Using the BYU Supercomputer to Simulate Analogs of the Anti-cancer Drug Geldanamycin

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Joshua Proulx and Dr. Merritt Andrus, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry For my project I simulated the binding of geldanamycin in the ATP binding site of Heat shock protein-90 to assist Merritt Andrus’s research in designing a better anti-cancer drug. Hsp-90 is a protein found in the cells of many organisms including humans. It functions […]

Quasi Phase Matching for Laser Second-Harmonic Generation in Glass

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Nathan Powers and Dr. Justin Peatross, Physics and Astronomy Since the invention of lasers it has been possible to convert laser light into harmonics. This is a good way to achieve new shorter wavelengths of light. Unfortunately, all materials have a frequency-dependent refractive index that causes light of different frequencies to travel at different speeds. […]

LASER BEAMS AND ZERO DEGREES: PROFESSORS PUT STUDENTS IN TOUCH WITH PHYSICS TECHNOLOGY

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Sergei Voronov and John Madsen with Professor Justin Peatross Three professors in the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at Brigham Young University are including undergraduate students in joint physics projects using the latest laser technology. Twenty students—five graduates and fifteen undergraduates—are being mentored by professors Dallin Durfee, Justin Peatross and Scott Bergeson on several […]

Construction and Testing of Components for A New Atomic Frequency Standard

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Justin Paul and Dr. Dallin Durfee, Physics During the course of the last year I have been working on several components that will be used in a next-generation atomic frequency standard, or atomic clock. Some of the projects that I have been working on include building a temperature controller for a laser diode head, aligning […]

Three-Dimensional Modeling of Poliovirus Structure and Activity

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Roane Noel and Dr. David Belnap, Chemistry and Biochemistry The Poliovirus image to the left is from a collection of three-dimensionally reconstructed images of virus particles found at the website: http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/Research/virus/capsids/viruses.html October 10, 2005. This image is identical to the type of Poliovirus image I reconstructed with the help of mentor Dr. David Belnap. (Our […]

Improved Extra Vehicular Activity by use of a Pressurized Martian Atmosphere

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Simeon A Ning and Dr. David D. Allred, Physics and Astronomy In preparing for a manned mission to Mars, one problem that needs to be addressed is how to do servicing, building and maintenance work on Mars. This problem is related to space suit design. Past NASA explorations have used full pressure suits (FPS). These […]

Diode Laser with Hertz-Level Stability For Atom Interferometry

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Brian Neyenhuis and Dr. Dallin Durfee, Physics and Astronomy Over the course of this grant we have completed the preliminary research for the first stabilization stage of our 657 nm diode laser. We have finished research on the theory behind our new extended cavity diode laser grating stabilization scheme, and were able to lock the […]

Constructing an Ideal Metal Ion Chemosensor for Cadmium

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David Michaelis and Dr. Paul B. Savage, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry As society today continues to evolve technologically at a rapid rate, problems dealing with contamination of our natural resources become increasingly complex. Not only are new toxins introduced into the environment, but selective detection and removal of these contaminants proves ever more difficult. […]