ÿþ<html> <title>Dr. Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund Travel Grants</title> <body link="#AA1177" TEXT="#000000" VLINK="#AA1177"> <!-- background="title_sm.GIF" --><img src="../title_sm.GIF"> <table width=800> <tr> <td><font face="arial,helvetica" size=+2 color="#663399"> <b> <center>Fund for the Advancement of Space Science Education</center></b></font> <p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><font face="arial" size=-1>In the spirit of dedication to the growth of young scientists and engineers embodied by Gerald Soffen throughout his life, the <a href="../fund.html">Dr. Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Space Science Education </a> offers Student Travel Grants. The Travel Grants are awarded to students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in aerospace-related sciences or engineering fields (astrobiology, astronomy, earth and space science, engineering, etc.) to attend a meeting at which they will present their research.</font></p> <p><font face="arial" size=-1>The deadline for the next application opportunity is <b>October 15, 2011</b>. You can access the <a href="http://soffenfund.org/?q=node/6">online application</a> at our new, dedicated Soffen Fund website, <a href="http://soffenfund.org/">http://soffenfund.org/</a>.</p> <!--<p><font face="arial" size=-1>The deadline for the next application opportunity will be on or about <b>October 15, 2011</b>. We are working to activate the online application as soon as possible. In the meantime, interested applicants can prepare their application package in anticipation of the application going live. Application materials include:<br> <br> Curriculum vitae<br> Transcript<br> Meeting abstract (or brief research summary if the meeting is far enough in the future that abstract submission has yet to occur)<br> Essay (1000 words or less) describing the applicant's interest in space science and engineering and the benefit of conference attendance to the applicant<br> Letter of support from the applicant's advisor<br></font></p>--!> <p><font face="arial" size=-1>Students of all nationalities are welcome to apply; however, applicants must be enrolled full time in an accredited undergraduate or graduate institution of higher learning in the United States.</font></p> <p>Two awards in the amount of $500 will be presented at the deadline, contingent upon acceptance of the recipients conference abstracts. Recipients must be able to attend their conference using the Travel Grant and, if necessary, support from other sources; supplemental funds above the $500 award cannot be requested from the Soffen Fund. Upon receipt of the Travel Grant, recipients will be asked to:<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;+ Acknowledge the grant in their presentations at the conference<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;+ Submit their presentation materials to the Soffen Memorial Fund for posting on the <a href="http://soffenfund.org/?q=node/8">Fund s Travel Grant web page</a>.<br> <p><font face="arial" size=-1>Notification of the award will be made approximately one month after the application deadline. Therefore, the Travel Grant can only support travel to meetings with dates falling after <i>November 15, 2011</i>. We anticipate having another selection cycle in Spring 2012 (~April 1 application date) so applications to attend meetings falling after approximately <i>May 1, 2012</i> should be submitted to the April application opportunity. If your meeting date falls near the May cutoff date, application submission to the October deadline is recommended.</font></p> <p><font face="arial" size=-1>You may contact the Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Space Science Education regarding Travel Grants at <b>travelgrant@nasa-academy.org.</b></font></p> <!--Please check back in the spring for the link to the electronic application. Please visit this website in the early fall for the link to the online application materials.We are working to get the online application up as quickly as possible. In the meantime, interested applicants can prepare their application package in anticipation of the application going live. Application materials include:<br> <br> Curriculum vitae<br> Transcript<br> Meeting abstract (or brief research summary if the meeting is far enough in the future that abstract submission has yet to occur)<br> Essay (1000 words or less) describing the applicant's interest in space science and engineering and the benefit of conference attendance to the applicant<br> Letter of support from the applicant's advisor<br></font></p> <p><font face="arial" size=-1>The <a href="../fund.html">Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund</a> is pleased to announce that <a href="http://www.American-Pioneer-Ventures.com/"><b>American Pioneer Ventures (APV)</b></a> will sponsor one of the two <b>Spring 2011 Travel Grants</b>. APV, whose president, <b>Dan Hussain</b>, is a NASA Academy alumnus (Goddard 2001), provided the first sponsored Soffen Fund Travel Grant in October 2010. APV helps entrepreneurs and start-ups get their businesses off the ground, and its affiliated company, <a href="http://www.American-Patent-Agency.com/"><b>American Patent Agency</b></a>, helps inventors and entrepreneurs obtain patents for their inventions and ideas. APV's vision is to help dreams come true. <a href="http://www.American-Pioneer-Ventures.com/"> What is your dream?