Abilene Christian University physics major, Austin Basye, recently received the Outstanding Student Award for Undergraduate Research from the Society of Physics Students (SPS). Basye, a senior from Canyon and president of the ACU chapter of SPS, was recognized as one of the top three undergraduate physics researchers in the nation in 2007. In August, Basye will represent the United States at the 2007-08 International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS) in London.Basye received recognition for his research abstract "Muon Spectrometer Upgrades at PHENIX." The Pioneering High Energy Nuclear Interaction Experiment, or PHENIX, is located at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. The primary objective of PHENIX is to discover and study the quark-gluon plasma, in addition to discerning the origin of the proton spin. Its muon spectrometer arms detect high energy muons, which shed light on this spin structure. Bayse's abstract concentrated on two upgrades to the muon spectrometer arms.
"This award is just another confirmation of the quality of research our students are doing," said Dr. Donald Isenhower, professor of physics at ACU. "We have been providing physics research opportunities for undergraduates for more than 25 years."
For the past 17 years, ACU students have accompanied physics professors to PHENIX during the summer months. Other Abilene Christian students are currently working on projects at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and ACU.
National recognition is not new for ACU. The university's Society for Physics Studens has been named as one of the top chapters in the nation five of the last six years. Basye's award is the first time an individual ACU student has been singled out for the national award for undergraduate research, said Isenhower.
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