{"id":123163,"date":"2021-09-22T15:56:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T19:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=123163"},"modified":"2021-09-23T13:13:03","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T17:13:03","slug":"3-ucf-graduate-students-awarded-national-scholarships-more-than-any-other-institution-in-the-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/3-ucf-graduate-students-awarded-national-scholarships-more-than-any-other-institution-in-the-nation\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Graduate Students Awarded National Scholarships, More Than Any Other Institution in the Nation"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS) recently awarded three Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ graduate students scholarships worth up to $10,000 to continue their work in the area of directed energy.<\/p>\n
The students, Jessica Pe\u00f1a \u201919<\/strong>, Owen Thome and Nicholas Vail are all part of the Laser Plasma Laboratory, which is part of Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s Center for Directed Energy. The students were among 20 national winners. DEPS provides the scholarship to students who are conducting promising research in directed energy technology, high-power laser development, high-power microwaves and ultrashort pulse lasers.<\/p>\n
Pe\u00f1a was named the Dr. Samuel Blankenship Directed Energy Scholar Award Winner, created in 2018 to honor the \u00a0previous Executive Director and DEPS Fellow. Pe\u00f1a, of the College of Optics and Photonics,\u00a0is a second time recipient. In 2020 she was awarded a scholarship for her work on laser light filament propagation at high altitude.<\/p>\n
Vail, of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and Thome, of the College of Optics and Photonics, received awards for their work on kilowatt-class Mid-IR thulium fiber laser development and new ultrafast long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) laser development, respectively. Both these novel types of high-power laser systems will soon be tested for the first time anywhere at Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s Townes Institute Science & Technology Experimentation Facility on Merritt Island, Florida, says Photonics Professor Martin Richardson, who leads the Laser Plasma Lab and the Center for Directed Energy at Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.<\/p>\n
\u201cDEPS recognizes our students\u2019 caliber and ingenuity, which is why it has given so many Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ students scholarships over the past decade \u2014 more than any other university,\u201d says Richardson, who was named a DEPS Fellow in 2021.<\/p>\n