Congratulations to physics undergraduate student, Kaden Loring, recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship and UF’s Best Undergraduate Research Paper Award.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.
Kaden has worked in the Physics Dark Cosmos Group for the last two years. Specifically, research related to both the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) experiment and Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission. This research has included a recently published first-author publication titled, “Hydroxide catalysis bonding of Allvar Alloy 30, a negative thermal expansion alloy.” Another first-author publication by Kaden, with faculty mentor, Paul Fulda, recently won Undergraduate Research Best Paper Award in STEM for 2020. This paper is titled, “Hydroxide catalysis bonding of a negative thermal expansion alloy for astronomical telescopes.”
Kaden’s other research experiences include the BIG Ten Academic Alliance Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) at the Ohio State University, the NOAA Hollings Scholar Program (a two-year undergraduate fellowship provided by NOAA), and an internship this past summer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.