Ian W. Shepherd Award
The Ian W. Shepherd Memorial Award was established in 1979 in honor of Department Chair Ian Shepherd, who led the department from August 1977 until his untimely death in January 1978.
Shepherd, who was affiliated with Cornell University, Dupont, and Manchester University
before joining Michigan Tech, was deeply interested polymer spectroscopy and hoped
to make Michigan Tech a center for Raman spectroscopy.
The award is presented each year to the most outstanding physics graduate or graduates.
The most promising of seniors are presented with a check and have their names engraved
on a plaque, which is displayed in the physics department.
- 2020 - Adam Krueger and River Leversee
- 2019 - Nathan Schlorke
- 2018 - Illiya Chibirev and Crystal Massoglia
- 2017 - Ben Manning and Kelci Mohrman
- 2016 - Angela Small
Past Recipients
- 2015 - Mick Small
- 2014 - Michael Adler
- 2013 - Tyler Plamondon
- 2012 - Greg Lau and Peter Solfest
- 2011 - Eric Peterson
- 2010 - Hansen Nordsiek
- 2009 - Daniel Kestner and Jamie Bougher
- 2008 - Stephanie Irish
- 2007 - Adam DeConinck and Joe Grochowski
- 2006 - Mathew Davenport
- 2005 - Joshua Anderson
- 2004 - Mike Ftaclas and Jason Kestner
- 2003 - Dan Nezich
- 2002 - Dan Boline and Peter Kiefer
- 2001 - Dan Lanterman and Sigfriend Tsun Ip
- 2000 - Kevin Landmark
- 1997 - Heather Lewandowski
- 1996 - William T. Nichols
- 1994 - Scott J. Peltier
- 1993 - James F. Harrison
- 1992 - Brent A. Boyce
- 1991 - Joel A. Keranen and Adam Letendre II
- 1990 - Harold T. Evensen
- 1989 - Ulrich J. Greiner
- 1998 - Dean M. Thelen
- 1987 - Stephen M. Long
- 1986 - Joel H. Graber
- 1985 - Susan E. Hill
- 1984 - Thomas R. Kugler
- 1983 - Mark W. Jacobs
- 1982 - Kimberly J. Schaudt
- 1981 - David G. Michelini
- 1980 - Steven M. Soltesz
- 1979 - Brenda R. Smith
Department Scholar
The Department Scholar a rising senior who best represents student scholarship at
Michigan Tech. This outstanding student is considered excellent not only by academic
standards, but also for participation in research scholarship activity, levels of
intellectual curiosity, creativity, and communication skills.
- 2019 - River Leversee
- 2018 - Jon Berman
- 2017 - Crystal Massoglia
- 2016 - Floyd Johnson
Provost's Award for Scholarship
The recipient of this award is chosen from among the previous year’s Department Scholars.
Goldwater Scholar
The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is a highly competitive national award that supports juniors and seniors preparing
for research careers in natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering.
Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellowship
The Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellowship seeks to attract talented, committed
individuals with backgrounds in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics—into teaching in high-need Georgia secondary schools.
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships
Summer Undergraduate Researcher Fellowships (SURF) are a competitively-awarded fellowship open to students who have at least one semester
remaining after the summer.
2019
Casey Aldrich
Advisor: Robert Nemiroff
Project: Cataloging NASA’s Fermi Satellite’s Super-GeV Photons
Renato Pinto Reveggino
Advisor: Claudio Mazzoleni
Project: Measuring the optical properties of mineral, and carbonaceous aerosols at 450 nm for
atmospheric research
Past Recipients
2018
Connor Hawry
Advisor: Yoke Khin Yap
Project: Synthesis of Small Diameter BNNTs for Biomedical Application
Zackerie Hjorth
Advisor: Yoke Khin Yap
Project: Boron Nitride Nanosheet Synthesis and Use for Increasing Electron Mobility of Graphene
and TMDCs on SiO2 Substrates
2017
Illiya Chibirev
Advisor: Jacek Borysow
Project: High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Temperature Measurements of Atmospheric Gases
Using Noninvasive Raman Spectroscopy
Owen Cruishank
Advisor: Raymond Shaw
Project: Investigating the Nucleation of Supercooled Water by Droplet Vibration and Contact
Line Movement
2016
Kaelan Anderson
Advisor: Claudio Mazzoleni
Project: Studying the Properties of Free Tropospheric Aerosols in the Mid Alantic
Kelci Mohrman
Advisor: Petra Huentemeyer
Project: Analysis of Highest Energy Gamma-Ray Emission from the Geminga Pulsar Wind Nebula
2015
Kevin Rocheleau
Advisor: Christopher Middlebrook
Project: Determination of the Electro-Optic Effect in PDMS-TiO2 Hybrid Nan-composites
Colin Sheidler
Advisor: Yoke Khin Yap
Project: Growth of Molybdenum Disulfide Monolayer Films by Chemical Vapor Deposition
2014
Robert Innis
Advisor: Yoke Khin Yap
Project: CVD Growth of Molybdenum DiSulfide
Adam Laxo
Advisor: Raymond Shaw
Project: An Investigation of Aerosols as Catalysts for Contact Nucleation
2013
Joseph Charnawskas
Advisor: Raymond Shaw
Project: The Effects of the Gravitational Force of Water Particles in a Turbulent Flow
Mick Small
Advisor: Yoke Khin Yap
Project: Photovoltaic Responses of Quantum Dot Sensitized ZnO Nanowires
Angela Small
Advisor: Jacek Borysow
Project: Analysis of Artificial Breath Samples Using Raman Spectroscopy for Medical Diagnosis
Kevin Rocheleau
Advisor: Petra Huentemeyer
Project: Analysis and Modeling of Diffuse Gamma-ray Emission from the Cygnus Region using FERMI
and HAWC Data
2012
Emily Makoutz
Advisor: Yoke Khin Yap
Project: Quantum Dot Sensitized Photovoltaic Devices with Novel Core-Shell Nanowires
Stephen Stassen
Advisor: Claudio Mazzoleni
Project: Research on Atmospheric North American Aerosols: Using An Integrated Photoacoustic/Nephelometer
Spectrometer and the Pico Mountain