Eric Henderson at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Major: Physics
Minors: Mathematics, Applied Scientific Computing
What was your summer research project?
The research I conducted this year was in the area of neutrino physics, in association with the MicroBooNE collaboration at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. I was interested in coming up with a function to describe the optical response of a photomultiplier tube while submerged in liquid argon. This function would aid in reducing simulation time for MicroBooNE. From this project, I learned how to design and construct a small scale experiment, collect and analyze data, and produce a talk and scientific paper on my findings.
What stands out for you during your time at Cal Lutheran?
In terms of surprising experiences at Cal Lutheran, I cannot think of any specific instance. I guess I am just surprised that I was able to finish in 7 semesters and be fully prepared for graduate school.
What are your goals for the future?
I am attending graduate school, pursuing a Ph.D. in physics, starting in January.
Eric spent the summer of 2014 at Argonne National Laboratory (Batavia, IL) under the auspices of New Mexico State University studying Neutrino physics. His paper was Uniformity of light collection efficiency with TPB plates, presented at the 2014 Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research on November 22, 2014 in Fullerton, CA.
