Three UH graduate students won top honors and prize money at the biannual UH Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials (TcSAM) Student Symposium. The symposium series highlights the original research efforts of undergraduate and graduate students working in TcSAM, which is a NASA Research Partnership Center located on the UH campus. It is the largest multidisciplinary university superconductivity and related materials research effort in the United States.

Ten students competed, each giving a 15-minute presentation, followed by a brief question and answer period. A faculty panel judged each presenter on originality and quality of research, quality of presentation and skillful use of visual aids.

"The symposium provides an opportunity for TcSAM students to hone their presentation skills and highlight their hard work and research results to an audience of their peers and mentors," said Alex Ignatiev, director of TcSAM and professor of physics, chemistry and electrical and computer engineering. "Successfully communicating your research to the public and your colleagues is an important step in developing as a scientist."

The winners included two students from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and one student from the Cullen College of Engineering. First place and $200 went to Clarina R. de la Cruz, a graduate student in physics; second place and $100 went to Chong Wang, also a graduate student in physics; and third place and $50 went to Lian Xue, a graduate student in electrical engineering.

"The work I presented contributes to the understanding of the magnetodielectric effect that has potential technological applications in
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Contact: Lisa Merkl
lkmerkl@uh.edu
713-743-8192
University of Houston
28-Jan-2005