Ashleigh Barnes Awarded at Sigma Xi Research Competition
Sigma Xi presentation competition awardees. Ahsleigh Barnes, second from left.
Ashleigh Barnes, a third year Ph.D. candidate in Hinde’s Group, received Second Place, Blue Award during Sigma Xi Graduate Research Presentation Competition held on April 13, 2015. A total of 19 graduate students from 10 departments participated.
Barnes gave a 15 minutes presentation entitle “Toward Understanding Three-Body Interactions in HCP 4He.” “…it was a great experience because there were people from all different departments presenting and judging, so it was an opportunity to present my research to a very diverse audience, rather than the audience of chemists I have been used to,”said Barnes. “I enjoyed getting to hear about the research projects taking place in other departments throughout the school as well.”
The goal of the competition is to “give science/engineering graduate students the opportunity to share their research while promoting Sigma Xi,” said Professor Angel Palomino, President of UT Sigma Xi. “I only observed a few of the presentations (we had 3 simultaneous sessions). Overall, they were impressive, especially Ashleigh’s.”
Sigma Xi is an international honor society of science and engineering established in 1886 “to honor excellence in scientific investigation and encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among researchers in all fields of science and engineering.”* The society’s mission is to “enhance the health of the research enterprise, foster integrity in science and engineering, and promote the public’s understanding of science for the purpose of improving the human condition.”* The UT Sigma Xi Chapter was reactivated in 2014 and has held two annual research competitions so far.
*Quoted from Sigma Xi web site.