</a></font></p>--!> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><font face="arial" size=-1>Previous awardees and a description of their research appear below:</p> <table width="100%" cellpadding="5"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An April 2011 awardee, <strong>Thomas Catanach</strong>, is an undergraduate student in Physics at the University of Notre Dame. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Thomas is the recipient of the <b>American Pioneer Ventures Travel Grant</b>. Thomas will present a talk entitled "Periodic Variations in Muon Flux at Project GRAND" at the International Cosmic Ray Conference in August 2011 detailing his research using a Notre Dame-based cosmic ray detector. Thomas has been involved in astrophysics research since high school and anticipates that the conference will help him determine which field of astrophysics he will focus on in graduate school. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An April 2011 awardee, <strong>Lourdes Medina</strong>, is graduate student in Industrial Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Lourdes presented her talk [<a href="medina.pdf">PDF of Lourdes's talk</a> (1.6 Mb)] entitled "A Review of Design for X Methods for Medical Devices: The Introduction of a Design for FDA Approach" at the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conference in August 2011. Lourdes, who has a spotless academic record, chose to focus on medical device design for her Ph.D. because it fed her desire to conduct research that contributes to the betterment of society. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An October 2010 awardee, <strong>Erin Kara</strong>, is an undergraduate student in Physics at the Barnard College. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Erin is the recipient of the <b>American Pioneer Ventures Travel Grant</b>, the first sponsored Soffen Fund Travel Grant. Erin presented her poster [<a href="kara.pdf">PDF of Erin's talk</a> (1.4 Mb)] entitled "Blazar Counterparts for Low-Latitude Unidentified Sources: 1FGL J2015.7+3708 and 1FGL 2027.6+3335" at the Fermi Symposium in May 2011. Blazars are a specific type of active galactic nuclei which are uniquely visible with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Erin has been consistently involved in astrophysics research throughout her undergraduate career and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in astrophysics. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An October 2010 awardee, <strong>Jarret Lafleur</strong>, is a Ph.D. student in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Jarret presented his talk [<a href="lafleur.pdf">PDF of Jarret's talk</a> (2.5 Mb)] entitled "Probabilistic AHP and TOPSIS for Multi-Attribute Decision-Making under Uncertainty" at the IEEE Aerospace Conference in March 2011. His work uses probabilistic methods to improve and facilitate the decision-making process early in complex projects, when uncertainty is high. Jarret penned a philosophical application essay, has an outstanding academic record and a long-standing record of participation in space-related research. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An April 2010 awardee, <strong>Valerie Klavans</strong>, is an undergraduate student in Astronomy at the University of Maryland. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Valerie presented her talk [<a href="klavans.pdf">PDF of Valerie's talk</a> (2.0 Mb)] entitled "Analysis of High Resolution Laboratory Propane Spectra (v<sub>21</sub>, 922 cm<sup>-1</sup>) and the Interpretation of Titan's Infrared Spectra" at the International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy in June 2010. Valerie has been continuously involved in promoting astronomy and space science at her school through campus organizations and various conferences. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in Planetary Astronomy with NASA. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An April 2010 awardee, <strong>Geoffrey Wawrzyniak</strong>, is a Ph.D. candidate in Astrodynamics and Space Applications at Purdue University. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Geoff presented his talk [<a href="wawrzyniak.pdf">PDF of Geoff's talk</a> (0.9 Mb)] entitled "Creating Solar Sail Trajectories Using Boundary Value Problem Solvers" at the Second International Symposium on Solar Sailing in July 2010. Geoff's background in astrodynamics has led him to pursue doctoral research work on the generation and control of solar sail orbits in the Earth-Moon system. He hopes to "continue the human adventure into space" by means of solar sailing. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An October 2009 awardee, <strong>Courtney King</strong>, is an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Courtney presented her poster [<a href="king.jpg">JPEG of Courtney's poster</a> (3.2 Mb)] entitled "Determining the Metal/Silicate Partition Coefficient of Germanium: Implications for Core and Mantle Differentiation" at the Lunar and Planetary Science meeting in March 2010. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An October 2009 awardee, <strong>Jeff Bowman</strong>, is a graduate student at the University of Washington. