Kristy Warren makes presentation at prestigious physics conference

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Kristy Warren

LOCK HAVEN, PA (03/29/2012)(readMedia)-- Lock Haven University had a major presence when the world's leading physicists assembled in Boston, Massachusetts, February 27 - March 2, for the 2012 March meeting of the American Physical Society (APS).  One of the presenters was Kristy Warren, a junior and a Criminal Justice major at Lock Haven University.

The APS March meeting is the largest physics meeting in the world. Each year since 2009, LHU nanotechnology students have been presenting their research at the APS conference. The record began in 2009 with a single LHU student presenter with Dr. Senevirathne. This year, there were 16 LHU student presenters. Dr. Marian Tzolov, associate professor of Physics, and Dr. Indrajith Senevirathne, assistant professor, directed the trip to Boston.

Kristy Warren gave a poster presentation on her research titled "Fluorescent security markers on ZnO nanowires" which focuses on exploring the unique light emitting properties of ZnO nanowires as a way to secure the authenticity of documents and artifacts. Kristy was involved in the fabrication of the ZnO nanowires and in their integration in paper samples under the supervision of Dr. Marian Tzolov, associate professor in Physics.

Dr. Tzolov explained that "the observation of interesting phenomena always prompts us to look for an interesting application of them. We succeeded to fabricate ZnO nanowires with unique light emitting properties and their application as security markers is a logical continuation of this work."

Mrs. Warren is a resident of North Huntingdon, Pa., and she is a daughter of Dave and Christine Warren.

Dr. Tzolov emphasized the "systematic work of Kristy Warren." "She is very reliable and very consistent in her work," he said.

Attendance at the APS March meeting typically includes more than 12,000 of the top scientists in physics and chemistry research throughout the world. Attended Nobel laureates included William Phillips (1997 Nobel Prize in Physics) at NIST and Robert Laughlin (1998 Nobel Prize in Physics) at Stanford University.

The presentation by Kristy Warren and her colleagues is based on experimental results which the students acquired using the state-of-the-art equipment at Lock Haven University guided by the experienced faculty in the Nanotechnology program.

Lock Haven University is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), the largest provider of higher education in the commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 405,000 system alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.