Academy Seniors Share Research at Argonne National Laboratory

[fblike]

by Will Bickett, Academy Avatar

A group of second-year students at  the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at WKU presented their physics research at Argonne National Laboratory’s Annual Undergraduate Symposium.

Will Bickett, Lydia Brothers, Andrea Eastes, Christian Jolly, and Ben Rice, along with a group of other WKU students were selected by the Department of Physics and Astronomy to share their findings.Students not only got the chance to tour the immense facility and see firsthand the ground-breaking research being done there, but also to give talks about their research and attend a variety of other presentations.

The Argonne National Laboratory is the oldest and one of the most prestigious of the nation’s research facilities.  With its roots reaching back to the Manhattan Project, Argonne has been the birthplace of countless discoveries and marvels of human innovation.  Since 1946, Argonne National Lab has vastly broadened its initiatives to include Hard X-Ray Sciences, Leadership Computing, Materials for Energy, Electrical Energy Storage, Alternate Energy and Efficiency, Electrical Energy Storage, Nuclear Energy, Biological and Environmental Systems, and National Security.  The Laboratory also houses the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System or (ATLAS) which is the world’s first superconducting particle accelerator and the Advanced Photon Source or (APS) which is a massive synchrotron X-Ray research facility that produces the world’s largest and brightest X-Rays.

“The APS was by far one of the most impressive research facilities I’ve ever seen,” said Jolly. ” The sheer amount and variety of research done was very inspiring to me as an upcoming astrophysicist.  Surprisingly enough, I also really enjoyed the biology talks done at the conference. They were fascinating and very well done.”

Jolly wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the conference and the lab though. All the students vastly appreciated the opportunity to participate in an event at one of our nation’s most prominent research labs.

The trip was hardly all work and no play though. Students lived like Chicagoans and dined on Giordano’s famous Chicago-style stuffed pizza, Portillo’s Hot Dogs, and other fine Chicago favorites.  As a reward for their excellent work in presenting on Friday, Students were set free in the Windy City on Saturday to be blown about and throughout.  After being dropped off on Chicago’s number one tourist attraction or Navy Pier, Academy students bought Chicago Go-Cards and set out.  Traveling by trolley, students rode in style through the crowded streets while listening to the bizarre and insightful facts provided by the fabulous tour guides.  Students also ascended to the tops of both the sky-scraping Willis Tower and John-Hancock Building, placing themselves at the paramount of the famous Chicago Sky-line.  Academy students, being typical nerds, finished up the day exploring the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere, Adler Planetarium, and the U.S.’s largest indoor aquarium, Shedd Aquarium.

When asked about the trip, Eastes added that the research and social experiences for the trip were “world class.”

“Argonne is world class facility where cutting edge research is taking place every day,” Eastes said. “Seeing where this is happening and learning about exciting research being done by other undergraduates while sharing my research was a fantastic experience.   The icing on the cake was definitely having time to explore Chicago, visit places like the Hancock building, the skydeck, the shed aquarium, Navy Pier, Adler planetarium, and have pretty amazing trolley tours of the city.”

So if you ever find yourself with the chance to visit the Chicago area, be sure to stop by Argonne, you might need security clearance first though and check out those world class facilities. Also, swing by downtown Chicago and see the sights, but be sure to never ask for ketchup on your hot dog.

Visit these links if you want to learn more about:

The Argonne National Lab: http://www.dep.anl.gov/index.html

The Jeweler’s Building or other famous Chicago Architecture: http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Building/1064/35-East-Wacker-Drive.php

Adler Planetarium: http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/

Or Shedd Aquarium: http://www.sheddaquarium.org/

Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, physics, Physics and Astronomy, research, WKU