November 5, 2004: Volume 62, Number 9

Fatima Mahmood '06 earns state APS prize

Fatima Mahmood '06, a math and physics double major, recently won the award for best undergraduate paper at a conference of the New York State Section of the American Physical Society.

She presented a research project titled "Neutral Meson Analysis of Photoproduction from the Proton."

The conference, titled "Physics of the Microworld: From Quarks to Nanostructures" was held at New York City College of Technology and attended by graduate students, teaching faculty and researchers.

Mahmood used data from experiments by her advisor, Prof. Michael Vineyard of Union's physics department, at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Virginia to study meson production from the proton and learn about the structure of nucleons. The neutral mesons are identified by their two-photon decay.

Mahmood began the research project in the summer of 2003. The work was supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and Union College, and a National Science Foundation AIRE grant.

Mahmood, of Clifton Park, is a 2002 graduate of Shenendehowa High School. At Union, she is a dean's list student and William Golub Presidential Scholar. She also presented her research last spring at Union's Steinmetz Symposium, an exposition of student scholarly and creative achievement.

After Union, she would like to go to graduate school. She is considering college teaching or academic research.

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