundays, 4:00PM - 6:30PM CST
Instructor: Allison Pereira, Ph.D.

Software/Hardware Requirement: Students must have access to a Windows, Mac, or Linux laptop or desktop computer with reliable high-speed internet access and a Google/gmail account.

What if instead of synthesizing a drug in a chemical plant, you could program a living cell to make it for you? That’s not science fiction — it’s the science behind some of the most groundbreaking medicines of the last decade. Biotherapeutics and gene therapies are revolutionizing how we treat cancer, rare genetic diseases, and conditions once considered untreatable. And at the center of it all is a deceptively simple idea: hack the cell’s own machinery to do what you want.

In this mentorship, you will learn how scientists and engineers metabolically reprogram mammalian cells — turning them into microscopic biological factories that churn out life-saving proteins, antibodies, and gene therapy vectors. You will explore how those engineered cells are developed, optimized, and scaled up through bioprocess development, and how a discovery in a research lab becomes a drug that reaches a patient. Along the way, you will think like a biotech engineer: balancing biological complexity with real-world manufacturing constraints.

Topics will include:

• Metabolic engineering: how and why we reprogram cells at the genetic level

• Mammalian cell lines as production systems for biotherapeutics

• Gene therapy design: delivering genetic instructions to fix what’s broken

• Upstream bioprocess development: bioreactors, media, and process optimization

• Scaling up from a lab flask to an industrial manufacturing vessel

• Quality and regulatory considerations in drug development

• Real case studies: approved biologics and gene therapies from discovery to clinic

For the culminating project, you will choose a disease and develop a strategy for how you would engineer a cell-based therapy or biologic to treat it — from cell line selection and metabolic engineering approach to a basic upstream process design. You will present your proposal in the style used by real biotech research and development teams.

No prior experience in biology, chemistry, or engineering required.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Dr. Allison Pereira is an Assistant Professor of the Practice and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at Vanderbilt University. She earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, where her research focused on metabolically engineering mammalian cells used in biotherapeutics production. She then spent five years in industry at Pfizer, working in biotherapeutic and gene therapy upstream process development — the very pipeline this course explores — before returning to Vanderbilt as teaching faculty. Drawing heavily on her industry experience, she develops innovative courses for chemical engineering at Vanderbilt, including chemical engineering laboratories, technical communication for chemical engineers, an applied statistics course for chemical engineers, and a multidisciplinary introduction to engineering module spanning the intersection of biomedical and chemical engineering. She also mentors seniors through their capstone design projects and serves as an engineering project leader for the Fall Early Start Transition (FEST) program with the Vanderbilt School of Engineering, where she guides incoming students in applying chemical engineering principles to iteratively design original soap recipes from scratch. Dr. Pereira is passionate about helping students discover what excites them about engineering and making the most of their undergraduate years. Outside of work, she is a tennis enthusiast, an avid fiction reader, and loves exploring Nashville and the outdoors with her family.

Sports Economics: Markets, Strategy, and Culture
Meeting Day/Time: Wednesdays, 5:30PM - 7:00PM CST
Instructor: Kent Dolezal, Ph.D.

What makes a sports league? Is it just a collection of people who get together to play a game? Sports leagues are unusual institutions: they create competition, but they also depend on cooperation, shared rules, common schedules, recognizable identities, and fans who care about the outcome. This mentorship examines sports through that central question: what makes a league? Global leagues take many shapes, reflecting the constraints and opportunities that arise from organizing teams, athletes, rules, and competition on one side, while managing the uncertainty, loyalty, rivalry, and identity valued by fans on the other. A league’s success is not always measured only by its commercial value, but also by its ability to connect with existing communities and create new senses of togetherness. By looking at sports leagues as commercial markets and cultural institutions, you will develop a deeper understanding of how rules, incentives, money, fans, and identity shape what happens on and off the field.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Dr. Kent Dolezal is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Vanderbilt University, where he teaches Sports Economics along with other courses. His Sports Economics course focuses on applying economic ideas to real-world issues in sports, competition, and organizational strategy, and he has extensive experience mentoring students through data driven projects and experiential learning. Before obtaining his economics doctorate, Dr. Dolezal spent over a decade teaching high-school math and theater. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale and an M.P.A. from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Outside the classroom, he is an avid supporter of Vanderbilt athletics and enjoys helping students connect academic concepts to the sports they follow and introducing them to new sports along the way.

