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Category: James L. Carmon Scholarship Award

Emily Pritchett

on February 18, 2016

James L. Carmon Scholarship Award 2007

Emily Pritchett, a doctoral candidate in physics and astronomy, is working on the physical implementation of a functional quantum computer. In her first year of graduate school, Pritchett completed a research project using a nanomechanical resonator as a quantum memory element, a basic ingredient for a quantum computer. The project led to a published paper on which she is first author. In a second project, Pritchett devised a highly original and clever way of measuring the quantum friction coefficient, a protocol that experimental collaborators plan to use as soon as possible. This was an unsolved problem in the nanoelectromechanical systems and quantum computing communities. Pritchett’s simulations required not only a deep understanding of quantum mechanics but also a creative and innovative approach that emphasize ingenuity over scale.

Reed A. Cartwright

on February 18, 2016

James L. Carmon Scholarship Award 2006

Reed A. Cartwright, a doctoral student in genetics, created a computational program called DAWG (DNA Analysis with Gaps) that can generate simulated DNA sequences that include potential insertions and deletions. This is the first computer program that can incorporate this type of information into a simulation.

Chih-Yuan Lin

on February 18, 2016

James L. Carmon Scholarship Award 2006

Chih-Yuan Lin, a doctoral candidate in physics and astronomy, developed an alternative computing structure that will perform extremely complex quantum mechanical calculations much faster than was previously possible. These calculations are involved in the study of the behavior of subatomic particles like atoms, ions and molecules.

Jeremy R. Gulley

on February 18, 2016

James L. Carmon Scholarship Award 2005

Jeremy R. Gulley, a doctoral student in physics and astronomy, writes software that predicts the impact of laser pulses as they propagate through optical devices. Because modern commercial lasers can emit extremely short, high intensity pulses, they can alter optical components and systems by temporarily turning ordinary pieces of glass into high-powered lenses. Mr. Gulley’s software shows where this is a risk and also can predict instances where inferior quality equipment must be replaced to avoid jeopardizing the validity of experimental results or even damaging costly laboratory equipment. Mr. Gulley presented his work at the inaugural University of Georgia Engineering Conference and is considered an integral member of Dr. Bill Dennis’ nonlinear spectroscopy research group.

Congzhou He

on February 18, 2016

James L. Carmon Scholarship Award 2005

Congzhou He, a doctoral student in computer science, uses computers to study and analyze speech patterns, especially of people with schizophrenia. For her master’s degree, she developed a computer program that detects the effects of a drug that produces schizophrenia-like impairments in speech patterns. Like people with schizophrenia, individuals who take the drug tend to speak slowly and monotonously and use simple sentences, although these symptoms are not always audible even to the trained ear. Ms. He’s program detected inaudible effects with 97 percent accuracy and helped reveal distinctive speech patterns common to schizophrenia. Ms. He is now combining her original algorithms with natural-language-understanding techniques to develop software that can can detect, analyze and diagnose speech patterns associated with schizophrenia.

Julie Rushmore

on February 18, 2016

Robert C. Anderson Memorial Award 2015

Julie Rushmore, a recent doctoral graduate in ecology, uses behavioral observations from a community of wild chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda, to examine how disease-causing pathogens are transmitted among the chimps and to evaluate the effectiveness of various disease intervention strategies. Apes are highly social and endangered animals that have been devastated by disease in recent years. Rushmore combined her daily observations of wild chimpanzee social interactions in the field with computational approaches for building and analyzing social contact networks. She developed complex simulation models of pathogen spread on chimpanzee social networks to test the efficacy of different control strategies that can readily be incorporated into realistic models that predict the likelihood of outbreaks, and what can be done to control them. Rushmore is now working towards a DVM degree in UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Previous Awards

James L. Carmon Scholarship Award 2013