STUDIES SHOWCASE SUPERCONDUCTIVITY SAVVY
AT UH
Four Graduate Students Present Award-winning,
Multidisciplinary Work at Recent Competition
HOUSTON, June 24, 2005 – Furthering superconductivity and
related research, University of Houston students in science and
engineering showcased their original research in a recent campus
competition.
Four UH graduate students won top honors and prize money at the
29th Semiannual Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University
of Houston (TcSUH) Student Symposium. The symposium series highlights
original, multidisciplinary research efforts of undergraduate and
graduate students.
Nine students competed, each giving a 15-minute presentation, followed
by a brief question and answer period. A faculty panel judged each
presenter on originality and quality of research, quality of presentation
and skillful use of visual aids.
“The symposium provides students with a forum to gain experience
in formally presenting their work, as well as showcasing their research
results to an audience that includes peers and mentors,” said
Allan Jacobson, director of TcSUH, professor of chemistry and the
Robert A. Welch Chair of Science. “A crucial building block
for developing scientists includes successful communication of your
research to the public and your colleagues.”
The winners included one student from the Cullen College of Engineering
and three students from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
First place and $200 went to Prashant Gijavanekar, who received
his master’s degree in materials engineering from UH this
spring; second place and $100 went to Hong-Yi Chen, a doctoral student
in physics; and a tie for third place and $50 each went to Hugo
Sanabria and Xiangkun Yu, both graduate students in physics.
“As a kid, I was always fascinated with mechanical gadgets.
I used to tear them apart to figure out how they worked and then
assembled them back,” said Gijavanekar, whose project leader
is UH Mechanical Engineering Professor Kamel Salama. “For
the last two years, I have worked on magnesium diboride superconductors,
and being a research fellow at TcSUH was an incredible experience
that provided me the opportunity to expose myself to the advanced
engineering techniques in the field of superconductivity.”
Working toward his doctorate in the theory of superconductivity,
Chen has had seven papers published thus far in Physics Review B.
In his fifth year at UH and preparing to graduate in fall 2005,
he works in the HTS Theoretical Materials Research group at TcSUH
under Physics Professor Chin-Sen Ting, who is also his project leader.
Led by John Miller, an associate professor of physics at UH, Sanabria
said, “My latest work involves measuring the dielectric properties
of biological systems, in which I got interested because of the
application of physics in areas like biology. Applications of knowledge
acquired in this area help in developing novel technologies like
nanobiology and biosensors for detecting biological warfare agents.”
Yu, a Ph.D. student whose project leader is Distinguished University
Professor of Physics Wei-Kan Chu, said, “Working as a research
assistant under the guidance Professor Chu at TcSUH has given me
insight into what the necessary qualities are of physics researchers.
And collaborating with a highly qualified crew – all hardworking,
all part of a group – I also discovered the valuable spirit
of team work.”
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research
and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers
and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate,
civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university
in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and
service with more than 35,000 students.
For more information about TcSUH, visit the Center’s Web
site at www.uh.edu/tcsam.
To receive UH science news via e-mail, visit www.uh.edu/admin/media/sciencelist.html.
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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