The Physics Department actively involves students from local high schools in its research activities. Students regularly attend talks from in the department's seminar series, and work alongside faculty members in our research laboratories.

The IUCB ESR laboratory started an internship program for three participants to work for eight weeks during the summer 2004. These individuals were selected from the urban schools in Memphis, TN. Those students who have worked in our laboratories gained valuable research experience that allows them to excel in both graduate and industrial positions to this day.

Representative Achievements

• Melrose High School student, Courtney Robertson, has won The National Society of Black Engineers’ (NSBE) Award in Fall Regional Conference in Louisville, KY Nov 4th, 2004.
• Honorable recognition went to Keith Hammond and Darrell Sneed from Caterpillar and IBM corporate managers for their projects on “Using Matlab for Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Signal and Data Analysis Software”, which is a software project that has a novel signal subtraction program for data analysis.
• On March 18, 2005, Courtney Robertson, Keith Hammond and Darell Sneed were the only high school students to take part in the Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP) Annual Meeting at Fogelman Executive Complex at The University of Memphis, and they presented their research at an undergraduate conference.
• Memphis and Shelby County Science Fair. March 21st – 24th, 2005 at the AutoZone Fairgrounds. Honorable Recognition to Courtney Robertson and Darell Sneed from Intel in scholarship of $200.00 to each student. Keith Hammond received honorable recognition from Yale College of Engineering with a plaque and medallion.

Above: Department chair Dr. M. Shah Jahan with Marlon Ridley and participants of the National Society of Black Engineers' Fall Regional Science Competition.

Achievements Cont'd

• The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) National Convention: March 23rd – 27th in Boston, MA. Third place winner is Courtney Robertson “Thermal Stability of the Free Radicals in Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE)” Nationals Society of Black Engineers National Convention, April 27, 2005.
• Keith Hammond was the only high school student in the Microsoft Windows and Howard University Media Player Skins Competition, and he received second place in the finals at Howard University in Washington, D.C. May 6th, 2005. His work was featured on the Howard University and NSBE websites.
• Summer 2005: Keith Hammond, Darrell Sneed, and Courtney Robertson, worked on their respective projects at the Biosurface Center ESR (Free Radical) lab. They received partial support from Benjamin Hooke’s Institute.
• The Benjamin Hookes Institute for Social Change has written an article about the success of high school students under the supervision and commitment of Dr. Jahan and Marlon D. Ridley. http://benhooks.memphis.edu/newsletter2005.html