Prize Recipient

Nicolas Lopez

Background:

My name is Nicolas Lopez. I'm from Harlingen, TX and this is will be my third year attending the University of North Texas located in Denton, TX. Ever since elementary school, I had a natural interest in science. So, I've spent all my education always knowing that I would study some sort of science. But it was during my sophomore year in high school, when I played around with a telescope, that I became very curious in astrophysics. During my senior year, when I enrolled in physics and calculus, I was very sure that I wanted to become a physicist. When I began taking all the required math classes in college, I decided to major in mathematics also. I enjoy it very much and I believe that having a strong math background will give me a great advantage in the physics world.

I spent this summer working with Dr. Shiner at the University of North Texas as a lab research assistant. We are dealing with mapping the structure of Helium-4 and Helium-3. I plan to attend graduate school to obtain my doctorate after my BS. In the far future I would like to become a professor at a university and do research, most likely in the area of optics.