Army veteran honored by National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recognized 11 United States military veterans for their contributions to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields in Washington D.C., on Nov. 5. United States Army veteran and Notre Dame physics graduate student Luis Morales and 10 others were honored with NSF-funded Graduate Research Fellowships.“The ceremony in Washington was a Veteran’s Day event,” Morales said. “The NSF has never done anything like this before. They honored the veterans while also showing how they had contributed to—and made the transition from—the military to the STEM fields.”Morales said his trip to D.C. included a tour of the NSF headquarters and a poster session to present and discuss his personal research. The NSF expressed interest in helping veterans overcome any obstacles that may prevent them from pursuing a civilian career in STEM, Morales said.“Throughout the day, we [talked] about the relationship between veterans and the sciences,” he said. “We’re not traditional students. Many of us start schooling with families. It can be a struggle to manage this financially and time wise.”Morales said that he and the other NSF Fellows honored in D.C. were asked what could be done for veterans to help with the transition from the military to undergraduate or graduate education.“I wasn’t in a science field when I was in the military,” Morales said. “I just had this drive to do it. I followed my heart. I took all the opportunities that were given to me.”According to a press release from the College of Science, “the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program provides three years of support for the graduate education of students who have demonstrated the potential for significant achievements in science and engineering research.”After more than five years of service in the Army, Morales moved to Elkhart, Indiana to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics and applied mathematics at Indiana University – South Bend in 2011. There, Morales collaborated with a group in the Nuclear Science Lab at Notre Dame to design a new detection system for the St. GEORGE Recoil Separator (Strong Gradient Electro-magnet Online Recoil separator for capture Gamma ray Experiments).“During my time as an undergrad, I spent about three summers on the St. GEORGE,” Morales said. “We ended up simulating and designing a new detection system, constructing this system and testing it to make sure it worked properly.”Morales said the coming stages of his research will work with the St. GEORGE accelerator to test chemical reactions and elements in stars.“We want to study the sun,” Morales said. “This system will help us study particular reactions in the sun. Right now, I’m working on putting all of the different parts of the system together and making sure they work right.”Morales said the financial support the NSF offers helps veterans integrate in civilian life on many levels.“The event in Washington was a pleasant experience overall,” Morales said. “It made me happy to see the NSF trying to reach out to veterans and relate to our struggles. It made me feel like they were genuinely interested in helping future veterans with interests in science pursue them.”Tags: National Science Foundation, NSF, Physics, St. GEORGE Recoil Separator, STEM, Veterans Day
Amir Khan hopes he may finally be in line for a dream fight with American legend Floyd Mayweather after returning to the ring with an emphatic win.The 27-year-old, from Bolton, easily outpointed Luis Collazo in Las Vegas and still has sights firmly set on the undefeated world champion.”Definitely, people want to see that fight between me and Floyd,” Khan said.”He’s fighting guys who are strong, but styles make fights, and my style would cause Floyd a lot of trouble.”Khan, fighting for the first time after a 13-month lay-off, knocked Collazo down three times in the non-title bout.He believes the time is right to face Mayweather, 37, who beat Marcos Maidana on points on the same MGM Grand card to unify the WBA and WBC welterweight belts. “He is getting older and showing a lot of mistakes that he didn’t used to do,” Khan added. “It is a great time to catch him.”Floyd looks beatable. A lot of people want the fight now because they want a young lion to come up and they want to see him get beat. The only person who has the chance to do that is me.”I’m very, very close to the Mayweather fight. The fight will happen because the public will demand this fight.”Khan had been in contention to fight Mayweather on Saturday, but the American opted to take on Maidana despite Khan topping an online poll to choose the opponent.And his hopes of pinning down the lucrative bout any time soon appeared to take another hit when Mayweather shook hands with Maidana’s trainer Robert Garcia in the immediate aftermath of the fight and promised a rematch. “If the fans want to see it again, we’ll do it again,” Mayweather said.A fight with Khan is, therefore, unlikely to happen in 2014 as Mayweather’s next available slot, in September, is too close to the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan for the English boxer.
