B Y U C O L L E G E O F P H Y S I C A L & M A T H E M A T I C A L S C I E N C E S > F A L L 2 0 1 0 / W I N T E R 2 0 11
FRONTIERS A BLAST IN THE DARK > SECURITY VERSUS CONVENIENCE > HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS? > THE CVLC GOES TO HAWAII >
> DEAN’S MESSAGE
WELCOME TO ANOTHER ISSUE OF FRONTIERS! As I sit down to write this, some interesting thoughts strike me. I am actually writing this on Friday, August 13th, in order to meet publication deadlines. As I look back, I also realize that this is the 13th edition of Frontiers. A superstitious person could think that all of this is ominous for the future of the college. However, I view it differently. You see, I was also married to my wonderful wife on Friday the 13th (in room 13 of the temple, as it turns out), and we have enjoyed many terrific years together, in spite of some superstitious folks who predicted otherwise. So as I see it, perhaps this all points to a very bright future for the college. Here at BYU, we have just completed another graduation. When you receive this issue, we will be well into a new semester. It is a time of year that causes me to reflect on the wonderful students that we are blessed to have here in the college, a number of whom are now on their way out to pursue new adventures. However, we are also ready to welcome some new outstanding and energetic students into the college, who will pick up where our graduates left off to help us continue forward in shaping the bright future of the college. One of the best parts of my job is to be in a position to observe the many impressive achievements across the college. Many of our faculty are engaged in exciting, cutting-edge research. They teach in an exemplary manner and help our students grasp important concepts in our disciplines. They do a remarkable job of engaging students in their research and preparing them for meaningful and productive careers. As exciting as this is, oftentimes few people know about these acheivements outside of our laboratories or classrooms. We intend to rectify this. In this issue, you can read how we have put a student marketing team in place to help us better get the word out. These students themselves are remarkable in their accomplishments, and you will be interested to read of the many things they have put in place to help you and others maintain some ties to the college and departments. Two of those exciting research areas are also reviewed in this issue. Justin Peatross and Michael Ware in Physics and Astronomy, along with Scott Glasgow in Mathematics, have been collaborating
BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES SCOTT D. SOMMERFELDT, Dean THOMAS W. SEDERBERG, Associate Dean BART J. KOWALLIS, Associate Dean E. DANIEL JOHNSON, Assistant Dean
to explore some of the very fundamental properties of light. Light has been shown to exhibit behavior consistent with it being both a particle and a wave. With regard to its wave behavior, how does light scatter? No one seems to know the answer to this basic question, but you can read of the creative experiment Peatross, Ware, and Glasgow designed to try and solve this mystery. Do you ever worry about information you send in e-mails being compromised? We all want Internet communication to be fast and convenient, but I think we also often want our communication to be private. In this issue, we look at how Kent Seamons and his students have been developing innovative measures that will allow users to engage in user-friendly Internet communication, while also thwarting those pesky hackers who seem to disrupt and threaten so much of our electronic lives now. As always, we love to hear from you and find out what is happening in your life. We will be regularly reporting news updates on our alumni and friends in future issues of Frontiers, so please write us a letter or e-mail (college@cpms.byu.edu) to bring us up to date. I again express appreciation to so many of you who continue to support the college in many ways. Now, sit back and enjoy this lucky 13th issue of Frontiers. Scott Sommerfeldt, Dean
DEPARTMENT CHAIRS GREGORY F. BURTON, Chemistry & Biochemistry PARRIS K. EGBERT, Computer Sciences SCOTT M. RITTER, Geological Sciences TYLER J. JARVIS, Mathematics STEVEN R. WILLIAMS, Mathematics Education ROSS L. SPENCER, Physics & Astronomy DEL T. SCOTT, Statistics
CONTACT INFORMATION D. LYNN PATTEN, Executive Secretary 801-422-4022, lynn_ patten@byu.edu BRENT C. HALL, LDS Philanthropies 801-422-4501, brenth@byu.edu
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
CONTENTS > 1
FEATURES
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A BLAST IN THE DARK HITTING ELECTRONS HARD ENOUGH TO DETECT SCATTERING PROTONS
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SECURITY VERSUS CONVENIENCE: FINDING A DELICATE BALANCE ON THE INTERNET MAKING THE INTERNET MORE SECURE FO R YO U.
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HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS? A GREAT STUDENT MARKETING TEAM FOR A GREAT COLLEGE
DEPARTMENTS FRIENDS OF THE COLLEGE
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THE CVLC GOES TO HAWAII
STUDENT NEWS
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FACULTY NEWS
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ALUMNI NEWS
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COLLEGE NEWS
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FRONTIERS PRODUCTION BART J. KOWALLIS, Editorial Director OSTLER JAMESON PUBLISHING, Custom Publisher GREGORY H. TAGGART, Managing Editor JANET O. TAGGART, Creative Director OJPublishing@gmail.com
CONTRIBUTORS Gregory Hal Taggart, Vanessa Stanfill, Shelsea Van Ornum. PHOTOGRAPHY College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences; BYU Photo: Staff, Mark A. Philbrick; Personal Collections of Joanne & Robert Lowe (cover and CVLC Hawaii photos), K. Own Ash, Stephen B. Church, Edward D. Ekstrom, Lynn Garner, Edward W. Gholdston, Steve Goates, Dana Griffen, Lonnie T. Mercer, Justin Peatross, Melinda C. Trego; and Church News Archive.
