Emilie LaVoie-Ingram

Name: Emilie LaVoie-Ingram

Home Institution: Jacksonville University

Program: Research Experience for Undergraduates

Semester: Summer 2020

Mentor: Kevin Nangoi

Q&A

What is the research you are engaged in and what you have accomplished this summer?

I am researching different crystal structures of promising photocathode materials. I specifically study cesium antimonide, and I am working to recreate and continue my mentor’s preliminary research using more efficient research methods. I have actually been able to find a new and potentially stable crystal structure!

What are the impacts of your research for the general public?

Better photocathodes can reduce the cost of particle accelerators and improve ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy research, which is specific to physics. Photocathodes are also used in everyday life, like TV and theater productions, as well as applications in photography. I am focused on finding more efficient and effective photocathode materials, which would be both cost efficient and more effective in all uses.

What did you enjoy most about this research/summer experience?

Although I am disappointed I couldn’t be in Ithaca this summer, I have enjoyed making virtual friends. We all get together and talk for hours about our hobbies, engaging topics, anything! It is a nice, refreshing break after longs day of research.

What did you find the most challenging about this research?

The most challenging part of my research, I think, was grasping that it is both okay and understandable to be a beginner. I would get frustrated and disappointed that I couldn’t understand or derive things the first time around, and I had to remind myself that condensed matter physics, the field I am researching in, is completely new to me. I had to spend a couple weeks reading and learning fundamental concepts and my way around the technology, and then I was able to catch on and begin my research. Regardless of your experience, age, or field – you are going to encounter something that you don’t know how to do, and that is okay. The ability to succeed isn’t based on your current knowledge, but your ability to adapt and learn.

How has this experience changed your view about being a researcher?

I was excited to gain experience in a computational-based research project, as I love to code and was very interested in whether there were research opportunities that could be based around computational and theoretical work. I guess you could say that doing a remote internship and having to rely on computational projects regardless was a gift in disguise. After this REU, I can finally see myself succeeding in a research-based field of physics.

REU Class of 2020

Emilie LaVoie-Ingram

Name: Emilie LaVoie-Ingram

The Center for Bright Beams

REU Class of 2020

Emilie LaVoie-Ingram

Name: Emilie LaVoie-Ingram

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