Ariel Ruffin

Participant Reaps Rewards of Multiple Research Assignments

Ariel Ruffin can attest to the value of research participation programs. Having received four different appointments during her undergraduate years at Tennessee State University, these experiences have proven to be the bridge between her education and her career goals.

In fact, her first assignment in 2002 defined her future. While at the California Institute of Technology through a Minority Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Ruffin helped in the growth of carbon nanotubes by actually designing and testing each of the samples. She was hooked. She knew then that she wanted to study and work in the field of condensed matter physics and nanoscience.

 “I was really amazed by the fact that something so small and that can't be seen by the naked eye has the potential for such a wide variety of practical uses,” she said. For example, nanoscience research is applied widely in areas such as physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, as well as in new drug delivery methods. Today, nanomaterials are being used in a variety of products such as car bumpers; paints and coatings to protect against corrosion, scratches and radiation; metal-cutting tools; and sunscreens and cosmetics. 

While she’s known for awhile where she wants to focus her studies, Ruffin realized there were more opportunities to enhance her undergraduate education. She took full advantage of the research participation programs administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, receiving three appointments at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

“Each experience has been completely different and great in its own way,” Ruffin said. “And I have learned so much from each of them. I have been exposed to many things that so many students aren’t able to be exposed to.”

Ruffin first came to the SNS in the summer of 2004 as part of the DOE Faculty and Student Team program. For 10 weeks, her team analyzed position, phase, and amplitude data from the Drift Tube Linac Beam Position Monitors of the SNS.

After graduating in December 2004, Ruffin returned to the SNS to begin a 16-week research assignment under the DOE Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program. She studied under mentor Ted Williams to design and conduct a precision-detailed radiological survey, the data from which was then compared to the pulse-to-pulse beam loss monitor data and the calculated beam losses.

Ruffin then spent the summer of 2005 at the SNS under the mentorship of Louis Santodonato, again through the SULI program.

Her assignment focused on using diagnostic tools such as thermal rate-of-rise tests, which is a new technique, and the cooling rate analysis to help debug and optimize an important class of laboratory devices known as closed cycle refrigerators. These devices are important to cutting-edge research that sometimes requires extreme environmental conditions as well as highly configurable environments that allow quick and accurate control of multiple parameters.

While the research has been interesting, Ruffin hopes the networking through the three assignments will lead her to a permanent research position in a DOE nanoscience laboratory after she earns her master’s and Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from Vanderbilt University.

“Interacting with different types of people at ORNL will be beneficial to me in the future because it has allowed me to improve my communication skills and networking abilities,” Ruffin explained. “I have established many contacts with employees as well as other students.  Working at ORNL has been a tremendous learning opportunity, one that I’m grateful to have had.”