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
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A BLAST IN THE DARK By Vanessa Stanfill
In a blinding burst, the laser blasts light into a 15-foot-long aluminum tube that connects the laser lab with a pair of huge vacuum chambers sitting in a darkened room. The first chamber shortens the blast into a high-intensity pulse. The pulse then squeezes through a pinhole into a second measurement chamber where it ionizes helium, ripping off electrons. At the far end of the darkened room, a photon detector quietly clicks. Using those muted clicks, three BYU professors hope to uncover fundamental new truths about the behavior of electrons and light.
Professor Justin Peatross, who specializes in the sizzling brightness of high-intensity laser research, stands behind the initial explosion of light. In the darkened lab, counting individual photons, sits Professor Michael Ware. “Normally,” says Ware, “we are on opposite ends of the research spectrum, each looking at an extreme of light or dark.” But this experiment has brought the contradictory comrades together, and joined by mathematician Scott Glasgow, the self-proclaimed “quirky theorist” of the project, they hope to observe the unseen quantum world with a level of precision never before attained. In classical physics, electrons treated as particles radiate light when moved. But in a quantum system, where scientists treat electrons as “waves of probable locations” rather than particles, researchers aren’t quite so sure how well these electron waves will “scatter” or radiate light. “It surprises me that something so fundamental could go unaddressed for so long,” says Peatross. “We hope that by gauging how well electron wave packets scatter, this experi-
Student Nick Herrick peers into a green pump laser used to stimulate the high-intensity Ti:sapphire laser system.
ment will help us understand the very fundamentals of the light and matter system.” Although much theoretical work has been done in this area, the team’s experiment will show quantum interactions for the first time
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
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(above photo) Professors Michael Ware (center left) and Justin Peatross (center right) in their laser lab with students (left to right) Eric Cunningham, Jacob Johansen, Nicole Brimhall, and Jordan Cox. (right photo) Professor Scott Glasgow, the “quirky” theorist in this study of the unseen quantum world, works with students (left to right) Himal Rathnakumara, Mark Meilstrup, and Stephen Taylor on an unrelated issue of energy storage in energy-lossy materials.
in all their “full blown glory” rather than in mere approximations. They hope to generate data accurate enough to create simulated movies of the quantum world-a huge leap forward in their field. “We’re going for the gold,” Glasgow says. “This is a tough project, but I think it has the potential to really bring a lot of attention to the Physics and Math Departments at BYU.” The team has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to fund their work. Once they received news the grant had been awarded, the researchers dove into their work immediately. Since they couldn’t fit the photon detector and high-intensity laser into the same space, Ware and Peatross bored a hole between their labs, hoping maintenance wouldn’t notice the
near the speed of light, scattering light with a wave-length shift. The scattered light then has a different wavelength than the laser, allowing the researchers to filter out the laser pulse and set their detectors to pick up only scattered photons. In the large vacuum chambers, it takes light several nanoseconds to travel to the walls and back, allowing detectors to capture their measurements before the ricocheting laser contaminates their readings. Since laser pulses are short measured bursts of light, Peatross says, “we know exactly when our photons should scatter out. We can synchronize our detectors to click at precisely that moment.”
QUANTUM SYSTEM PHYSICS “We hope that by gauging how well electron wave packets scatter, this experiment will help us understand the very fundamentals of the light and matter system.” ~Professor Justin Peatross
aluminum pipe addition to their laboratory décor. Undergraduate and graduate students joined in the work, running fiber optic feeds, creating specialized devices, developing theoretical equations, and installing the giant vacuum chambers-one more than 3 feet tall and big enough to fit a student cozily inside. While maintaining their enthusiasm, however, the research team admits they are privately worried. “There’s huge potential for seeing what we don’t want to see with 1018 photons blasting nearby,” says Peatross. Glasgow agrees, likening their challenge to “trying to hear somebody play the flute at LaVell Edwards Stadium while you have a brass band playing.” Even though their research would be much easier with a lower intensity light, using the powerful high-intensity laser offers advantages essential to the experiment’s success. “Electrons aren’t very good at scattering,” Peatross explains, “so we need to hit them hard.” When they do that, the high-intensity laser vibrates the electron to
So, how well will the electrons scatter light? Not even these researchers are sure. They’re not alone. As part of a talk he gave at a recent high-intensity laser conference, Peatross asked the audience what they thought the results of the experiment would be-would the electron wave packets scatter light well or not? By show of hands, about two-thirds of the audience voted no: they would not scatter well. Only one-third thought they would. “After the vote,” he says, “there was a lot of arguing in the hallway. But there is one thing everyone agreed on-it’s worth experimenting to find out.” And besides, how else to explain that 15-foot tube? >
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
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by Shelsea Van Ornum
SECURITY versus CONVENIENCE:
Finding a Delicate Balance on the Internet Passing notes in school. We’ve all done it. Write a quick note to a friend on a slip of paper, fold it up, pass it to the closest person, and ask them to pass it on to the next person until it reaches the chosen recipient. The process has one big risk: someone might peek at your private note before passing it on. Interestingly, according to Professor Kent Seamons of BYU’s Department of Computer Science, Internet communication works in much the same way and with similar risks. For the uninitiated, the Internet is an interlaced web of computers over which, among other things, we correspond with our friends and business associates via packets of information-we call them e-mailthrough multiple routers until our “notes” reach their intended destination. “What many users do not realize,” Seamons says, “is that much like passing notes in school, the information in those packets is not secure during transmission.” In other words, while your very personal e-mail messages-the ones where you finally declare your love or disclose private financial information-are traveling from your computer to another, hackers can snatch your electronic note, take a peek inside, and even tamper with the contents.
