Chicago Students Win Top Honors
at CAMP Research Conference

Chicago AMP Partnership News Letter,Volume l, Issue ll, March 1996

Information for this article provided by Cheryl Caplan, IIT, and Kevin Smith, CSU

Web format and photo @ by Prof. P. Johnson

First Place poster:

Professor Peter Johnson, left, and Diego Carlton at the California AMP Conference in July 95.

Two Chicago AMP Students, Diego Carlton and Nicole Scarbrough, won first place awards this past summer at the National AMP Undergraduate Research Conference and Scientific Exhibit and Presentation Competition at the University of California, Irvine, in July.

Carlton, a junior electrical and computer engineering major at IIT, was awarded first place in the Math/Computer Science Category for his entry, "Interactive Tutorials Using Hypercard. " Scarbrough, a senior physics major at Chicago State University, won first place for her oral presentation,

"The Rapid Synthesis of Copper Oxide Based Superconductors. "

Scarbrough is also a pioneer at Chicago State. According to Dr. Michael Mimnaugh, chair of the chemistry and physics department at CSU, Scarbrough is one of the first physics majors to graduate from Chicago State. "We are particularly proud of Nicole's achievements given the relative newness of the physics program," said Mimnaugh.

"Nicole won first place because she has spent nearly four long, arduous years mastering the fundamentals of physics in the classroom and in scientific labs, as well as mastering the basics of oral and written communication, said Dr. Justin Akujieze, associate professor of physics and Scarbrough's faculty advisor on the project.

Scarbrough, who will graduate with a BS in physics in June, plans to pursue a doctoral degree in this field. She looks forward to making "meaningful and substantial contributions to my community as a physics professor at one of the predominately or historically black colleges, hopefully at Chicago State.

Diego and the other AMP students who presented at the CAMP Conference were mentored by Dr. Peter Johnson, IIT, and Beatriz Jamaica, UIC. After attending the conference, several students used their free time for a swim in the Pacific Ocean before returning to Chicago.