Geoffrey Ji Wins Goldwater Scholarship

Geoffrey Ji

Geoffrey Ji has been awarded a scholarship by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which encourages students to pursue advanced study and careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics. He is among the 283 students selected from 1,166 students nominated nationally this year. Ji—who is majoring in physics, mathematics, economics and computer science—has been conducting quantum science research for two years in the laboratory of Chris Monroe, Bice Zorn Professor of Physics.

“Geoffrey has almost single-handedly outfitted advanced digital and analog electronic control circuits, in addition to writing impressive computer code that will soon be adopted by most of our other projects,” said Monroe.

Ji also conducted theoretical nuclear physics research with Paulo Bedaque, associate professor of physics, which resulted in co-authorship of a peer-reviewed publication in the journal Physical Review D. He is a member of the UMD Honors College and plans to pursue a doctoral degree.

 

Physics Receives High Marks in 2015 Graduate School Rankings

Maryland Physics was ranked 14th by U.S. News and World Report's 2015 Best Graduate Schools -- with four specialties in the top 10. Our rankings included:

The plasma specialty ranked 3rd
The atomic/molecular/optical specialty ranked 6th
The quantum specialty ranked 8th
The condensed matter specialty ranked 10th
The cosmology/gravity/relativity specialty ranked 13th

 
The College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences' full Best Graduate School rankings are available here.

Researchers Demonstrate Long-Lived High-Power Optical Waveguides in Air

In a recent experiment, published in Physical Review X, Howard Milchberg and his colleagues in the intense laser-matter interactions group demonstrate that femtosecond filaments can set up an extended and robust thermal waveguide structure in air with a lifetime of several milliseconds, making possible the very-long-range guiding and distant projection of high-energy laser pulses and high-average power beams. This is the subject of articles that appear in the latest issues of APS Viewpoint, Physics Today and Science News.

 

APS/Alan Stonebraker
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Paglione Appointed CIFAR Associate

Johnpierre Paglione was appointed an Associate for the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). CIFAR brings together a network of nearly 400 researchers to focus on important questions with the potential to improve human health and the environment, transform technology, build strong societies, understand human culture and even chart the universe.

Professor Paglione will serve as an Associate of the Quantum Materials research program.

For the full list of 2014 research appointments, visit: http://ter.ps/522