Mitigating such problems is part of what interests Professor Seamons and his graduate students at the Internet Security Research Lab. Their aim, Seamons says, is to “find ways to maximize Internet security while minimizing the inconvenience to the user.” Two of their current research projects are an attempt to tackle this challenge by simplifying website logins and securing e-mail communication. Simple and Secure Logins Website logins are one way to secure information, so it’s available only to the intended recipients. But they are also the poster child for how security measures can be inconvenient. Have you ever forgotten
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
>5 With the combination of SAW AUTHENTICATION and SECURITY SOFTWARE for e-mail, sending out electronic “notes” through the World Wide Web will be less risky one of your many passwords or had to create a complex password with uppercase and lowercase letters, a number, and a symbol? In addition to such passwords being frustrating to create and remember, “hackers can easily figure them out,” Seamons says. In the near future, what was easy for those hackers is going to be much harder. Seamons and his students are working on ways to secure and simplify website logins, using an approach called SAW, or Simple Authentication for the Web. “With SAW,” Seamons explains, “once you’ve signed into your e-mail account, you don’t need a password or username to log on to a website.” Instead, you simply enter your e-mail address. Then the website uses the e-mail address to identify and authenticate that you are who you say you are. If the site recognizes the e-mail address, it will create a token and split it into two shares. It returns one share to you as a cookie in your browser. It sends the other share to you as an e-mail message with a link. By clicking on this link, you return both shares of the token to the website and demonstrate that you own the e-mail address. Because the HTTP cookie is invisible to an eavesdropper and the email token is useless without its counterpart, SAW is more secure than the common practice of resetting passwords using e-mail. A client-side toolbar that you install in your browser simplifies the authentication process by automatically retrieving the share from your e-mail account. Thus, with one click you can login to a website using SAW.
gram that adds a “secure overlay” to your web browser. “The goal of this project,” Seamons explains, “is to allow people to continue using their current webmail accounts and tools in Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Outlook. With the addition of our software, their communications will be more secure.” Van der Horst’s e-mail security software was a finalist for the 2010 Utah Innovations Award, and BYU has recently licensed it to a local startup company, ClickLockTM. Once installed, the soft-
Professor Kent Seamons discusses protocol design with PhD student Tim van der Horst in the Internet Security Research Lab. Left to right, van der Horst, MS student Andrew Harding, Seamons, and student Topher Fischer.
Secure E-mail But then there is the problem of securing e-mail communications. E-mail, according to Seamons, is a very insecure form of Internet communication because it is usually transmitted in the clear. For example, more people are using webmail services like Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail. E-mail messages generated through these accounts are stored on remote servers, leaving them vulnerable to insiders or hackers who break into the system. To prevent this, Tim van der Horsta recent PhD student-and other BYU graduate students developed an easy-to-use and secure form of e-mail protection: a software pro-
ware works by adding a lock icon to the page or window where you compose a new message. Clicking on the lock creates what Seamons calls a “secure overlay” where you can securely compose your message. You then type your message, add attachments, and specify the recipients(s) as usual. The software encrypts the message automatically before transmission. Thus the e-mail service provider does not have access to the contents. Recipients who have the same software installed on their computer will see a lock next to the message in their inbox. “The goal,” Seamons says, “is that with the click of a mouse, the recipient can decrypt the message.” Recipients who haven’t installed the software will receive the encrypted message with instructions on how to easily decrypt it. Thus without too much additional effort, users can encrypt the contents of their Okay, so you cruise the Internet all the time. What are some essential but messages in such a way that only the intendsimple steps you should follow to protect yourself- and your computer? ed recipient can view its contents. According to Seamons, you should: With the combination of SAW authentication and security software for e-mail, send• Install and run an antivirus program on your computer ing out electronic “notes” through the World • Upda t e a ll comp u t e r so f t wa r e r eg ula r l y since t he va s t major i t y o f Wide Web will be less risky, our messages attacks are against unpatched software will be less likely to be tampered with, and • Don’t click on links in suspicious-looking e-mails the process of logging on to secure websites • Choose strong passwords that are difficult to guess will be simpler. But passing notes in school? • Use passphrases instead of passwords (multiple words or first let ters Still a risk. > from a phrase); for example, “Rise And Shout The Cougars Are Out” or “RASTCAO” with numbers/punctuation added • Filter unwanted Internet traffic
YOU BETTER WATCH OUT:
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
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HAVE YOU HEARD
THE NEWS? By Gregory Taggart
Katie Pitts is a humanities major, a writer, and a member of the marketing team in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences-CPMS for short. If you’ve had a chance to watch the “West Mtn. Observatory” episode on CPMS TV, then you’ve also seen her in her new role as a Hands On video star. Hands On is one of a number of projects the marketing team is working on to get the word out to students and alumni about what CPMS is up to. One of their target audiences is incoming freshmen. And that’s what excites Katie. “I think what our marketing team is doing is ridiculously helpful-a great resource for freshmen trying to decide on a major.”
