PLS wraps up summer student programs

The Glenn T. Seaborg Institute hosted 12 students this summer, including 8 students supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). For eight weeks, students researched topics such as portable radiation detectors, uranium plasma chemistry, and application of neural networks to nuclear theory. On August 7, DTRA program managers visited with the students to discuss career and research opportunities at the agency.

MSD hosted 58 students through the Materials and Chemistry Institute (MaCI) Summer Program (45 students) and the Computational Chemistry and Materials Science (CCMS) Summer Institute (13 students). The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships, Military Academic Research Associates, and diversity programs supported several students in the MaCI program. Students gained experience in materials synthesis, materials characterization, materials processing, analytical chemistry, actinide materials science, optical materials science, electrochemistry, materials chemistry, physics, and computational science. Both institutes held seminars throughout the summer, which featured scientists discussing their research and career paths. On July 2, Glenn Fox, Anantha Krishnan, and Pat Falcone attended a brown bag lunch with MaCI students.

The High-Energy-Density Science Center (HEDS Center), the Inertial Confinement Fusion Program, and the Joint High Energy Density Science and Technology Division coordinated a HED summer student program, hosting 33 total students, with 10 supported directly by the HEDS Center. Student research areas included astrophysics, hydrodynamics, turbulence, plasma physics, internal confinement physics, and radiation/particle transport. Students attended weekly meetings to practice their presentation skills and learn about each other’s research. The program hosted a poster symposium on August 9 for students to present their research and network with other HED scientists.