STEM DIVERSITY PROGRAMS

Devin Carraway

CAMP Fellow-Junior 

Lab Group: Professor Marilyn Walker, Natural Language & Dialogue Systems Lab

Major: Computer Science

Research: My research analyzes how to procedurally generate dialogue
for video games and other interactive media.

Internships/ Presentations/ Awards:

Microsoft - June 2011 - Sept 2011, June 2012 - Sept 2012. Added
features(confidential) to the Dynamics AX X++ compiler.

Lab Group: Quantum Electronics Group

Major: Electrical Engineering

Research: Philips Lumileds is interested in thermal imaging of their 447.5nm LED at normal bias conditions with low noise such as 250mA, observation and characterization of low temperature shadows at gold studs underneath the device and characterization of high temperatures at outer rings of vias on the device. It has been demonstrated that use of a time series thermoreflectance method has proven effective in obtaining transient thermal images with submicron spatial resolution and time resolution in microseconds. This thermal transient imaging is achieved by using a pulsed box-car averaging and differencing technique. Phase adjustment of pulsed device excitation and pulsed external illumination allow for thermoreflectance measurements of the device. Thermal images are taken by a CCD camera which can be converted for later analysis. Varying the wavelength of the external illumination and full bandwidth of light filters during thermoreflectance imaging at steady state allowed for optimization of optical parameters. External illumination of 405nm and full bandwidth filter of 400nm provided best results with minimal light interference from the device. Much saturation was experienced when using external illumination and filters close to the wavelength of the emitted device illumination, however this was avoided by lowering the device current. Signal to noise characterization was achieved by extending he averaging duration time from 30s to 3hrs. At longer averaging durations, observed much aliasing of unknown origin, which obscures results and characterization capabilities. Preliminary experiments were essential in order to determine optimum conditions for transient thermal imaging and further thermoreflectance  characterization as well as calibration and assignment of thermal coefficients to appropriate location in the images.

Internships/ Presentations/ Awards:

Amy Beth Snader Scholarship for consecutive academic years (2008-2011)

Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS)

Major: Computer Engineering

Research: Open Source Networking Lab

802.14.5 Bridge to Wifi

Long Distance High Bandwidth Traffic Pacing (Future Work) 

Internships/ Presentations/ Awards:

Hispanic College Fund and Career Institute Scholarship (Current)
Zinch Scholarship (Current)
Cal-Teach Summer Internship (Summer 2010)

Brenda Minjares

CAMP Fellow- Senior 

Lab Group: Professor Gey-Hong Gweon, Condensed Matter Physics

Major: Physics Education, Math (minor)

Research: My research analyzes the spin state transitions of Lanthanum Colbaltite. Using photoemission spectra to observe electron energy levels of this transition metal and utilizing a unique data shop program to model data, we hope to better explain the electronic structure. Our goal is to settle the surrounding controversy, among many battling scenarios that attempt to explain the temperature-dependent magnetic shift in the crystal in terms of spin. 

Internships/ Presentations/ Awards: 

Interference lithography using a single-mode operating laser diode. Brenda Minjares, Feng Wang, Boyce Tsang. University of California, Berkeley. 

University of California, Santa Cruz. Cal Teach Summer Institute at UC Berkeley 2010. Women in Physics Conference 2011.

 Photoemission spectra and spin-state transitions of LaCoO3. Brenda Minjares, Gey-Hong Gweon, Chris Doohan. University of California Santa Cruz. CAMP Summer Research Institute at UCSC 2011. 

Cruz Ortiz Jr.

CAMP Research Fellow- Senior

Lab Group: Flegal (WIGS) Laboratory

Major: B.S in Earth Science

Research:My primary area of study involves the biogeochemical cycling of mercury (Hg) through the atmosphere. Hg is a heavy-metal neurotoxin that bio-accumulates in aquatic food webs and can pose a health risk to humans who consume top level predator fish. Having a clear understanding of how pollutants cycle through the environment enables us to quantify them and pinpoint new areas of concern.

Internships / Presentations / Awards:

Measurements of Mercury in Rain and Fog Water from the Central Coast of California. Ortiz Jr., C.; Weiss-Penzias, P.; Acosta, R.P. 2011 SACNAS National Conference Community Day Event, San Jose, CA. Oct. 29, 2011.  Poster Presentation

Total and Monomethyl Mercury in Fog Water from the Central California Coast. Weiss-Penzias P.S.; Ortiz Jr. C.; Acosta P.R.; Heim W.; Ryan J.P; Fernandez

D.; Collett J.L.; Flegal A.R. Submitted to Geophysical Research Letters November 11, 2011. Pending Publication