IC physics students present research among leading physicists
Update on 7/11/2018: Nickolas Reed '18 was awarded an Outstanding Presentation Award for his presentation at the American Physical Society meeting in April. Nickolas' presentation titled "RoLEDS: Rotating LED-based Solar Simulator" is a direct reflection of a successful collaboration with Dr. Martin Kordesch from Ohio University.
This experience should be a great help in my applications to transfer as part of the 3-2 program at IC. I've talked to my friends at bigger universities in engineering fields and they agree that having already done research as an undergrad is such a big help.
Three Illinois College physics students recently presented their student-faculty research on a national stage among the country’s leading physicists.
Nickolas Reed ’18, Elijah Rhoad ’18 and Parker Stokes ’21 traveled to Columbus, Ohio, for the 2018 American Physical Society meeting, “Quarks to Cosmos,” in April to present their work in the field.
Two research projects from IC were selected for presentation at the prestigious meeting. Reed and Stokes collaborated on research entitled “RoLEDs: Rotating LED-Based Solar Simulator” and Rhoad presented his work “Electrical and Optical Properties of RF Sputtered Copper Oxide Thin Films and their Suitability for Solar Cell Applications.”
Dr. Pratheesh Jakkala, assistant professor of physics, served as the faculty sponsor on both research projects. He said he was thrilled to see the work of undergraduates at Illinois College being recognized alongside that of graduate students and postdocs.
He said the experience of being part of the event also taught his students valuable lessons.
“They did a great job explaining the research to other physicists from all over the country. This was a great learning experience for our students and I am happy that they made some professional contacts during this meeting,” said Jakkala.
Reed said that not only did learn a lot about physics through his research, having to explain his work and field questions from peers also helped him to grow, and gave him a solid foundation for doing similar work in the future.
He says the experience is also helping him as he works to complete his engineering degree through IC’s Pathways to Engineering program.
“This experience should be a great help in my applications to transfer as part of the 3-2 program at IC. I've talked to my friends at bigger universities in engineering fields and they agree that having already done research as an undergrad is such a big help,” said Reed.