Juan

Peralta, Ph.D., a professor in the Physics Department, along with undergraduate student Alex Koke, is developing computer software that simulates the quantum behavior of special molecules. This project is being funded during the summer by a grant from the Department of Energy.

Peralta and Koke’s research focuses on “building and improving computational capability to predict the properties of molecular complexes.” These complexes are also referred to as molecular magnets and are the smallest known materials to have magnetic properties. Because of this, there are many potential technological applications and understanding the properties of these molecules is integral to the development of future technology.

Koke is working on building a computational scheme, using existing software and developing his own, to find the quantum energy levels of these molecular magnets. This is among one of the problems when researching molecular complexes because they are so small. “One of the remarkable characteristics of this problem is that its dimension scales exponentially with the number of magnetic atoms. For example, for a simple complex containing 28 Iron atoms, the number of solutions is the same as the number of stars in the universe!”, says Peralta.

Koke is testing methods that can find the most important solutions, which is like finding a needle in a haystack, but using physics, mathematics, and computer software. Pictured above left to right: Alex Koke, Duyen Nguyen, and Lucas Aebersold.

Our new interdisciplinary certificate, InSciTE (Integration of Science, Technology, and Engineering), has made great progress over the last months. A formal interdisciplinary council of faculty was formed, with every department and school of the College represented. Biology faculty member

Wiline Pangle was appointed head of the council and director of the program. Through consensus building, the council developed the following program mission, “to create an equitable student-driven environment for undergraduate students to develop skills on interdisciplinary communication, collaboration and real-world problem solving to become culturally competent and effective leaders”, established on the five core values of equity, collaboration, relevance to real-world problems, being learner-centered, and supporting creative problem solving. Designed as a certificate to complement existing majors, InSciTE consists of five skill-based courses taken over a four-year period as a cohort. Students take one course every spring as a cohort until their senior year, during which they complete an interdisciplinary, team-based research project over the full school year. The certificate builds on specific sets of transferable skills, starting from collaboration and conflict resolution, building with communication, data and time management, and culminating in an authentic student-driven research experience. Working with Advancement, the program has raised $30,000 to date, with a few major gifts pending. The first cohort of students is piloting the first course of the program this Spring. We are excited to see how this program will grow!