Four juniors win Goldwater award

Four juniors, the maximum number possible from any one university, won the 2004-2005 Goldwater Scholarship, a prestigious award given to students in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

The award, given by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, went to 310 sophomores and juniors nationwide this year, out of a field of 1,113 applicants. Each university can nominate as many as four students for the chance to win up to $7,500 for tuition, fees and room and board next year.

Jordan Amadio '05, Van Molino '05, Kate Moore '05 and Matt Satriano '05 were all chosen for this year's scholarship.

Amadio is a physics major from Cazenovia, N.Y., who is also pursuing certificates in biophysics, material science and Italian literature. His research interests involve using emerging techniques such as nanotechnology to address problems in medicine, particularly the aging process.

"I'm interested in how the body behaves at the molecular level," he said.

For his junior independent work, he investigated the structure of a protein related to Alzheimer's disease and conducted a mathematical analysis of brain tumor growth.

"My interests are truly interdisciplinary," he said. "I always loved understanding the universe in a pure way."

Amadio, the president of the University Press Club, said he is interested in combining research with science writing and plans to attain an M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. He is also a member of the Student Health Advisory Board, founded the Undergraduate Research Symposium and is attempting to launch a student-led nonprofit organization to look at "the role emerging technologies play in the Third World and the possibilities for economic development."

Molino is a mathematics major from Gaithersburg, Md. His research, conducted over the summer at the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, involves mathematical methods to accurately size aerosol particles. Practical results of his work may include better filters and cleaner environments for supercomputers and semiconductors.

In the future, he hopes to become a professor at the university level in math or applied math. "I've always been interested in the math/physics crossover," he said.

Molino enjoys playing pickup basketball, is a member of a fraternity and is a junior fellow at the Human Values Forum.

Moore, a chemistry major from Philadelphia, is researching methods to induce chemical reactions with ultrafast laser pulses. Her ultimate goal is to use lasers to create reactions that cannot otherwise occur. "As I tell the orgo students (I'm a TA for Maitland Jones' class [CHM 302: Organic Chemistry II]), I'm trying to break the rules of orgo and want to be able to show Jones that the rules can be broken before I leave Princeton," she wrote in an email.

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So far, she has worked on only the theoretical aspects of these reactions. She plans to test her theories over the summer at Temple University.

Outside her research, Moore is involved in various musical pursuits. She plays the flute in the University Orchestra, cello in the University Sinfonia and sings in the chapel choir. In addition to chemistry, she is pursuing a certificate in musical performance on the flute.

Satriano, a mathematics major from Oceanside, N.Y., wrote his scholarship application essay on the unsolved Collatz problem.

Satriano explained the problem: "Say I give you any positive integer. If it's even, you divide by two. If it's odd, you multiply it by 3 and add 1. If you do this process infinitely, would you always eventually get to 1?"

"This is a particularly interesting problem because it so easy to state, but impossible to work with," Satriano said. "But it was nice to sit down and summarize all that I had read."

Satriano is a two-year member of the juggling club and a counselor at the Ross Program at Ohio State University, a summer camp in number theory for precollege students. He hopes to earn a Ph.D. and become a math professor.

"Of course, everyone eventually wants to make a big contribution," he said.

The Goldwater Scholarship aims to "foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering," according to the foundation.

In past several years, Goldwater scholars havebeen awarded other prestigious scholarships as seniors, including 56 Rhodes Scholarships and 66 Marshal Scholarships.

The scholarship has awarded more than $42 million since its inception in 1986. It honors the late senator who served in Congress for more than 30 years.