February 03, 2010
Four
St. John’s University Physics Majors are eagerly anticipating
March, when they’ll play an integral role in the ground-breaking
research of their professor,
Huizhong Xu, Ph.D.
Thanks to a more than $400,000 Faculty
Early Career Development grant from the National Science Foundation, Patrick
Cassidy, Mary Grace Velasco, Mohseen Khan and Chibuzo O. Ugonabo
will be working alongside Dr. Xu in his research project,
“Dielectric-Filled Nanowaveguides for Advance Imaging and
Sensing.”
“A large component of this research—a very important part of the
grant—is the undergraduate research,” Dr. Xu points out. “The
National Science Foundation sees a huge benefit to undergraduate
research as a machine of advancement for the development of science
and technology in the future.”
Research that involves undergraduates, he points out, will make
science and engineering education more accessible to students,
“especially underrepresented minorities at St. John’s University
and in the New York metropolitan area.”
“St. John’s is at the fore of providing educational opportunities
to those who would not otherwise have access to them,” the Physics
Professor continues. “The proposed integrated research and
educational activities will provide St. John’s students as well as
in the local community with unique education and research
experiences that will benefit society as a whole.”
Undergraduates Do Cutting-Edge
Research
Providing a quality academic experience for students is a hallmark
of a St. John’s education. Since 1870, when the University was
founded by the Vincentian order of priests to educate the children
of Irish immigrants, St. John’s has been providing its students
with the tools they need to grow and succeed.
Patrick Cassidy, a senior in the University’s five-year Biomedical
Engineering Combined B.S.-M.S. program that is offered in
cooperation with Polytechnic Institute of New York University,
plans to go on to graduate school and eventually pursue a career in
cancer research or a related field.
He points out that the research being done with Professor Xu is
“very important to the scientific community. He also understands
that his participation in this research opportunity will help open
doors in the future.
“Dr. Xu’s project allows me to have a genuine research experience
and all that it can offer—something generally unheard of for an
undergraduate—and will be a wonderful addition to my graduate
school applications. I'm looking forward to working with Dr. Xu on
this exciting research.”
Student researcher Mary Grace Velasco, a sophomore, also recognizes
that groundbreaking research is not usually available to
undergraduates. She hopes to pursue a career in medicine and
sees this research as “a wonderful opportunity.
“In biology class, we study biochemical processes all the time,
often relying on diagrams and drawings to understand what is really
happening. To actually be able to study these processes as they
happen, now that would be amazing.”
A physics major, Mary Grace says that “the project’s possible
applications in medicine are profound. I'm so grateful that Dr. Xu
and St. John’s are giving me this golden opportunity to participate
in cutting-edge science.
Invisible to the Naked
Eye
Dr. Xu’s most recent research has been in the field of biophysics,
an interdisciplinary field that utilizes the theories and methods
of physics and chemistry to understand complex biological
systems.
Nanoscopic illumination sources—light sources so tiny they can’t be
viewed by the human eye—just may be the tool that will allow
scientists to view biological systems so minute they can’t be
viewed even with the most sophisticated instruments currently
available.
The research team’s construction and testing of nanowaveguides will
permit them to study the optical properties, examine how light can
alter what is seen or not seen, and then apply this technique to
the study of various interesting biological systems. Their research
could ultimately expand how science, engineering and medicine are
explored.
Mary Grace puts it succinctly: “Revolutionary research with a
noteworthy professor? What more could any aspiring scientist ask
for?”