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Jeffrey Williams Wins First Place for Presentation at 2012 ERN STEM Conference

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Jeffrey Williams

Graduate student Jeffrey Williams won first place among graduate students in the physics, nanoscience, and materials science division for his oral presentation on extracting viscoelastic material information using Atomic Force Microscopy at the 2012 Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math).

Williams, who is part of the joint BS/MS degree program, started his research as an undergraduate student in spring 2010 with Dr. Santiago Solares.  Williams took a new approach to aspects of Dr. Solares' work with Atomic Force Microscopy and was an important influence in Williams' research. Through his research, he had the chance to work with late-stage PhD students, who provided supplemental support.  He credits Dr. Solares and his research group for his success at the conference because of their advice on preparing his oral presentation. “The reason I believe I was the most successful oral presentation was not necessarily because my content was breakthrough [in the field of Atomic Force Microscopy], but because of the simplicity of my presentation,” Williams said.  He decided to focus his oral presentation on a few key points of his research, which, he said, allowed other researchers to digest the material in a short time.

“The reason I believe I was the most successful oral presentation was not necessarily because my content was breakthrough[in the field of Atomic Force Microscopy], but because of the simplicity of my presentation.”

Jeffrey Williams

J. WilliamsWilliams is also a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate Fellow, a program designed to support UMD students pursuing degrees in STEM and expand minority participation in STEM fields.  He plans to continue his research as a PhD after working in the industry to discover how atomic force microscopes are being used outside academia.

Published March 23, 2012