Six students were selected as winners of the 56^th TcSUH Student Research Symposium, held April 30, 2019, in the University of Houston Science Center.

The symposium is a juried competition for students selected from each research group headed by a Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH) principal investigator. Prizes are awarded based on originality of research (25%), quality of research (25%), quality of presentation (25%), and skillful use of visual aids (25%).

“The purpose of the annual symposium is two-fold,” said Zhifeng Ren, M. D. Anderson Chair Professor of Physics and Director of TcSUH. “The annual event gives students an opportunity to practice the preparation of powerpoint slides, hone their presentation skills, and answer questions. It also provides the students with a great opportunity to learn frontiers in research from other disciplines within a brief period of time.” 

The 2019 competition featured 16 graduate students and two undergraduates from the UH Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and the Materials Science and Engineering Program. Professors C. W. Chu, Allan J. Jacobson, and Jae-Hyun Ryou served as judges.

Students presented during three sessions held throughout the day. Session chairs were Dr. Elie Track, CEO of nVizix and Treasurer of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity, Dr. Bruce P. Strauss, Program Manager, DOE Office of Science (ret.) and President, IEEE CSC, and Anne Delcour, Professor of Biology and Biochemistry and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

First Prize

The First Prize ($600) was awarded to Mr. Rabin Dahal, Ph.D. student in physics, whose advisor is. C. W. Chu. He presented his work on Pressure-Induced Superconductivity and Doping-Tunable Structural Transition in Weyl Semimetal Mo_1-xW_xTe₂.

Second Prize

Two Second Prizes of $300 were awarded.

• Mr. Yixuan Huang, Ph.D. student in physics whose advisor is Chin-Sen Ting, discussed his work on Charge Density Wave in One Dimensional Kondo Lattice Model.
• Mr. Jie Chen presented his research on Flexible Piezoelectric Generators and Pulse Sensors using Single-Crystalline III-N Thin Film. Chen’s advisor is Jae-Hyun Ryou in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Third Prize

Three Third Prize winners were selected by the judges to receive $200 awards.

• Ms. Audrey Wang, an undergraduate student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering whose advisor is Yan Yao, presented her work on An Ab Initio Investigation of Structure-Function Relationships in Solid-State Electrolytes.
• Mr. Moein Adnani, Ph.D. physics student in C. W. Chu’s group, discussed his research on Magnetoelectric Effect in New Type II Multiferroic HoFeWO₆ .
• Ms. Xiaojing Ma, Ph.D. student in Arnold Guloy’s group in the Department of Chemistry, won for her work on Ce₅Ge₃O_x (x = 0.0 – 1.0): An Oxygen Interstitial Compound with Kondo-like Behavior.

All prize winners are eligible to apply for TcSUH Student Travel Awards, which help to defray expenses to attend conferences, workshops and important reviews.

The IEEE Council on Superconductivity (IEEE CSC) is also providing free IEEE student memberships to each winner. The Council is affiliated with the IEEE and promotes programs and activities on the science and technology of superconductors and their applications. Learn more at http://www.ewh.ieee.org/tc/csc/