With my summer experience finally coming to an end, I can only reflect on my research as being every bit as fulfilling as I had hoped for. Having had the ability to experiment in the straw-tube laboratory at NIU, attend meetings at Fermilab and interact with the local Kane county community has definitely been an opportunity of a lifetime. Through the benefit of the Summer Scholars program I have been able to fully dedicate my summer to academia and achieve my goals of gaining valuable research experience all the while positioning myself to deliver a worthy Honors Capstone.
Of course, none of this would have been possible had the Honors Committee not placed their faith in me to succeed as a Summer Scholar in the first place, and to this well placed trust I once again offer my gratitude. Furthermore, I would also like to thank my faculty adviser Dr. Eads for his guidance throughout the project, Jason Goode for his assistance in running the Summer Scholars program, NIU students Mary Shenk and Aaron Epps for their collaboration with the g-2 project, Fermilab and the NIU Physics Department for providing me with the resources to conduct my research, NIU Shop Services for fulfilling all of my custom parts requests, and finally, but of equal importance, my family for their ever present support throughout my academic endeavors.
Although there is slight feeling of sorrow at seeing my journey come to end, I know that the Summer Scholars program is only the beginning of many great things to come; my opportunity to present my research at a national conference as well as a recent request to continue my research over the summer working with the Italian Muon g-2 team serving as two excellent examples. These opportunities and many others will allow me to continue my intellectual pursuits and I am confident that my involvement at Northern Illinois University, as well as my contributions to the field of high energy particle physics, is far from over.
University Honors Summer Scholars 2013 