Christopher Copeland
DHS Intern Assists in Advancement of Radiation Detector Technology
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Scholarship and Fellowship Program participant Christopher Copeland conducted research during the summer of 2008 at Brookhaven National Laboratory where he assisted in the analysis of materials subjected to high levels of radiation. The primary purpose of the research was to improve radiation detectors and devices that help prevent the spread of nuclear materials.
As a high school student considering his future, Christopher Copeland thought about studying political science to help the nation. Although his strong aptitude for math and science took him in another career direction, he’s found a way to apply his scientific research to the betterment of the country.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Scholarship and Fellowship Program has afforded him the opportunity to intern at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) near New York City and participate in research to analyze the effects of high levels of radiation on materials that will be used in radiation detectors. The knowledge acquired will be applied in the improvement of the detector performance in radiation environments induced by either nuclear materials or particle accelerators, said Dr. Nick Simos, Copeland’s mentor at BNL.
Simos explained that Copeland participated in the study of detectors used in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator as well as the ones that will be employed in the future National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), a new scientific user facility being built at BNL. According to the NSLS-II Web site, the facility will enable scientific exploration for technological advances in national security, energy sources and new drugs for fighting disease.
Copeland, a senior pursuing a double major in mathematics and physics at Morehouse College, has much to gain personally from participation in the DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program.
“It has offered me the opportunity to network with researchers and fellow students with similar academic and research interests that I will be corresponding with for years to come,” Copeland said. “It has allowed me the chance to partake in a field of research that I was initially unfamiliar with and has increased my expertise in another portion of the general field of health, medical and nuclear physics.”
The DHS Scholarship and Fellowship Program, administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education on behalf of the DHS Science and Technology Directorate, leverages the intellectual capital in academia to support students interested in contributing to homeland security-related science, technology, engineering and mathematics research and innovation. The goal of the program is to foster the DHS mission while developing the next generation of scientists and engineers dedicated to improving homeland security.