Graduate

Javier Orjuela-Koop Wins People's Choice Award at Inaugural 3 Minute Thesis Competition

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 20:46:31 +0000

Javier Orjuela-Koop Wins People's Choice Award at Inaugural 3 Minute Thesis Competition Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/02/2018 - 13:46

View the 3MT News Article

Congratulations to Physics Grad Student Javier Orjuela-Koop for winning the People's Choice Award during the Inaugural Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition on Tuesday, February 20th.

Orjuela-Koop's Thesis, "Michael Phelps and the Early Universe" was presented using only one powerpoint slide, which was an image of Michael Phelps swimming. His presentation earned the People's Choice Award by a popular audience vote.

Orjuela-Koop said his 3 Minute Thesis naturally arose from his current research in high-energy nuclear, "We collide gold atoms at nearly the speed of light at Brookhaven National Lab, reaching temperatures at which ordinary matter becomes a liquid of quarks and gluons (the technical name is 'quark-gluon plasma'). This liquid has very peculiar properties. Namely, it has an extremely low viscosity (the lowest of any liquid in nature), yet certain kinds of particles lose substantial amounts of energy when going through it," Orjuela-Koop said. "In order to present this in three minutes, I came up with an analogy, comparing Michael Phelps to a heavy subatomic particle 'swimming' through the liquid. This was meant to provide a clear mental picture to which a general audience could relate."

Check out the video of Javier Ojruela-Koop's 3MT lecture below.

[video:https://youtu.be/S4ByqYw1dLc]

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Physics Graduate Angel Martinez Wins Prestigious Glenn H. Brown Prize

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Aug 2016 01:13:24 +0000

Physics Graduate Angel Martinez Wins Prestigious Glenn H. Brown Prize Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/15/2016 - 19:13

Congratulations to Dr. Angel Martinez (Fall '14) for earning the prestigious Glenn H. Brown Prize from the International Liquid Crystal Society (ILCS). The prize was announced during the ILCS conference in early August 2016. The Glenn H. Brown Prize awards doctoral students whose PhD theses, "demonstrate an outstanding contribution to the science of liquid crystals."

According to their site, Martinez earned his award, "for his outstanding research contribution to enriching the toolbox for structural manipulation of soft matter based on the optical effect and its application to liquid crystal colloids and polymeric systems. His research pioneered a new trend in the artificial control of microscopic topological structures in liquid crystals that opens a novel avenue for self-assembly in soft matter with a wide range of future applications."

"Being his PhD advisor and watching him grow as a scientist were some of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences in my own career at the ��«��Ƶ," CU Physics Professor Ivan Smalyukh said. "Angel highly deserves the recognition by the Glenn H. Brown Prize because of his unprecedented creativity and productivity, which make him perhaps the brightest superstar among the young researchers in the field of liquid crystals."

Dr. Martinez is now a Postdoctoral researcher with the University of Pennsylvania, where he continues to work on softmatter physics, liquid crystals and colloids.

"I am proud of helping Angel with initiating and helping to grow his interest and expertise in the experimental liquid crystal research," Professor Smalyukh said. "Dr. Martinez is now not just a talented young experimentalist but truly an experimental magician/wizard."

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The William and Dorothy O'Sullivan Graduate Award in Physics

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:05:00 +0000

The William and Dorothy O'Sullivan Graduate Award in Physics Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/15/2012 - 17:05

Overview

We are proud to announce the second year of the O'Sullivan Family Graduate Fellowship Award, funded by William and Dorothy O'Sullivan. Their gifts the last two years, and their commitments for the future, will provide critical fellowship support for the department's best and brightest incoming graduate students.

The O'Sullivan Family Graduate Fellowship Award will maintain a legacy of one of the Department's most distinguished faculty members and provide graduate fellowships for future generations of graduate students.

Award Winners

2012 - John Corson and Theresa Christian

The O'Sullivans

Dr. William J. O'Sullivan is a Professor Emeritus of the University of Colorado Department of Physics. His distinguished career lasted over 35 years, from 1968 to his retirement in 2002. Between 1988 and 1966, Dr. O'Sullivan served as Chair of the Department of Physics, a period of remarkable growth and success, largely due to his leadership.

Dr. O'Sullivan's research area was experimental condensed matter physics. Twelve Ph.D. Students in physics graduated under his mentorship, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in science. He and his students published 75 refereed physics journal articles and book chapters.

Dr. O'Sullivan earned a B.S. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1952, his M.S. in Physics from the University of Southern California in 1954, and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1958. He was an assistant professor of physics at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School 1958-1959, staff scientist at Space Technology Laboratories 1959-1963, and staff scientist at Sandia National Laboratories 1963-1968.

Professor O'Sullivan was a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was twice awarded University of Colorado Faculty Research Fellowships. Dorothy J. O'Sullivan is the wife of William O'Sullivan and mother of the couple's three children. Professor O'Sullivan's many successes would have been impossible without her steadfast assistance.

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