The brain children of Jake Clayson, advertising major and the team’s creative director, the first two Hands On episodes were shot on location at the West Mountain Observatory and in Vernal, Utah’s Dinosaur Land. In each case, three members of the team, video script in hand and accompanied by a professional videographer, ventured onto the scientific playing field, essentially acting the part of students in search of a major. By asking professors the kinds of questions students would ask and doing the kinds of things students would do in the field, they hope to make CPMS less of a mys-
tery and more of a place students would want to spend their college years. “There are a lot of misconceptions at BYU about our college,” Clayson says. According to Clayson, market research indicates that students think that if they graduate from CPMS, they only have two career choices: teaching and research. And if the limited career choices are not enough, students have apparently heard that the majors are too difficult; consequently, science-minded students often choose applied science over the hard sciences. That will change if the marketing team has its way. “CPMS TV allows us to showcase the
Hands On , a production of the CPMS marketing team, has already shot two short videos-one at the West Mountain Observatory, the other in Vernal’s Dinosaur Land-to showcase what the college is doing. More are in the works. In the above left photo, the marketing team currently consists of (left to right), Justin Ritter, Karen Johnson, Sarah Schwieger, Jake Clayson, Meghan Bentley, Jared Gibbons, Lynn Patten, Steve Pierce, Ashley de Ruyter, Katie Pitts, Natalie Wilson, and, not pictured, Niles Giberson.
mentored-learning opportunities in the college and highlight the number of great career opportunities available through our majors,” Clayson explains. You may have heard about Hands On already through one of the marketing team’s other projects. Steve Pierce, a print journalism major and the team’s editor, works with Pitts and Natalie Wilson, an English major, to produce three e-newsletters that target different demographics. The first is
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
>7 the monthly e-Newsletter to alumni and friends of the college, the second, the Faculty newsletter to both faculty and staff. The third-and newest-is Weekly SPAM, an e-newsletter to students to keep them informed of news and events in the college and to let them know about internship and job opportunities. Pierce hopes the students are reading because they will learn, like he did, that “BYU is a great place for undergraduate research. It’s a great place for scientific discovery,” he says. “When I interviewed for this job, Lynn, our boss, told me that the faculty and students in the college do a lot of great things, and she’s right. It’s just that nobody knows it.” Lynn Patten, executive secretary to the Dean’s Office, is the person responsible for assembling this team of writers, graphic artists, journalists, and admen. The plan was to hire one student to help her with marketing; but as she interviewed students for the job, she realized that many of them were very strong in the very areas the college needed help. “So I went to the Dean and said, ‘I’m starting to wonder if we might not want to take a team approach and find someone who’s really good in graphic design, someone else who’s really good in marketing, and someone who’s For the latest and greatest on what’s going on in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, faculty and staff read really good in advertising.’” The Dean agreed, and now the college has the Faculty newsletter (top), alumni and friends read the eNewletter (middle), while students go to their Weekly SPAM folder. 11 students working on the marketing team, including Ashley de Ruyter, a marketing management major at the to academic conferences, they’ll be able to hold firesides where they can Marriott School and project manager at CPMS; Jared Gibbons, a connect with students and talk about programs the college offers.” According to Gibbons, the quality of the marketing team’s work has improved quite a STEVE PIERCE HOPES THAT STUDENTS ARE READING WEEKLY bit since he began working with CPMS two SPAM AND WATCHING HANDS ON BECAUSE THE Y WILL LE ARN, years ago. Actually, you don’t have to take LIKE HE DID, THAT “BYU IS A GREAT PLACE FOR UNDERGRADUATE Gibbons’ word for that. The evidence is all RESEARCH. IT’S A GREAT PLACE FOR SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.” over the Web, in your e-mail inbox, and-if you’ve attended the Spring Research Conference-the Conference catalogue. The evidence graphic design major; Meghan Bentley and Justin Ritter, both print is so strong, in fact, that the marketing team’s efforts might inspire journalism majors; Sarah Schwieger, another graphic design major; some CPMS students to pursue a second degree-in marketing. > Karen Johnson, a speech pathology/audiology major; and Niles Giberson, a communications advertising major. “In this job, you have to have a lot of creative juices and be able to think outside of the box in order to come up with the concepts and ideas for the projects we put together,” Giberson says, putting the stress on the we. “I’ve learned the value of collaboration here,” he continues. “It’s a group effort, always bouncing ideas off one another.” For de Ruyter who came to BYU as a biochemistry major, the opportunity to market the college is a dream job-especially while she’s still in school. “I really love the sciences,” she says. This fall she’ll be doing marketing research to better understand what brings people to BYU. Based on what she finds, the team will develop a new marketing strategy. “We’re hoping that when professors travel around the country FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