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Jeff presented a poster [<a href="bowman.pdf">PDF of Jeff's poster</a> (3.6 Mb)] on his research entitled "Elevated bacterial abundance in laboratory-grown and naturally occurring frost flowers under late winter conditions" at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in December 2009. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> The April 2009 awardee, <strong>Sarah Miller</strong>, is an undergraduate in materials science and engineering at Washington State University. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Sarah presented her talk [<a href="miller.pdf">PDF of Sarah's talk</a> (2.7 Mb PDF)] entitled "Effect of substrate composition on whisker formation in Sn films" at the Materials Science and Technology 2009 conference in October. Motivated by her long-standing interest in space, Sarah has conducted research since her freshman year of college and is a leader of the WSU branch of Material Advantage, a national materials science student group. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An October 2008 awardee, <strong>Nishant Agarwal</strong>, is a PhD candidate in Astronomy and Space Sciences at Cornell University. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Nishant presented [<a href="agarwal.pdf">PDF of Nishant's presentation</a> (530 Kb)] his research, entitled "Cosmological Constraints on General, Single-Field Inflation," at the American Physical Society meeting in April 2009. This research seeks to aid the development of a physical model of the expansion of the universe which agrees with theory, while being based on observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background and the large-scale structure of the universe. In addition to being one of the top graduate students in his department, according to his advisor Rachel Bean, "…he is already working, in terms of competence and independence, at the level of a senior graduate student despite only being half way through his graduate career." Not only is Nishant an outstanding researcher and student, but he is also active in engaging undergraduates and teenagers in astronomy education, and has already given talks at a number of conferences and seminars. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An October 2008 awardee, <strong>Paul Richardson</strong>, is an undergraduate at the University of Washington in Earth and Space Sciences with a minor in Applied Mathematics. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Paul was a participant in the USRP at Goddard Space Flight Center conducting research under Dr. Jacob Bleacher. He presented [<a href="richardson.pdf">PDF of Paul's presentation</a> (17.7 Mb)] his research entitled "Small Volcanic Features on Olympus Mons in the Tharsis Region, Mars&quot; at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in March 2009. This research uses hi-res images from Mars Odyssey's THEMIS and Mars Express's HRSC to catalog small volcanic vents and improve the understanding of the geological history of the Tharsis region. Paul has been an undergraduate research assistant on a number of projects at UW, a teaching assistant in two courses, and is a member of many professional clubs and societies in his field. His PI at Goddard described him as an outstanding intern based on both his progress so far and his ability to see the implications of this research on the global scale. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An April 2008 awardee, <strong> Emily Tenenbaum</strong>, is a graduate student in physical chemistry at the University of Arizona. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Emily, who studies the chemistry of stars using observational radio astronomy, presented [<a href="tenenbaum.pdf">PDF version of Emily's presentation</a> (1.2 Mb PDF)] her discovery of two P-bearing molecules around two different types of stars at the International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy in June of 2008. The discovery of P-bearing molecules in circumstellar space is important for understanding the development of life, as P is a crucial element in the building blocks of life. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> An April 2008 awardee, <strong> Erin Beck</strong>, is a senior in physics at Washington University in St. Louis. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Erin, the project manager and mission planning lead of a team of 60 students designing and building a flight-ready satellite for the Air Force Research Laboratory's University Nanosatellite competition, attended the Small Satellite Systems and Services "4S" Symposium in May 2008. She not only presented [<a href="beck.pdf">PDF version of Erin's poster</a> (2.8 Mb PDF)] her team's progress but also carried out her responsibilities for the overall meeting as a member of the meeting's technical committee. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> A 2006 awardee, <strong> Madeline Leong</strong>, is a first--year M.D./Ph.D. student at Duke University. