Asking "why?" leads undergraduate to nanocrystal research
undergraduates wait until their junior or even senior year to get
involved in scientific research projects, but not John Jumper. The
sophomore, a double major in physics and math, has already begun
his second semester working in a Vanderbilt physics lab.
|Photo by Daniel Dubois
|John Jumper working in the Haglund lab
In fall 2004, Jumper got some first hand experience about what “big science” is like by working with three Vanderbilt physicists:
associate professor Paul Sheldon, assistant professor Will Johns
and professor Medford Webster. They are part of an international
high-energy research project at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
that involves dozens of scientists from 18 different universities.
They put him to work analyzing data from the experiment.
This spring, the budding scientist shifted his attention to the
field of condensed matter physics, which focuses on the nature of
different kinds of materials. He has begun studying laser interactions
with vanadium dioxide nanocrystals under the supervision of physics
professor Richard Haglund.
The research done in the high energy lab, which “involved searching
for specific decay sequences in large data sets…was very different
than what I am doing in professor Haglund’s lab,” says Jumper. The
two labs “are not really comparable.”
The switch is part of a deliberate strategy. “I have a very strong
interest in math and that goes very well with physics…[which] uses
all the math you didn’t know had a purpose,” he says. So he is using
opportunities to become involved in different types of research
as a way to figure out “what areas of physics suit me best.”
Jumper decided to work with Haglund after he took an introductory
class in quantum physics from him: “I was really impressed with
the way he taught and looked at physics.”
Haglund has assigned Jumper to work with a graduate student to
construct a special kind of laser that generates white light, a
combination of all wavelengths of light in the visual spectrum.
They will be working from a description of the instrument published
in a scientific paper. However, the assignment is not just to duplicate
the published design, but to improve upon it by using mirrors that
are more reflective. When it is completed, the laser will give the
laboratory a new way to study the characteristics of the vanadium
dioxide nanocrystals being developed by Haglund and his collaborators.
According to Jumper, the laser project is attractive because it
allows him to develop and utilize his skills in both physics and
mathematics. He also likes the fact that it has both experimental
and theoretical elements. He hopes to continue working in the Haglund
lab next fall, but wants to expand his activities beyond instrument
building into the development and fabrication of nanocrystals.
His drive to better understand physics through research, and his
excellent academic qualifications recently earned Jumper one of
the highly competitive Barry M, Goldwater scholarships given in
2005 to highly qualified students pursuing careers in the fields
of the natural sciences, mathematics or engineering. The scholarship
provides up to $7,500 each year for one to two years of undergraduate
study to help encourage students to become professional researchers.
Jumper has been able to work on various physics projects because
“getting involved in undergraduate research is extremely easy” in
the Vanderbilt physics department, he says, and the opportunity
“is definitely a high point” of his educational experience thus
Both of Jumper’s parents are engineers. Because of his “need to
understand on a fundamental level how things work” and constantly
asking the question “why?” he realized at an early age that academia
suited him. Though he will technically finish his physics major
at the end of this semester, thanks to 36 advanced placement credit
hours, he plans on continuing to take higher-level physics courses
to prepare for a career in research and to help him tackle the many
questions still waiting for an answer.
Communication of Science & Technology Major
Published: April 1, 2005