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ALOHA
CVLC Hawaii Trip
The deep cold expanses of the heavens and the red fiery lavas
of the world’s most active volcano were central themes for the annual College Volunteer Leadership Council (CVLC) trip to the Hawaiian Islands. From June 23 to June 30, CVLC members and their families traveled to the islands of Oahu and Hawaii, where they found that fun and science were not necessarily a bad combination. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the telescopic observatories located at the top of Mauna Kea, almost 14,000 feet above sea level. In addition, the group was able to explore Hawaii’s many different volcanic landforms. Astronomy professor J. Ward Moody and geology professor Jani Radebaugh led the trip and shared their expertise. Radebaugh, a planetary scientist, studies active volcanoes as models for what much of the earth’s surface may have looked like millions of years ago and what the surface of Io, Jupiter’s most active moon, looks like today. Moody studies distant galaxies, helping to better understand their formation and distribution. The group spent the first three days of the trip on Oahu, where, as special guests of BYU-Hawaii, they participated in a fireside given by BYU-H administrators, watched a music and dance performance by Philippine students at the university, and visited the Polynesian Cultural Center. In addition, a few members of the party went scuba diving to explore lava tubes, long natural tunnels that are part of the plumbing system for volcanoes. Lava flows through these tubes from the volcanic vent to the ocean. Following their stay in Oahu, the group flew to the Big Island and stayed in Volcano Village in the midst of the rain forest, where they attended church on Sunday. The next day, the group toured the largest telescopes in the world, located on top of Mauna Kea volcano. The group also visited many of the volcanic features on the smaller, but much more active, Kilauea volcano. While at Kilauea, Radebaugh and students Kirk Schleiffarth and Jason Luke examined the lava flow and used a camera to gauge its temperature. A crew from BYU’s Department of Communications filmed parts of the trip for a documentary. In the end, the trip was a resounding success. CVLC members were treated to a tour through paradise and learned that science and nature make a great combination.>
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011(photos courtesy of Joanne and Robert Lowe)
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FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
10 > STUDENT NEWS 1>
1 > TROUBLESHOOTING DESIGNER STEROIDS Lindsey Mills, a junior in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, does mentored research in analytical chemist Steven Goates’ laboratory. Dr. Goates’ research involves the application of spectroscopy and lasers to problems like the detailed analysis of complex substances. Lindsey is working on a spectroscopic method to detect “designer” steroids. Working in the laboratory has allowed her to apply principles she’s learned in class. An important component of her troubleshooting experience is learning how lasers function. She plans to attend graduate school in pharmacology or chemistry. She is grateful for the research assistantships she has received through the college, without which she couldn’t afford to be involved in research.
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since January 2010. They are researching properties of characters of finite groups, a topic in abstract algebra. “Undertaking math research with Dr. Humphries has opened my eyes to the beauty of mathematics,” Chelsea says. She enjoys exploring each problem and is often surprised by the way different areas of math come together to create an elegant solution. Chelsea hopes to continue her research with Humphries until she graduates in August, then it’s on to graduate school in mathematics.
2 > TOTALLY IN CONTROL Enoch Yeung, whose faculty advisor is Sean Warnick, graduated in August and is now in a PhD program at Caltech. When he defended his Honors thesis entitled “Network modeling in LTI dynamical systems: reconstruction, reduction, and representation,” one of his reviewers, a professor at Colorado State, flew in just for the defense. Enoch published four papers as an undergraduate with another in process; three of them appeared in top journals, including the widely read Control Systems magazine and the Proceedings of the Conference on Decision and Control. He also mentors other research students in his lab and plays piano in his off time.
4 > MATHEMATICAL CONVERSATIONALISTS Brandon Singleton and Niccole Franc have been working as mentored undergraduates with Drs. Blake Peterson and Keith Leatham on a research project entitled “Focusing Student Teaching on Students’ Mathematical Thinking.” The purpose of the project is to restructure student teaching in mathematics in order to focus more of the teaching experience on students’ mathematical thinking. With Brandon and Niccole’s help, the research team has been analyzing the nature of the conversations student teachers have during reflection meetings where the student teacher and their fellow student teachers, among others, discuss the lesson the student teacher just gave. They presented initial findings at the CPMS Spring Research Conference and at the McKay School of Education Research Conference. They were also featured in a recent Deseret News article on undergraduate mentoring at BYU.
