Recent Group News (and kudos!)
I take great pleasure in working with a diverse group of high school, undergraduate, graduate students, and postdocs. Below are some highlights of group member accomplishments over the last few years. February 2013 Rex receives NSF EAPSI award to visit the ISSP at the Univesity of Tokyo in Japan for summer research. Congratulations! January 2013 Victor accepts postdoctoral position at UIUC! August 2012 Seth named a finalist for 2012 LeRoy Apker Award from the American Physical Society! This is the most prestigous national award given by the APS for undergraduate achievement in research and promise for future scientific accomplishment. Way to go Seth!! June 2012 Victor's work on heterogeneous thin-film superconductivity is chosen as the June 2012 Cover Article in Nature Physics! May 2012 Jun and Vladimir officially receive their PhD's and Seth his BS at the May graduation ceremony. Congratulations and best of luck in your next career stage!! Seth cleans up at the Physics Graduation Ceremony. He received the "Highest Academic Achievement Award", the "Distinguished Graduating Senior Award" (best graduating physics student), and was chosen as a Dean's Honored Graduate! The Deans Honored Graduate is the highest honor awarded to graduating seniors in the College of Natural Sciences. Honorees exhibit excellence in the classroom as well as substantial achievement in scientific research, an independent intellectual pursuit, or exceptional service and leadership to the college and university. Less then one percent of graduating seniors receive this distinction. Seth is awarded second prize in the George H. Mitchell Student Awards for Academic Excellence competition, which covers all areas of study at the University of Texas at Austin and carries a significant cash award. Congratulations, Seth! Andreas takes up a postdoctoral position at UC Berkeley. We will all miss your significant research and mentoring contributions to our group! April 2012 Seth accepts an offer from Harvard's physics PhD program, and will join with a prestigious Pierce Fellowship. Congratulations! Professor Fiete receives 2012 UT College of Natural Sciences Teaching Excellence Award. Rex and Seth are both awarded 2012 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. Congratulations to you both! You will each bring distinction to the program. Jun and Vladimir each successfully defend their PhD thesis. Great work! November 2011 Professor Fiete is invited to address the US National Academy of Sciences on the topic of potential applications of topological phases in next generation devices in a 45 minute talk. A summary appeared in the Winter 2012 Newsletter. October 2011 Professor Fiete is named a finalist for the 2012 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award. The award is considered among the most prestigious in the US. July 2011 Professor Fiete, along with D. Drew, M. Franz, and S.-C. Zhang organize a workshop "New Topological Quantum States of Matter" at the Aspen Center for Physics. May 2011 Jun is awarded the David Bruton, Jr. Fellowship for academic excellence amoung physics graduate students! June 2010 Professor Fiete participates in the Kavli Frontiers Program of the US National Academy of Sciences. This is the US National Academy of Sciences premier activity for distinguished young scientists. Participation is by invitation from the National Adademy. May 2010 Professor Fiete receives the NSF CAREER Award. The CAREER program offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the intergration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. April 2010 Stuart is awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Congratulations, Stuart!! January 2010 Professor Fiete receives congratulations and a handshake from President Obama at the White House PECASE Ceremony. The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.