Spectra-Physics Research Excellence Travel Awards were presented this year at the SPIE conference in Newport.  SPIE Student Services hosted the Student Lunch with the Experts, to give students a chance to network and gain advice from industry and academic leaders. The Newport and Spectra-Physics Research Excellence Travel Awards presentations were made during the lunch. Randy Heyler, senior director of Strategic Marketing for Newport, (second from right, in front of podium) presented $15,000 in travel awards to student researchers at a luncheon at SPIE Photonics West

Students who attended to accept the awards were as follows: Taeyoung Choi, University of Arizona; Eric Diebold, Harvard University; Juejun Hu, MIT; Toufic Jabbour, University of Central Florida; Chih-wen “Wendy” Kan, University of Texas at Austin; Matthew Lew, Calif.l Institute of Tech; Yutin Lin, UCalif, Irvine; Suprahja Murali, Univ. of Central Florida; Jaesook Park, University of Texas at Austin; Leo Siiman, U. Central Florida; Mingzhen Tang, U NC at Charlotte; Nitin Uppal, U Texas, Arlington; Hongying Zhu, U Missouri, Columbia; Narasimhan Rajaram, U Texas, Austin. Also winning an award, but not pictured: Tina Shih, Harvard Univ.

SPIE President Kevin Harding and representatives from Newport are also in the photo with the award winners.

Congratulations to our 2007 Professor Silverio Almeida Scholarship recipient, Sarah Gray!

Sarah Gray is a senior, double majoring in mathematics and physics.  Physics has always been interesting to her, but it wasn't required in her high school and wasn't even offered every semester.  She did take her first physics course during her senior year in high school and that is when she decided to minor in it.  Sarah thanks Dr. Leilabady and Nic Scott, because during her sophomore year in college here at UNCC, they convinced her to become a double major.  Sarah is from Lincolnton, NC and tied for the youngest of 4 with her identical twin sister.  She likes to be involved at school and in her home life.  She loves animals and kids.  She tells us, "The reason I love physics so much is because it brings answers, it helps me understand everything in the world and universe around me."

Mark Green is a physics major, hailing originally from a town located near Erie, Pennsylvania. He was originally planning to study engineering; however, he soon realized that physics would be a far better choice for him. He tells us, "I have always enjoyed the concept of understanding how the world works, so studying physics, which not only describes how the world works through math but also gives a theoretical framework to describe why it works the way it does, became my logical direction in college."  Mark enjoys working for Tutorial Services. In his free time he generally likes to read a variety of books or to spend time with my friends, whether playing pick-up games of basketball or just talking over lunch.