3 > ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL MIND Chelsea Johnson has been doing mentored research with Dr. Stephen Humphries
5 > TRAILING BLAZARS Cameron Pace has been involved in an undergraduate mentored project related to the
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1 > Junior Lindsey Mills with Professor Steven Goates in his spectroscopy lab. 3 > Math research has opened
Chelsea Johnson’s eyes to the beauty of mathematics. 5 > Cameron Pace has had his eyes on blazars in his research project.
ROVOR remote telescope, calibrating the stars around the 12 most energetic northern blazars for use by researchers worldwide in future monitoring campaigns. By studying blazars-black holes with outflowing jets aimed at Earth-we learn more about black holes and their environment. Cameron is preparing his results for publication in the Astronomical Journal and getting ready for graduate studies in astrophysics at the University of Indiana. 6 > WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Tommy Leininger, a graduate student in statistics, recently participated in two projects not directly related to his thesis. The first project, with sociologist professor Bert Burraston and his MS student Michael Rutkowski, is the development of an improved approach to identifying and modeling latent classes of criminal lifetime trajectories. They presented their work at the International Society for Bayesian Analysis 2010 World Meeting. The second project is in conjunction with exercise science professors Ty Hopkins and Matt Seeley. Their experiments on the effects of pain on an individual’s biomechanics require a functional linear model to show how each treatment affects the patient over time. These projects introduced Leininger to new areas of statistical research he hopes to examine further as a PhD student.>
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
FACULTY NEWS > 11 1a >
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1 > FRESH FROM THE FIELD Dr. William Barrett recently returned to the Computer Science faculty after three years as president of the Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission. Dr. Robin Roundy, previously on the faculty at Cornell University, joins the Mathematics faculty after serving as president of the Columbia Barranquilla Mission. 2 > MAKING NOISE The Acoustical Society of America gave Dr. Kent Gee, assistant professor of physics, the 2010 R. Bruce Lindsay Award “for contributions to the fields of jet noise propagation, nonlinear acoustics, and active control of fan noise.” The award goes each year to a member of the Society who is both under 35 and contributes substantially to the advancement of theoretical or applied acoustics. 3 > ASTRONOMICAL ACHEIVEMENT Dr. J. Ward Moody has been elected to a four-year term on the publication board of the American Astronomical Society. In that position, he will help set policy for two of the largest astronomical journals in the world: Astrophysical Journal and Astronomical Journal. 4 > STATISTICALLY REVELANT Dr. Shane Reese, professor in the Department of Statistics received the “Statistics in Sports” award at this year’s Joint Statistical Meetings in Vancouver “for contributions to the statistics in sports community, with special recognition for developing innovative statistical methodologies that moved the science of sport forward.” The section on Statistics in Sports of the American Statistical Association gives the award annu-
ally. The largest gathering of statisticians in North America, the Joint Statistical Meetings include six different associations. 5 > CLEANING UP Dr. Delbert J. Eatough, professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received the Frank A. Chambers Excellence in Air Pollution Control Award from the Air and Waste Management Association. Dr. Eatough’s research in atmospheric processes, source apportionment, and measurement technology has helped decision-makers understand which sources and pollutants should be controlled to minimize adverse effects. His work has made significant, and often pioneering, contributions toward the chemical understanding needed to make decisions related to fine particulate air pollution control. 6 > GO NAUVOO U.! Dr. Evan Ivie, emeritus professor in the Department of Computer Science, founded Nauvoo University in the fall of 2009. The university is a reorganization and reincorporation of the original University of Nauvoo of the 1840s. The university is not owned, operated, or supported by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though it hopes to follow the standards and educational tradition of BYU. The university adheres to the original mission statement given by Joseph Smith: “The University of the City of Nauvoo will enable us to teach our children wisdom-to instruct them in all knowledge, and learning . . . We hope to make this institution one of the great lights of the world . . . .”
1a> Dr. William Barrett with his wife Hawley. 1b > Dr. Robin Roundy with his wife Berta. 2 > Kent Gee. 7a > Former Mathematics Department chair Lynn
Garner (third from left) with priesthood leaders in the Hungary Budapest Mission. 7b > Dana Griffen with his wife at Dundurn Castle, Hamilton, Ontario.
