Gravitational Wave summer school attracted international students

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College's Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy hosted 27 undergraduate and graduate students from throughout the world for its two-week summer school.

The sessions were held over the past two weeks at Lone Star National Bank on South Padre Island.

"Our charitable and sponsorship donation activities are focused on three key initiatives: education, health and community awareness. We congratulate UTB-TSC for preparing our youth of today to be our leaders of tomorrow," said A. Jabier Rodriguez, chief executive officer of Lone Star National Bank in Pharr.

Professors from UTB-TSC, Syracuse University, the University of Maryland and University Michoacán of San Nicolas of Hidalgo in Mexico lectured and provided hands-on exercises for students.

"This summer school plays an absolute unique role in our field," said Dr. Peter Saulson, the Martin A. Pomerantz '37 Professor of Physics at Syracuse University in New York. "It's the only way to learn the basics of this new scientific field of gravitational wave detection."

The students were from the United States, Great Britain, Germany and other nations and learned about the astrophysics and modeling of gravitational wave sources, data analysis and detector instrumentation. Gravitational wave astronomy is disturbances or ripples in space generated when massive objects change their structure, shape or arrangement. 

Saulson has taught a week of the summer school since it began five years ago. 

"It's basically the same approach, although I try to clarify the things that are hard to explain that don't work before," he said. "And, I try to keep up that I'm not talking about stale things."

Travis Miller, 23, of Orlando, Fla. has a bachelor's degree in physics and research experience in condensed matter physics at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla. He will enroll at UTB-TSC this fall to pursue a master's degree in physics.

Miller wanted to attend the summer school to get refreshed on scientific concepts before he continues his studies.

"Gravitational waves are the forefront of the field," he said. "It's like the unchartered research topic. Once we are able to measure and detect the waves, it's going to be a free for all in what's going on. There's going to be a lot of data analysis, things to do. There will be a plethora of research topics to do a dissertation on."

For some participants, the summer school marks the first time they have studied in the United States.

Gricelda Perez Velasquez, 20, is studying physics at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico and was one of five women among the 50 students in the degree program.

"I don't know so much about gravitational waves," she said. "When I am studying in class now, I'm very surprised because it's so wonderful, the information about the new technology, how the physics is applied."

Jack Yu of Redding, England, is a doctoral student at Cardiff University in Wales but is spending a year at UTB-TSC studying with Dr. Joe Romano of the Department of Physics and Astronomy as part of his ongoing thesis research. Romano once taught and worked with Yu at Cardiff.

"I think probably the lecturers here (in the United States) like the students to be more interactive during their classes, to be more open and asking questions," Yu said.

"It's a great opportunity to meet the young people coming up and help them in this part of the first step in their research periods," Saulson said.

Martha Casquette, coordinator of student development for the center and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, said the Island provided participants enough diversions, restaurants and hotels without the need for transportation for the two-week period. She said the Island's natural beauty and weather was an attraction for students interested in the scientific field. 

Saulson walked on the beach and enjoyed Mexican food. Miller played beach volleyball with other students during his off hours. 

The Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy began operation in 2002 and is funded by a NASA Group 3 OMU University Research Program and research awards from the National Science Foundation.

The application for the 2010 summer school will be posted on the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy Web site in January and have a March submission deadline. 

For more information on UTB/TSC's Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy, go to http://www.phys.utb.edu/department/ or call (956) 882-6778.