FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June  8, 2005
CONTACT: Sarah Lingenfelter, Media Relations (585) 567-9559

HOUGHTON PHYSICS DEPARTMENT RECEIVES COTTRELL AWARD

HOUGHTON, N.Y. — The Houghton College Department of Physics has received a Cottrell College Science Award from Research Corporation for $35,888.

The award allows Houghton College Physics Department Chair Mark Yuly to conduct research with students during the summer at Houghton and at the Los Alamos National Lab (LANL) in New Mexico.

Along with Yuly, Houghton physics major Steve Wallace, will be working on the analysis of an experiment performed a few years ago at Los Alamos National Lab, to examine what the nucleus is made of. “Most of us learned that the nucleus of the atom is made of protons and neutrons, but some experiments and theoretical predictions over the past decade indicate that about 5 percent of the nucleus is delta particles. The experiment we are working on is to measure this delta content of the nucleus,” said Yuly.  

Additionally the computer codes created to analyze data from this experiment are needed for a new experiment at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. So this summer LANL is paying Houghton students to work on this code and for setting up the hardware for this new experiment.

Research Corporation is a private foundation, established in 1912, that aids basic research in physical sciences (astronomy, chemistry and physics) at U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities. Through the Cottrell College Science Awards program, faculty are challenged to explore new areas of science, to make new discoveries that contribute to their discipline and to initiate new research programs that can be sustained by other extramural funding sources, as well as with institutional support.