Studies in Clinical Psychology: Principles & Applications of Research Science
Meeting Day/Time: TBA CST
Instructor: Pietra Bruni, Ph.D.

This mentorship will address the intersection between clinical and research psychology and focus on the exciting and complex work that happens in the field of research science. Clinical psychologists are focused on causes, treatments, and prevention of different types of disorders. Clinical psychologists who are involved in research science ask questions like — How do we learn about the way people think, feel, and behave? How can psychopathology be studied in an ethical way? What approaches are used for disseminating research findings, and how are findings utilized in clinical settings? Throughout the mentorship, you will gain a foundational understanding of content knowledge crucial to the field, so that you can begin the process of designing and developing your own research project. You can expect advanced lectures, labs, extensive study, an introduction to clinical resources used in the field, and guest lectures from fellow clinicians and research scientists.

Coupled with this content knowledge will be discussions on research design methods. How do you design a study? What are ethical practices for involving people? What is a good question? How do you get approval to conduct a study? How do you analyze and interpret data? Ultimately, you will use your research science understanding to create an independent project (with input from your mentor) as you synthesize literature in the field about a current clinical psychology question. The possibilities for your own project are endless and could be related to a specific psychopathology, social-connectedness during the Covid pandemic, the gut-brain connection, or another area of inquiry based on your interests. You will develop a researchable question, propose sound methods to address this question, and begin the exciting process of finding answers to your questions! This mentorship is designed to challenge you to see the world the way a clinical research scientist does—pushing you to explore your interests in both creative and empirically meaningful ways. As research projects are a part of every academic discipline, the skills learned in this mentorship will help prepare you for success in college level courses while still in high school. Come ready to explore the diverse fields of clinical psychology and research science.

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Instructor Bio: Dr. Pietra Bruni is a geropsychologist at VA Boston Healthcare System and instructor at Harvard Medical School. She specializes in developing, researching, and implementing biopsychosocial interventions for an aging Veteran population at the intersection of physical and mental health. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BPhil/BS in Psychology and Film Studies, before joining the Department of Psychology at Vanderbilt University and earning her PhD in Clinical Psychological Science. Pietra’s research broadly examines how emotion is felt in the body. As physical sensations are a central aspect of emotional experience, she investigates this connection via embodiment and interoception across domains. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology at VA Connecticut Healthcare System/ Yale School of Medicine. Pietra received a Certificate in College Teaching from Vanderbilt and has assisted in leading numerous college-level courses. She has even won awards for finding creative ways to teach science! Pietra has previously designed and taught numerous courses and mentorships to gifted students through PTY, ranging from Biology of the Brain to Neuroscience 101. She is passionate about learning and finding innovative ways to explain complex topics. In her free time, Pietra enjoys hiking, gardening, and exploring the New England coffee scene.

The Psychology & Neuroscience of Happiness
Meeting Time: Mondays, 5:30PM - 8:00PM CST
Instructor: Ashleigh Maxcey, Ph.D.  

Positive psychology is the study of exceeding baseline human potential. In their academic pursuits, psychologists who study happiness might ask questions such as: How do we define and achieve happiness? What increases the human capacity for joy, meaning, and hope? What are the traits of a positive institution? 

This immersion experience provides you the opportunity to explore positive psychology as an academic field of research while also allowing you the chance to understand and implement habits that can increase their personal joy, meaning, and hope in our post-covid world rich in anxiety and depression. By the end of the mentorship, you will have a better understanding of the academic field of positive psychology, including the peer-reviewed science behind the study of happiness. You will also learn about happiness tools that work based on research, the intersection of well-being and career paths, components of positive institutions, cultural differences in the pursuit of joy, and strategies to incorporate these lessons into college life and beyond. From successful leaders to compelling politicians to empathetic doctors, every future career path is enhanced using this science of happiness. This immersion experience will culminate in a professional presentation where you will select a particular institution or target population of interest and cater a Happiness 101 implementation plan on tangible directions, supported by empirical research, to introduce and implement positive psychology practices for their unique situation. 

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Instructor Bio: Dr. Ashleigh Maxcey (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer & Research Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department. In her laboratory, Dr. Maxcey studies happiness and the decisions people are willing to make to invest time in finding joy. She earned her PhD and MA from the University of Iowa in Cognition & Perception and her BA from Purdue University. At Vanderbilt, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in statistics, positive psychology, political psychology, being human, and general psychology. She has a passion for helping students embrace topics they previously found daunting and bridging classroom topics to applications outside the classroom. Dr. Maxcey gave a TEDxNashville talk (here) on her work teaching happiness in PTY as well as to Vanderbilt undergrads, graduate students, and through the Vanderbilt Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Outside of class, Dr. Maxcey enjoys spending time with her family and friends, gardening, cheering on the Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball team, reading, and walking her dog, Archie.