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Madeline enthusiastically wrote about how her experience leading her Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunity Program team redefined her perspectives on medicine and sparked a fascination with space research. She presented [<a href="leong.pdf">PDF version of Madeline's poster</a> (1.9 Mb PDF)] the results of her team's study on the influence of gravitational stress on immunity at the National MD-PhD Student Conference in July of 2007. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> A 2006 awardee, <strong> John Janeski</strong>, is a senior at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> John participated in the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunity Program where his team demonstrated electrostatic orbits between two charged spheres. John presented [<a href="janeski.pdf">PDF version of John's presentation</a> (7.4 Mb PDF)] the results of their experiment at the American Association of Physics Teachers meeting in January 2007 in hopes of providing physics teachers with a unique and exciting way to teach basic principles of physics in their classrooms. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> A 2005 awardee, <strong>Matthew Gadja</strong>, is a second year graduate student in engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Matthew presented a talk on the design of "A Lunar Volatiles Miner" [<a href="gadja.pdf">PDF version of Matthew's presentation</a> (1.1 Mb PDF)] at the International Conference on Engineering, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments in Houston, Texas in March of 2006. Matt has a longstanding interest in space and was a high-performing engineering physics major as an undergrad while lettering as a member of the University of Wisconsin football team. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> A 2005 awardee, <strong>Nicole Jordan</strong>, is a second year graduate student in the Aeronautics and Astronautics/Technology and Policy program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Nicole presented a talk on the "Development and Validation of a Multidisciplinary Spacesuit Model" [<a href="jordan.pdf">PDF version of Nicole's presentation</a> (8.4 Mb PDF)] at the 44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno in January of 2006. Nicole has extensive experience in spacesuit research and an impressive academic record. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="30%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> A 2004 awardee, <strong>David Harmon</strong>, was a senior double major in computer science and mathematics at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. </font> </td> <td valign="top" width="70%"> <font face="arial" size=-1> David attended the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics: Computation Science and Engineering conference in February of 2005. He presented the work he did as a summer intern at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Maestro, a software package used to control the Mars Exploration Rovers during surface operations [<a href="harmon.pdf">PDF version of David's poster</a> (3 Mb)]. David's application was noteworthy for its outstanding letter of support from his computer science department chair, who also had served as his professor in numerous courses. Awarding a Travel Grant to David marks the second year in a row the Soffen Fund was able to provide support to a student at a small college outside the mainstream of NASA university activities. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <font face="arial" size=-1> A 2004 awardee, <strong>Amber Straughn</strong>, was a second year graduate student in physics and astronomy at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. </font> </td> <td valign="top"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Amber attended the American Astronomical Society's meeting in January of 2005 to present her research on characterization of &quot;Tadpole Galaxies in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field&quot; Dataset [<a href="straughn.pdf">PDF version of Amber's poster</a> (4.2 Mb PDF)]. Amber's application stood out not only for its glowing letter of support from her advisor, but by her enthusiastic essay. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <font face="arial" size=-1> The 2003 awardee, <strong>Philip A. Ashley</strong>, was a sophomore studying Physical Science at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. </font> </td> <td valign="top"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Philip presented his work on "Measurement of Diatomic Oxygen in the Exhaust Plume of a Mini-Hybrid Rocket" [<a href="ashley.pdf">PDF version of Philip's poster</a> (463 Kb PDF)] at the American Chemical Society's 227th National Meeting in Anaheim, California. </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top"> <font face="arial" size=-1> The 2002 awardee, <strong>Kristen Bethke</strong>, was a senior studying Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. </font> </td> <td valign="top"> <font face="arial" size=-1> Kristen presented her work on "Revolutionary Concepts for Human Outer Planet Exploration (HOPE)" [<a href="bethke.pdf">PDF version of Kristen's presentation</a> (3.2 Mb PDF)] at the Space Technology and Applications International Forum in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 3rd, 2003. Kristen presented slides 14-26 of the presentation. </font> </td> </tr> </table> </body></html>