Skyler Hanson
Skyler is one of 14 participants in our 2019 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program.
Pictured here, Skyler is at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago. While there she conducted x-ray diffraction studies on laser heated sample at high-pressures at Sector 16, Advanced Photon Source.
One of the many advantages of participating in our REU program are opportunities to travel to national labs.
After the program ends there is a window of time that the program will support travel to a conference. The following criteria qualifies participants for travel support:
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- Confer with mentor to determine if conference is suitable based on REU project
- Must be invited to present at conference
- Forward a copy of invite to Program Coordinator, Charita H. Cadenhead along with mentor approval
- Participant must submit a write up of their experience at the conference
- Submit all receipts for reimbursement up to $500.
Attending CLEO 2019 was an eye-opening experience. I was able to learn about so many emerging technologies such as LIDAR, light detection and ranging, for autonomous vehicles and metallic nanoparticles used to cure cancer as well as cutting-edge research being performed around the globe. The caliber of speakers at the conference was quite incredible with talks from researchers at top universities and industrial labs, but most impressively the 2018 Nobel Laureates Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou.
for Undergraduates (REU)-site in experimental and computational materials research. This REU-site project plans to recruit students from underrepresented groups and academic institutions where research opportunities are limited. This project offers a broad range of interdisciplinary materials research experiences to undergraduate students with a diversity of backgrounds in physics, chemistry, applied mathematics, and engineering. The undergraduate students will gain experience in materials synthesis, materials characterization and computer modeling and simulations during their ten-week research stay at UAB campus. The scientific research projects have been specifically developed for undergraduate students by an interdisciplinary team consisting of science and engineering faculty at UAB. This project will continue to provide lecture series and workshops in materials growth and characterization, research ethics, and professionalism, innovation and entrepreneurship, and preparation for graduate school to all participants. Our REU participants will publish their findings in peer-reviewed journals and/or present at professional meetings leading to a broad dissemination of new knowledge created in the undergraduate research projects.
