Author: mtrawick

Brian Mahoney will graduate this year with degrees in both chemistry and physics.  His research has been in the chemistry department with Wade Downey, and he spent his summer developing a new way to synthesize propargylic alcohols.  These compounds are frequently used as starting points for further sythesis of drug compounds by the pharmaceutical industry, and Brian has worked to make the sythesis faster and more economical.  Brian began working with professor Downey during his freshman year.  This fall, he will present his work at a chemistry conference in Nashville, TN. 

Junior Alex Cooke, together with sophomore Adam Hake, spent his summer doing research with professor Ovidiu Lipan in biological physics.  Alex, a physics major, has been emersed in wet-lab molecular biology this summer, which has whetted his appetite for the study of genetics in the biology department.  He currently plans to major in interdisciplinary physics with a concentration in biology.  He has been studying iron uptake system in the bacteria E. Coli, which is usefule for understanding the general problem of iron regulation in cells.  He will continue his research with professor Lipan this year.

Sophomore Matt Jordan spent his summer working with professor Jerry Gilfoyle to analyze the systematic uncertainties in measurements taken at the CEBAF particle accelerator at Jefferson National Lab.  They are are part of a large, international collaboration studying the structure of the deuteron particle, and the results of their experiments will ultimately be used to test current theoretical models of nuclei.  The bulk of their work was performed here at UR on the physics department’s powerful supercomputer cluster.   Matt began working with professor Gilfoyle during his freshman year.  Their research continues this academic year, and in October the two will travel to to present their work at a conference in Oakland California.

Physic major Nat Mason did research over the summer with professor Ovidiu Lipan in the field of Biological physics.  Nat is working on the heat shock system in mammalian cells. He is looking for ways to undderstand the response of the cells to a double heat pulse. This research will open new perspectives on heat shock memory (thermotolerance).  Nat has worked with professor Lipan since his first year, and continues his research this fall.

Sophomore Adam Hake spent his summer doing research with professor Ovidiu Lipan in biological physics.  Although Adam has been emersed in wet-lab molecular biology, he is also highly interested in the theoretical aspects of biological systems.  He has been studying iron uptake system in the bacteria E. Coli, which is usefule for understanding the general problem of iron regulation in cells.  He will continue his research with professor Lipan this year.

Cosmin Pancratov ’10 is first author on a series of three articles just published in the journal Computing in Science and Engineering.  The articles describe the optimization of a numerical routine used for image analysis, work done with physics professor Matt Trawick, computer science professor Kelly Shaw, and Jake Kurzer ’10, all coauthors.  Cosmin and Jake both began doing research with Trawick during their freshman year.