Terence Cullen earns Maine Space Grant Consortium scholarship supporting research at Saint Joseph's College

STANDISH, ME (04/29/2013)(readMedia)-- Terence Cullen '14 of Sully, Iowa, a biology/pre-medicine student at Saint Joseph's College of Maine has been awarded a $3,000 scholarship through the Maine Space Grant Consortium to pursue research of interest to NASA.

Submitted to a panel of Saint Joseph's professors, his research proposal, after successful execution in the laboratory, can be applied in different settings of space exploration.

Cullen's project goal is to find the least expensive manner to obtain a silole – a silicon-containing polymer that has "a pure blue fluorescence, has thermal stability and demonstrates good electron transport properties," Cullen's proposal states. Simply acquiring a properly performing silole is of great significance. High-functioning siloles are beneficial to NASA because they can "be used to improve solar cell efficiencies," Cullen says. "NASA could generate power by using organic molecules instead of using the depleting supply of oil and gas. An example of this application would be spacecraft running off solar power."

The scholarship will support Cullen in his research costs; allowing him to travel to related conferences to present his findings; and help bring the relevant technology to the College and the state.

The Maine Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) is a nonprofit corporation and a member of the national network of consortia in all 50 states including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The network is funded by NASA's National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (also known as Space Grant). Congress established Space Grant in 1988 to contribute to the nation's science and engineering enterprise. MSGC's affiliates are undergraduate and graduate institutions, nonprofit research laboratories, state agencies, technology-based businesses, and science and education organizations.

MSGC's mission is to improve their affiliates' research infrastructure in areas of mutual interest to NASA and the state of Maine; encourage more students to consider careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); and enhance NASA's presence throughout Maine.

Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shore of Sebago Lake, the college offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.