When Charles Forman returned to Jefferson Lab in May to begin his third summer as an intern, he did so as one of the U.S. Department of Energy's top interns.
Forman, who will begin his junior year as a materials science and engineering major at Virginia Tech this fall, took a second place earlier this year in an undergraduate research poster competition held at the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) annual meeting in Washington, D.C. He also was later recognized in the AAAS journal, Science.
Forman spent his first summer at Jefferson Lab in 2009 when he was a Warwick High School senior participating in the lab's high school summer honors internship program. This summer and last, he has interned at the lab as a Department of Energy Science Undergraduate Laboratory Intern, or SULI.
Forman is working on niobium cavities under Research Adviser Michael Kelley of Jefferson Lab and the College of William & Mary. Forman's work involves carrying out exacting tests and measurements on various surfaces inside a niobium cavity, which are critical components to Jefferson Lab's particle accelerator and other accelerators around the world.
The problem driving Forman's work is that some accelerator cavities perform poorly due to internal-surface micro-roughness; and it is unclear which topographical features have the most impact on performance. Forman's cutting-edge research is the first to slice open a high-performing cavity in order to discover and document tolerable surface features. This information is critical for identifying harmful defects. For his research, Forman made replicas of the cavity's interior surface and characterized the surface topography using optical and scanning electron microscopes.
Last year, Forman presented his SULI research (Superconducting Radiofrequency Accelerator Cavity: Examination of the Interior Surface) at the Virginia Tech ACerS (American Ceramic Society) Speaking Contest and won first place. The following month, he went to the national semifinals at the 2011 MS&T (Materials Science & Technology) Conference in Houston, Texas.
Out of nearly 500 SULI students from across the country, Forman's research was one of 14 papers selected for publication in the DOE Journal of Undergraduate Research Volume X. As a result, he was invited to participate in the annual nationwide, undergraduate research poster competition held at the AAAS annual meeting in February, where he took second place.
In April, Forman presented his work at the annual Virginia Tech Undergraduate Research and Prospective Graduate Student Conference.
Forman credits the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship program for opening the doors to many experiences and opportunities that he wouldn't have otherwise had. He cites developing and improving his problem solving skills and communications skills, doing hands-on research work, networking, and learning how to use sophisticated equipment as benefits to participating in an internship at Jefferson Lab.
He is the son of Peter and Marilyn Forman, Newport News.
Jefferson Lab is one of 10 national research laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. It is managed and operated for the DOE by Jefferson Science Associates, LLC.
For more information, please contact Deborah Magaldi at magaldi@jlab.org
Photo courtesy of Jefferson Lab
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