7 > CALLED TO SERVE Former Mathematics Department chair Lynn Garner and his wife Kaye are serving as office specialists in the Hungary Budapest Mission. They entered the MTC on August 10, 2009, and by August 17 were in Hungary. Lynn reports, “We continue to be blessed with health, safety, and stamina sufficient to our labors and are so happy to be serving here in Hungary. We are seeing small miracles in this mission day by day.” Meanwhile, former Geology Department chair and associate dean of the college, Dana Griffen and his wife Berva are enjoying life in Ontario, serving in the Canada Toronto West Mission. Dana writes that “We are very blessed to be working among these people to spread the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. If there is anything we have learned, it is that Heavenly Father really does love all His children.” 8 > PHYSICALLY FITTING Dr. Harold McNamara, emeritus professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, received a Distinguished Service Award from the Utah Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters this past spring. The award mentioned his 52 years of teaching physics at Brigham Young University, authoring or coauthoring over 100 publications, establishing West Mountain Observatory-the first research telescope in Utah-and editing two publications for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. >
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
12 > ALUMNI NEWS 19 52 | B. John Garrick , Physics and Astronomy, is chair of the US Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. He has served as president of the Society for Risk Analysis and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. John currently serves on the College Volunteer Leadership Council. 1961 | K. Owen Ash, Chemistry and Biochemistry, is currently retired and living in Midway, Utah. Owen worked for more than 40 years in academic research, management, and teaching. He served as president of the Academy of Clinical Laboratory Physicians and SciK Owen Ash entists, chair of the Board of Editors for the Journal of International Federation of Clinical Chemistry, professor of pathology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and executive vice president of ARUP Laboratories. Owen currently serves on the College Volunteer Leadership Council. 19 74 | S t e p h e n B . Church, Geological Sciences, works for Sinclair Oil Company in Salt Lake City, Utah. Steve has just completed a 3-year Stephen B. Church term as the college representative for the university’s alumni board. He continues to serve on the College Volunteer Leadership Council. 1975 | Norman H. Stevens, Mathematics, taught mathematics for 5 years after receiving his degree from BYU. Subsequently, he earned an MBA degree with emphasis in information management and has been working in that field since then. He is currently with ITIL Foundation and a Certified Data Management Professional. 1977 | Thomas C. Chidsey, Jr., Geological Sciences, is the petroleum section chief for the Utah Geological Survey where he has worked since 1989. In addition to his work at the survey, Tom has been the editor of several guidebooks on Utah geology and currently serves on the College Volunteer Leadership Council. 1981 | Andrew J. Petersen, Computer Science, graduated before anyone had a personal computer and tells us that most of the papers he turned in for class assignments were typed on an old
Royal typewriter. Andrew is currently the Linux systems administrator for Boeing in Mesa, Arizona. Andrew has been in Mesa for 25 years, working first for McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company in the flight simulation lab until McDonnell Douglas became part of Boeing in 1997. Edward D. Ekstrom Edward D. Ekstrom, Computer Science, is a high-tech pioneer. Ed has served as vice president of Intel Communications Products Group and general manager of the Intel Utah Software Development Center. Ed is currently the managing director of vSpring Capital, LLC and serves on the College Volunteer Leadership Council. 1982 | Edward W. Gholdston, Physics and Astronomy, began his career with Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas. Before leaving in 1985 to take a position with the Rocketdyne Division of Rockwell International (now United Technologies Corporation), he received Ed Gholdstrom the Texas Instruments Quality Award. For the past 25 years Gholdston has had multiple management roles. For the past 4 years, he has been deputy program manager for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle project. Ed currently serves on the College Volunteer Leadership Council. 1985 | Robert L. Bartholomew, Mathematics, had been doing actuarial work at MassMutual and now participates in volunteer activities, such as getting a grant to establish a math enrichment program at a local elementary school, serving on an SOA exam committee, and volunteering to tutor in local schools. John C. Buffington, Mathematics, is working as a quantitative specialist for Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P., headquartered in Houston, and is a leader in energy transportation. Thomas D. Coatney, Mathematics, worked as a consulting casualty actuary from 1988 to 2000 with Milliman and with Swiss Re in reinsurance. Since 2000, he has worked in financial engineering with Aquila and PacifiCorp, a western US utility. 1986 | Kevin J. Black, Mathematics, is an associate professor in the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. In his lab he works with numerical methods, image processing, and Bayesian analysis. Steven J. Sears,
Computer Science, is a member of the technical staff at Network Appliance, Inc., in the Greater Boston Area. Melinda C. Trego, Statistics, is currently a co-owner of EyeTech Digital Systems, Inc., a company specializing in the development of eye-tracking systems that eliminate the need for touching screens or using a mouse. This past year her company has been work i n g w it h t he BY U College of Engineering’s Melinda C. Trego capstone program. 1987 | Mark A. Abramson, Mathematics, retired from the US Air Force in summer 2008 and has worked for The Boeing Company ever since as the senior mathematician in the Geometry and Optimization Group. Richard Schaffner, Jr., Geological Sciences, works for GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., based in Norwood, New Hampshire, and one of the leading engineering firms in the northeast. His specialty is biological remediation-leveraging bacteria to destroy or immobilize environmental contaminants. Over the last 10 years, Richard has worked throughout the US and in Puerto Rico, Japan, India, and Saudi Arabia. 1990 | Brandt C. Redd, Computer Science, earned an MBA degree in 1994 from BYU and has been the director of Workgroup Solutions at Folio Corp. He was recently appointed senior technology officer, US Program, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 1993 | Christopher C. Coon, Statistics, worked for 10 years with Hewitt Associates in Newport Beach, California. During that time he became an associate of the Society of Actuaries and an enrolled actuary. He is currently a senior analyst for 1-800 CONTACTS. Christopher currently serves on the College Volunteer Leadership Council. 1993 | Dan K. Moore, Geological Sciences, is currently the chair of the Geology Department at Brigham Young University-Idaho. 1994 | Justin C. Birrell, Mathematics, is employed with the Milliman Seattle Health Practice as an associate actuary. Darrell G. Johnson, Mathematics, an ASA in the Society of Actuaries, is working from home for Symetra Financial, based in Bellevue, WA. ALUMNI NEWS CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 >
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
COLLEGE NEWS > 13 1>
2a >
1 > NEW AND IMPROVED Math students returning in September found an entirely new department office complex to greet them. Students now have a single office to visit to obtain department information, and professors have a central hub from which to work. In addition to increased efficiency and convenience for students and visitors, the renovations will help promote research by providing additional room to accommodate the recent increase in undergraduate mentoring, as well as anticipated growth in the number of graduate students. This new look has already had an effect on patrons of the department. The receptionist desk and other office space are now far more welcoming and
2b >
less cluttered. The layout has enhanced productivity and given the entire department a much more professional appeal.
