4/17/2025 Maeve Reilly
First-generation student Andy Granados overcame his freshman-year jitters by joining Illinois' First-Generation Scholars Research Program, where he now works with bioengineering professor Holly Golecki to build soft robotic organ models for STEM outreach. Granados is designing a squishy heart model powered by McKibben muscle actuators that pumps fluids at realistic rates, helping grade-schoolers explore bioengineering concepts. Funded by the Office of Undergraduate Research, the Jeffries Center, and the Provost’s Office, FGSRP gives federal work-study eligible first-gen students mentored research experiences and a supportive community. By gaining hands-on skills and mentorship, participants like Granados are not only thriving on campus but also inspiring their home communities through presentations and activities.
Written by Maeve Reilly
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Before arriving on campus, first-year University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign student Andy Granados voiced the concerns that many students coming to a large university face.
“Before I started freshman year, I was scared,” Granados said. “I’m not as social as other people. I don’t really know how to connect with my professors, so I was wondering ‘how am I going to find people to help me out?’”
For Granados, becoming involved in the First-Generation Scholars Research Program at Illinois not only has provided him with research skills, but also has provided one way for him to get connected to other students, share concerns and successes, and learn more about the “hidden curriculum” of the university — the ins and outs of college life that those who haven’t been exposed to higher education may not know.
Through FGSRP, Granados is working with bioengineering professor Holly Golecki on creating soft robotic organ models that can be built by grade and high school students to show young students how robotics and bioengineering connect.
“Regular robots may use electricity and coding, which can put people off, but soft robotics can use air or magnets, stuff like that. It’s good for kids because it’s simpler,” Granados said. “I’m creating a model of a squishy heart that pumps fluids. There are actuators called McKibben’s muscles, which are like balloons that I put into polyester mesh, so it can contract like an actual muscle. Right now, I’m using a syringe to pump the air, but I’ve been offered an electric pump, which can make it pump like an actual heart at 60 beats per minute.”
FGSRP is collaboration between the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Jeffries Center and is funded by the Office of the Provost. The program provides research experience to first-generation students who are eligible for federal work study. More than 70 students applied to become involved in research projects that eight faculty members proposed. Chris Holmes, associate director of undergraduate research, and Jennifer Mendez, director of first-generation student initiatives, coordinate the program and helped select the nine students, including Granados, who are participating this spring.
“Research shows that the undergraduate research experience is extremely beneficial to students, particularly first-generation students,” Holmes said. “This becomes a jumping off point for scholarships and other research opportunities. And the students become part of a community of scholars through the biweekly meetings where they can share their experiences and meet with one another.”
The students also supply a new perspective to the research. “First-generation students bring a lot to campus,” Mendez said. “They often have a innovative thinking skill set. It’s important to be welcoming for first-generation students.”
Photo by Fred Zwicky.
To that point, Granados is wondering how he can expose students from his high school to the research experience.
“I wanted to get into research, but I never had the opportunity to do any,” Granados said. “I thought it would be hard to get the experience, but — through this program — I just seamlessly integrated into it.”
He plans to make a presentation at his high school to show what he’s been working on. “I’m just showing them what I’m doing, and I’m even going to give them an activity,” Granados said. “I think that’s one of the best parts — to show them what research is and what we can do.”
Golecki, Granados’ mentor, was herself a first-generation student who pursued research as an undergraduate student at Drexel Univerisity.
“I had heard about undergraduate research from a friend, and I thought, ‘that sounds really cool. I should give that a try,’” Golecki said. “The lab really became my home on campus during my undergraduate time. I had built-in mentors, the graduate students in the lab, and the principal investigator was amazing and very encouraging. It was a very influential experience for me.
“Having a formal program to help facilitate connections for students is super impactful. It can be intimidating for students to reach out to faculty,” Golecki said.
FGSRP participants will participate in the Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 24 and share what they have learned.
Granados plans to continue research beyond the semesterlong FGSRP in the Southern and Central Illinois Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation summer program that his mentor referred him to.
“That’s why this program has been so amazing because it’s just giving me connections, recommenders, resources, stuff like that,” Granados said. “Right now I’m undecided between going to medical school or becoming a biomedical engineering researcher. Or maybe I could even do both.”
Editor's note:
For more information First-Generation Scholars Research Program, contact firstgen@illinois.edu or ugresearch@illinois.edu
This article first appeared on the Illinois News Bureau site here.