But Corey Brewer, Josh Smith and the heavily-experienced Jason “Jet” Terry began hassling the Clippers defensively and hitting every shot they hoisted on the other end. The Rockets’ run reached 18-0. And, as it so often the case when the Clippers lose, Jamal Crawford and J.J. Redick could not answer back. The Clippers missed 21 of their 28 deep shots.Harden, who has been ill during this series, seemed fine as he applauded and slapped five in the fourth quarter. He also seemed fine when he got to the foul line 11 times in the first half and he still scored 23 points in 30 minutes.The Rockets got longer and more active on defense without him, and too often the Clippers leaned on Griffin, who missed two close-in shots as Houston was completing its comeback.After three quarters, Paul and Griffin had combined for 50 points on 20-of-27 field goal shooting, and the whole arena brimmed with fulfillment. Maybe a little too much.Beforehand, coach Doc Rivers said that he had told the Clippers they would have to win a game in which Houston played great. He likened it to match play in golf, when the best players assume that putts will be made, and it’s up to them to roll in birdies of their own.Rivers, of course, knew the Rockets hadn’t played that great game yet, and at halftime he was hoping they weren’t in the middle of such an effort. The Clippers led, 64-62, thanks to a couple of overdue Redick hoops late in the second quarter, but Houston had shown it didn’t show up here just for the weather.Harden had been a little sick, a little tired, and a little short of the form that he used to finish second in MVP voting. He also went just over 17 minutes without a field goal in this one. But he can get a lot done in a hurry. Suddenly he swished two threes, got a traditional three-point play, and sank two free throws in a span of a minute and a half. He wound up with 17 points in that second quarter.Harden alone flipped the game during that period, since the Clippers were struggling to find space inside and to make shots outside. Crawford did get three baskets, but all of them were in the lane or thereabouts, and L.A. missed 11 of 14 threes in the first half.“I thought about putting James back in,” said Kevin McHale, the Houston coach. “But our group was doing so well. He’ll be ready to rock and roll on Sunday.”But then Houston intentionally fouled Jordan, and Jordan hit both free throws. That made him 4 for 4 in the half. And the Clippers retaliated by fouling Dwight Howard twice, and the failed ex-Laker missed all four and did something he’s rarely done — make Staples Center fans happy.That feeling passed. Rock and roll never forgets, but the Clippers must. Floyd Mayweather Jr., sitting at courtside, never landed a gut punch like this.The Clippers had one foot and several toenails in the Western Conference finals when the third quarter of Game 6 ended Thursday night.They’ll have trouble putting one foot in front of the other this morning, after what happened next.With James Harden safely on the bench in his warmups, Houston played nothing-to-lose basketball, grew more excited with each fourth-quarter minute, and finds itself with a Western Conference semifinal to win. Newsroom GuidelinesNews TipsContact UsReport an Error
The Rockets, who were blown out in Games 3-4 here last week, overcame a 19-point deficit and ran down the Clippers 119-107 to tie up this series 3-3, with Game 7 Sunday in Houston.That’s a 40-15 fourth quarter for the Rockets. Without Harden, who averaged 11.6 more points than any other Rocket in the regular season. “With each miss,” said Doc Rivers, the Clippers coach, “it got tougher. When you give up 40 points in a quarter, you’ve stopped playing.”It would be silly of course, to call this the darkest moment in Clippers history, if only because there are so many to choose from. But it is the most painful single night since 2006, when they had a chance to beat Phoenix in Game 5 and take a 3-2 second-round lead, and couldn’t.This was their longest fall from the highest point. No one on earth who wasn’t wearing a red uniform would have given Houston a chance after Chris Paul and Blake Griffin sailed the night like the modern-day Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.