Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) - Story Archives: LLE High School Student is Finalist in National Intel Science Competition

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	Spotlight on Rui Wang Rui Wang is first in her class of 563 students at Fairport High School and plans to study medicine after attending Harvard or Cornell. She earned perfect scores on her SAT tests and is fluent in her native language of Chinese. The daughter of Drs. Xinrong Wang and Lijian Ruan, Rui enjoys working with birds and playing the violin.	With advisor Kenneth Marshall, Rui Wang used sophisticated computational chemistry codes to model a class of existing dyes and develop new dyes with enhanced optical properties. Also with Marshall, Zuzana Culakova researched a new chemical treatment proposed to mitigate damage to optical components in the Omega EP laser currently being built by the LLE. With advisor R. Stephen Craxton, Alexandra Cok created computer simulations that helped design an experiment for the National Ignition Facility, a huge laser under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, CA that is being developed with collaborators from around the nation, including LLE scientists.

In 2006, two LLE high school students were semi-finalists for the Intel awards. In 2005, two students were semi-finalists, with one going into the final round. Three students were semi-finalists in 2004, and in 2003, three students were semi-finalists, including one finalist.

The 2006 LLE High School Program included thirteen Juniors, who won their slots from a pool of about sixty applicants. Any student may apply to the program by submitting a short essay describing his or her interest in science and technology, his or her future goals, and a letter of recommendation from a science or math teacher.  The LLE then selects some of the applicants for interviews.

The eight-week summer program, which has been running since 1989 and is the only university-sponsored laser laboratory research program for high school students in the country, provides an exceptional opportunity for highly motivated students. Students accepted into the program are assigned to a research project and are supervised by staff scientists at the laboratory. These projects form an integral part of the research program of the laboratory and are related to the laboratory's 60-beam OMEGA laser, the world's most powerful fusion laser, and the OMEGA EP laser, currently under construction.

At the end of the program, the students present the results of their projects at a symposium in the laboratory. The students also produce written project reports. The students work 40-hour weeks and are paid.

The 2006 students and projects were:

Students in the 2006 LLE High School Program in the OMEGA EP Laser Bay

Additional Details

For further details, see the LLE Summer High School Program website at:

http://www.lle.rochester.edu/02_visitors/02_HighSchool/02_highSchool.html

To read the 2005 project reports, see:

http://www.lle.rochester.edu/03_publications/03_06_highschool/03_06_2005.html

For more information, please contact:
   Dr. R. Stephen Craxton
   Email: scra@lle.rochester.edu
   Faculty Webpage: http://www.rochester.edu/College/RTC/Craxton.html

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