November 15, 2007
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Eleven Western Kentucky University physics students traveled to Chicago Nov. 2-3 for the 18th Annual Argonne National Laboratory’s Undergraduate Symposium in Science, Engineering and Mathematics.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Society of Physics Students (SPS) sponsored this event.
Two physics professors from the Ogden College of Science and Engineering, Dr. Doug Harper and Dr. Alexander Barzilov, accompanied the students on the trip.
Students were given the opportunity to attend presentations of keynote speakers, including Dr. Robert Rosner, Director of the Argonne National Laboratory; Dr. James E. West from Johns Hopkins University and Dr. Charles E. Catlett from Argonne National Laboratory, along with student sessions. Many fields of science were represented at the symposium including mathematics, physics, engineering, geology, computer science, chemistry and biology. Students from University of Chicago, Purdue University, Washington University, and Northwestern University attended the conference.
Students presented their latest research over several different topics:
- Brian Cooper of Richardsville - The Development of Devices to Detect Low Frequency Magnetic Fields.
- Chris Davenport of Versailles - IED Neutralization Using Low Cost Unmanned Ground Vehicles.
- Noah Kapley of Franklin – Fission’s Royal Flash and the Oxygen Control System
- James Lodmell of Versailles - Low Cost Theatre Control System Using Wireless Technology.
- Chris McGrath of Auburn - CyberDefense Laboratory.
- Matt Nichols of Bowling Green - The Development of Algorithms for Neutron-Based Threat Determinations.
- Joshua Peerce of Morgantown - Utilizing Wireless Technology for Enhancing the Electrocardiograph.
- Jason Smith of Smith’s Grove - Modeling Results for Environmental Acoustic Pressure Obstructions.
“Argonne was an excellent chance to present research and to learn about the research of other students,” said Chris McGrath, a junior and physics major from Auburn.
“It was a great opportunity to be able to go to a national laboratory because not everybody gets a chance to do that,” said James Lodmell, a senior and electrical engineering major from Versailles.
Students had a chance to tour the Advanced Photon Source (APS). The APS provides the nation’s most brilliant x-ray beams for research in almost all scientific disciplines. These x-rays allow scientists to pursue new knowledge about the structure and function of materials in the center of the Earth and in outer space, and all points in between.
They also visited the Tandem Linear Accelerator System (ATLAS), and nuclear power development facilities at Argonne National Laboratory. ATLAS is the world's first superconducting linear accelerator for heavy ions at energies in the vicinity of the Coulomb barrier. This is the energy domain best suited to study the properties of the nucleus, the core of matter, and the fuel of stars.
The Applied Physics Institute is a multidisciplinary center performing research and development projects in areas of nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, wireless data communications, homeland security, material science and electronics. API researchers’ interests cover virtually all aspects of applied science and technology.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For more information, contact Anessia Loveless at (270) 781-3859 or anessia.loveless@wku.edu
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