1 > The offices of the Mathematics Department have been remodeled. 2a > Chemistry and Biochemistry Department chair Gregory F. Burton, and 2b > associate
2 > POSITIONED TO LEAD Dr. Gregory F. Burton has accepted an appointment to serve as the chair of the BYU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Burton received bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and medical technology from the University of Utah and a master’s degree in microbiology from Brigham Young University. He completed his PhD in microbiology and immunology at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1989. Burton has previously taught at Virginia
Commonwealth University and has been a faculty member at BYU since coming to Provo in 1997. Burton’s academic research focuses on the molecular interactions of HIV with susceptible target cells. Burton replaces the outgoing Paul Farnsworth, who served two three-year terms as chair. Dr. Steven R. Goates will continue on as associate chair, while Dr. Adam T. Woolley has been appointed to replace Dr. Paul Savage as a new associate chair.>
Resources Management, moved from the company’s Houston offices to its offices in Auckland, New Zealand, in January of this year. Eric L. Peterson, Physics and Astronomy, earned a PhD from the California Institute of Technology. He now lives in Manhattan where he works for Interactive Brokers, a broker-dealer based in Greenwich, Connecticut.
2005 | Amy (Brown) Collins, Mathematics, is currently working as a finance analyst for Intel.
chair Adam T. Woolley.
ALUMNI NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 >
2000 | Travis L. Lemon, Mathematics Education, teaches mathematics at American Fork Junior High in Utah and currently serves on the Utah Council of Teachers of Mathematics Board of Directors. 2003 | Donald M. Cannon, Physics and Astronomy, graduated from medical school at Cornell, completed a residency at the University of Utah in internal medicine, and is now in a residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in radiation oncology. James A. Hart, Physics and Astronomy, earned a PhD in physics at the University of Maryland and now works at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Massachusetts. Lonnie T. Mercer, Geological Sciences, who Lonnie T. Mercer works for Environmental
2004 | Jason L. Evans, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded a PhD in particle physics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2009 and is now in his second year of a 3-year postdoctoral position in particle physics at the University of Tokyo. Adam L. Rich, Mathematics, is currently working as a casualty actuary for the property and casualty insurance group at C.V. Starr & Co., Inc.
2006 | Andrew R. Glaze, Mathematics Education, teaches mathematics at Davis High School in Utah and serves on the Utah Council of Teachers Mathematics Board of Directors. 2009 | Todd B. Wight, Mathematics, is working at Epic, a healthcare software company based in Madison, Wisconsin.>
FRONTIERS > BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES > FALL 2010/ WINTER 2011
BYU COLLEGE OF PHYSICAL & MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
FRO N T I E R S BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, N181 ESC, PROVO, UT 84602
THIS GEOLOGY MAJOR HAS GONE FAR BECAUSE OF ANNUAL FUND DONATIONS. College Annual Fund donations allow undergraduates to receive grant money for faculty-mentored research. Chris Burton is a good example. For more than a year the junior has worked with Dr.
develop international collaboration and networking skills early in his career. Expressing gratitude, Chris says, “My BYU classroom experi-
Summer Rupper monitoring glacier temperatures in the Himalayas,
ences have been wonderful, but the mentoring opportunity has
thousands of miles from campus.
changed my life. Thank you for supporting students like me.�
Chris recently spent three weeks installing new instrumenta-
You never know how far an Annual Fund dollar will take a
tion. The data he collects will provide an important contribution to
student. We invite you to give online at give.byu.edu/scholarmentor.
those studying temperature sensitivities in the Indus, Brahmaputra,
And please remember to designate the College of Physical and
and Ganges watersheds. The experience is also allowing Chris to
Mathematical Sciences.
E VERY GIF T MATT ERS To discuss helping the college with a special gift, contact Brent Hall at 801-422-4501 or brenth@byu.edu.