{"id":20977,"date":"2017-03-01T13:59:48","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T18:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=20977"},"modified":"2017-03-07T11:52:59","modified_gmt":"2017-03-07T16:52:59","slug":"great-ucf-turnout-aps-bridge-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/great-ucf-turnout-aps-bridge-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Physics Shines at APS Bridge Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back row from left to right: Chance Barrett, Rachel Evans, Dr. Abdelkader Kara, Rainier Berkley, and George Davila. Front row from left to right: Tyrone Thames, Esperanza Soto Arcino, Dr. Talat Rahman, Dr. Ahlam Al-Rawi, and Keanna Jardine.<\/p><\/div>\n

The University of Central Florida\u2019s Department of Physics was well represented at this year\u2019s annual conference of the American Physical Society Bridge Program.<\/p>\n

Physics faculty and students made UCF proud with their participation and outstanding presentations at the conference held Feb. 10-12, 2017 in College Park, Maryland.<\/p>\n

The event included talks on physics graduate education, panels and discussions on diversity, networking opportunities, and more. Chance Barrett, a UCF physics doctoral student who attended the conference, explained how the event was a motivating experience for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conference had some great workshops and presentations,\u201d said Barrett. \u201cThe time management workshop opened my eyes to how valuable time is and inspired me to stop wasting time on things that are not helping me better myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCF was well represented by multiple physics graduate students who attended the conference. These students included Rainier Berkley, Andre Childs, George Davila, Keanna Jardine, Fernand Torres Davila, Chance Barrett, Rachel Evans, Tyrone Thames and Brian Zamarripa Roman.<\/p>\n

Rainier Berkley won the second-place prize in a poster and presentation contest. His research project, Phosphate Binding with Thiophene-based Polyazamacrocyles, <\/em>focused on the role of the composition of a thiophene-based receptor in binding phosphate in solution.<\/p>\n

The UCF physics faculty who attended the APS Bridge conference included Pegasus Professor and UCF Bridge Program Site Leader Talat Rahman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Associate Site Leader Laurene Tetard, Ph.D., Lecturer and Mentoring and Outreach Leader Ahlam al-Rawi, Ph.D., and Associate Professor and Course Advisement of the program Abdelkader Kara, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so delighted that UCF is part of the APS Bridge Program which has helped us recruit some wonderful graduate students from diverse backgrounds into our graduate program,\u201d Rahman said. \u201cI am also thrilled that one of our graduate students Rainier Berkley received the second prize for best poster presentation. Rainier is an excellent student and we are proud to have him in our Ph.D. program, starting Fall 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below is the list of presenters from the UCF Department of Physics at the conference:<\/p>\n