(Posted July 6, 2018)

Camden Kasik, show at right during the 2017 Physics Phun Night, has participated in his local SPS chapter at Juniata for several years.  

Photo: Klarissa Juliano '17

Camden Kasik, show at right during the 2017 Physics Phun Night, has participated in his local SPS chapter at Juniata for several years.  

Photo: Klarissa Juliano '17

Huntingdon, Pa. – Camden Kasik, a rising senior from Silver Spring, Maryland, studying physics and mathematics at Juniata College, has been awarded one of 10 national Society of Physics Students (SPS) Leadership Scholarships.

Kasik has participated in his local SPS chapter at Juniata for several years, and was recently elected by his fellow students to be president of this chapter for the upcoming academic year. The award also honors academic performance.

This summer, Kasik is completing research for the National Science Foundation through a Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

Last summer, Kasik completed a research internship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

“At NIST, I worked in a laser cooling lab, constructing vacuum systems, designing parts and collecting data on Light Induced Atomic Desorption (LIAD),” Kasik says. At the completion of his internship, he presented his research to NIST staff, which included Bill Phillips, a Juniata alumnus who has earned the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Kasik says he found out about the SPS scholarship in an email from SPS, but adds that “Juniata physics professors also sent it to me and helped me with letters of recommendation.”

“I think I won the scholarship because of the numerous leadership opportunities provided by the physics department at Juniata, like organizing an eclipse viewing for the community, participating in Physics Phun Night and serving as a teaching assistant for various labs,” Kasik says.

The goal of SPS is to encourage the study of physics and the pursuit of high scholarship. Applicants must be in junior standing and plan to be enrolled as an undergraduate student for at least one more semester. Scholarships ranging between $2,000 and $5,000 are given each year.

To learn more about the scholarship program, visit https://www.spsnational.org/awards/scholarships.

 

--Written by Taylor Smallwood ’19, Juniata Associate for Media Relations--

 

 

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.