Prize Recipient

Carlos Del-Castillo-Negrete
Yale University

Background:

 

My name is Carlos del-Castillo-Negrete, and I am from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, but my family is from Mexico City. Physics has always been a passion of mine. My dad is a physicist, and I used to copy the equations from his papers even though I didn’t understand anything that I was writing. My goal as a child was to understand these strange symbols. This motivated me to study math and physics on my own, and gradually I began to understand more and more of his papers.

What fascinates me about physics is that, as a science, physics tries to understand the world at the most fundamental level possible. Also, I love conducting research. I have spent this past year as an intern for the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory tackling the problem of how to reduce beam loss in high power particle accelerators. Although this research at times was frustrating and unsuccessful, the process of discovery that followed was rewarding and fulfilling.

Lastly, I believe that physics, and science in general, is one of the noblest ways to help create a better world through new discoveries, inventions, and technologies. I plan to major in physics and mathematics at Yale University and want to continue my studies in graduate school so that I can be at the frontier of science and technology.