Two undergrads do real-world research in DOE lab

Robert Opila (center), UD professor of materials science and engineering, works with Christopher Dixon (background), a senior computer engineering major, and Saka Okyere-Asiedu, a junior civil engineering major, on a study of the properties of novel electronic materials at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

2:03 p.m., Sept. 22, 2006--Two University of Delaware undergraduate students got hands-on experience at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., this summer while participating in a Faculty and Student Teams (FaST) program, which provides students the opportunity to work in a real-world research environment.

Christopher Dixon, a senior computer engineering major, and Saka Okyere-Asiedu, a junior civil engineering major, were the first UD students to participate in the 10-week program. They were sponsored jointly by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation's Greater Philadelphia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), and led by Robert Opila, UD professor of materials science and engineering.

The FaST program provides an opportunity to contribute to and be on the ground floor of new ideas and exciting projects leading to publications for faculty and graduate school opportunities for students; a highly interactive and stimulating immersion experience in the research environment; sustainable professional relationships between faculty and laboratory investigators; and a supportive approach that reinforces learning through research participation.

“It's an opportunity for the students to gain valuable research experience and have a chance to work with some of the most coveted research equipment in the world,” Michael Vaughan, senior assistant dean of engineering, said. “I cannot think of a better way to build upon classroom training than to transport that knowledge to a competitive research environment and put it to use.”

UD team members worked with the staff at the laboratory's National Synchrotron Light Source, an evacuated tube about 100 meters in diameter where electrons circulate at nearly the speed of light, emitting light whose energy varies from infrared to X-ray frequencies. The extremely bright ultraviolet light from the synchrotron is used to study the properties of novel electronic materials.

“Our team used the ultraviolet light from the synchrotron to excite electrons in the samples under study,” Opila said. “These excited electrons yielded information about the processes contributing to novel electronic conduction in these materials. Okyere-Aseidu concentrated his efforts on materials for use in silicon solar cells, while Dixon studied materials in next-generation integrated circuits.”

The students received a stipend and travel allowance and worked an average of 40 hours a week. Each student wrote a research paper on their findings and participated in a poster competition to conclude the experience.

Although the program received most applications from the College of Engineering, it is open to all UD LSAMP participants, including students in all science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, Vaughan said.

Article by Martin Mbugua
Photo courtesy Brookhaven National Laboratory

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