Two Aggie Undergrads Receive Top National Physics Scholarship

Two Utah State University undergraduates are among 16 scholars chosen nationally to receive Society of Physics Students Leadership Scholarships.

Kelby Peterson and Ben Pound were each awarded $2,000 scholarships through the American Institute of Physics program that honors students for outstanding academic performance, leadership and science outreach efforts.

“This is a significant honor for Kelby and Ben, who are stellar scientists and student leaders,” says Lisa Berreau, interim dean of USU’s College of Science. “It’s also a testament to the outstanding faculty and staff mentorship in our Department of Physics.”

The two physics majors spent the past summer in the Washington, D.C., area conducting research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Peterson was selected as an SPS summer intern. Pound was awarded an 11-week NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

At NIST, Peterson’s research focused on nanopore technology, construction of solid state nanopores and using biological nanopores to analyze the uptake of anthrax protein into a cell.

Pound was assigned to NIST’s Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. He investigated carbon nanotube field emission.

At USU, Peterson works with faculty mentor J.R. Dennison to analyze a collection of materials that spent 18 months in space suspended from the International Space Station. The Undergraduate Research Fellow’s efforts examine how the space environment degrades materials and could boost efforts to find materials suitable for spacesuits and future spacecraft.

Pound, an Undergraduate Research Fellow and Presidential Scholar, works with faculty mentor T-C Shen in the professor’s nanoelectronics lab. Pound is working toward development of a biological sensor using carbon nanotubes to detect pathogens.

Both Peterson and Pound are active members of USU’s chapter of the Society of Physics Students and credit the award-winning group with greatly enhancing their undergraduate experiences.

“Our USU chapter helped me get rooted in physics and showed me how I can fit in this field,” Peterson says. “Having the opportunity to work closely with SPS National has also given me a much wider perspective of what SPS does and how it helps people.”

Pound agrees.

“I’ve met some of my best university friends through SPS,” he says. “I mean, who else plays with liquid nitrogen and lightning bolts on a regular basis?”

Both scholars are active in science outreach, a key element of the SPS mission. Each has volunteered countless hours to local elementary schools, the College of Science’s Science Unwrapped program, the chapter’s annual Mythbusters demonstration show, public nights at the USU Observatory and the department’s annual Physics Day at Utah’s Lagoon amusement park.

“We go out into schools in the community and I’ve learned it takes a lot of effort to be an effective teacher,” Pound says. “As we do outreach, I’d like to think we’re doing more than just teaching physics — we’re helping kids learn to like math, science and engineering, and to not be afraid of these important fields.”

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