What should (A)I do? Artificial Intelligence at Intersection of Moral Psychology, Law, Medicine, and Ethics 
Meeting Day/Time: Wednesdays, 5:00PM-7:30PM CST
Instructor: Nicolette Granata Biskup, Ph.D. 

One of the biggest hypothetical dilemmas in psychology, philosophy, law, medicine, and ethics is the “the trolley problem,” introduced by Phillipa Foot (Thomson, 1985). Essentially, a trolley driver faces an impossible decision when their trolley track is inevitably headed straight toward five workmen but is then presented with an alternate route: a track with only one workman on it. Whichever decision is made by the trolley driver, to stay the destined course or swerve, will kill the men/man on that track…”Is it morally permissible for the driver to turn the trolley?” This is a question that has spurred decades of debate and arises once again with undeniably life-changing implications for society as we know it. Autonomous (self-driving) vehicles, diagnosis of fatal medical conditions, diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, and chatbots that promise to alter the course of your life for the better, all utilize artificial intelligence trained by human beings with the goal of making human-like decisions. The question begs, is it possible, or even just plain ethical, for an AI model to make human-like decisions? Ultimately, such a question gets to the core of our humanness – flawed, imperfect…but moral? 

Moral development is a fascinating and rich area of psychology where research has suggested that even infants demonstrate moral decision-making based on factors, such as intent, motive, and uncontrollable vs. controllable external factors (i.e., freedom of choice) (Joseph, 2016). The field of moral psychology has informed law (e.g., the merit of legal testimonies), medicine (e.g., medical malpractice), and technology (e.g., social media controls) in significant ways. In this mentorship, we will explore one of the modern world’s most embraced recourse and debated topic, artificial intelligence, in all these areas and more, using decades of moral psychology research to inform our conclusions on its strengths and limitations. You will be empowered to choose an AI advancement in an area that you are passionate about and become a content expert in its design, implementation, and ethics. If you want to become savvier in arguments related to artificial intelligence (one of the top college majors and competitive employment areas today) and enjoy diving into research on what makes humans “human”, this mentorship is for you! 

Note: Multiple perspectives (both popular and unpopular) will be examined and discussed for the purpose of building critical thinking skills and understanding or critiquing multiple viewpoints and data as well as incorporating and responding to classmates’ views and ideas. The ideas, readings and discussions are not necessarily the expressed views of the instructor, PTY, or VU. While we encourage students to engage in the orderly and civil exchange of diverse ideas and opinions, we expect that they will do so in a respectful way so that all participants feel welcome and safe.

Dr. Nicolette Biskup (recently married, with published research and other credentials under “Nicolette Granata”) is a proud “Triple-Dore”, successfully completing her Bachelor’s (magna cum laude and with highest honors), Master’s (during her PhD), and PhD from Vanderbilt University, with degrees in Psychology, Child Development, and Special Education. With a strong talent for teaching students at all levels, Dr. Biskup was invited to be a teaching assistant as soon as her second year of undergraduate and never turned back. She was later selected to teach other doctoral students best practices in college teaching for the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching. She has attended and presented at national teaching conferences and guest lectured for multiple Vanderbilt courses. Dr. Biskup is a seasoned PTY instructor with glowing student feedback, often being asked to write letters of recommendation for multiple students per course. As a research scholar, Dr. Biskup is first author on nearly half a dozen scholarly articles in the field of developmental and moral psychology and recently published a first author paper in one of the highest calibers and most competitive journals in the field, Child Development. Dr. Biskup is the second or third author on many more highly cited papers by her longtime advisor, Dr. Jonathan Lane. Today, Dr. Biskup is a quickly emerging leader in the nonprofit space, invited to the Board of Directors for one nonprofit in the healthcare space, and currently working in leadership roles across two departments at another nonprofit, supporting grant writing, data collection, and direct service efforts to support adults with disabilities with advanced degrees in obtaining competitive employment. With more than a decade of experience teaching neurotypical and neurodivergent students, Dr. Biskup has a knack for supporting every learner and their individual needs. Dr. Biskup would be honored to bring her expertise and support to your academic journey!