News and Announcements

April 25, 2008
The Center will sponsor a poster session and reception for students and postdocs and technical staff. The poster session is part of this falls "Science Jamboree" event in which participating students were given 15 minutes each to explain their specific area of research. The event will be held in the Chemistry/Life Science Building, third floor bridge on Friday April 25 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Refreshments will be available. Anyone interested in Gravitational Wave research is invited to attend.

Congratulations Dr. Birjoo Vaishnav

Congratulations to Dr. Birjoo Vaishnav, who successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis "Gravitational waves from Binary Black Holes: First steps toward using Numerical Relativity Waveforms for LIGO Data Analysis"
Good work, Birjoo!

March 19, 2008
Dr. Ashtekar will open the Spring 2008 Research Unplugged Series at the Penn State Downtown Theatre this Wednesday, March 19th. His talk entitled "Physics Beyond Einstein: Contemplating Time's Beginning and End". The downtown speaker series, presented by the Office of Research Publications, is an informal forum open to the general public. Each event will feature a Penn State professor speaking about an interesting aspect of the field he or she studies.

May 12-13,2008

The Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos will host the Eleventh Eastern Gravitation Meeting. The two day event will be held at the Atherton Hotel on Monday, May 12 an Tuesday May 13, 2008. Researchers and students in all areas of gravitational physics are welcome: classical and quantum gravity, theory, observation, computation and experiment. The American Physical Society Topical Group on Gravity will award a $200.00 prize for the best student presentation, all students are encouraged to attend and contribute. Further information and registration please read: Eleventh Eastern Gravity Meeting

March 10, 2008

Congratulations Dr. Eloisa Bentivegna

Congratulations to Dr. Eloisa Bentivegna, who successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis "Scalar Perturbations on Binary Black Hole Spacetimes: Numerical Techniques for the Investigation of the Two-Body Problem in General Relativity."
Good work, Eloisa!

January 22, 2007

Nicolas Yunes awarded Alumni Association Dissertation Award

Nico Yunes has received the Alumni Association Dissertation Award. Nico, a student of Dr. Owen has collaborated with a number of faculty within the Center for Gravitational Wave Physics during his tenure.

This award is considered to be the most prestigious available to Penn State graduate students and recognizes outstanding achievement in scholarship and professional accomplishment.

We are proud to announce the award has been garnered for the past two years by graduate students within the Physics Department; Tony Clark, two years ago followed by Elena Margine last year.

January 10, 2008

Dr. Holly-Bockelmann, Dr. Deirdre Shoemaker, Nicolas Yunes featured in "Science Daily" article.
The reserch efforts of Dr. Kelly Holly-Bockelmann, Dr. Deirdre Shoemaker and Nicolas Yunes have recently be highlighted in the"Science Daily" report on the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Texas. The article is entittled "Galaxy May Hold Hundreds Of Rogue Black Holes"

Dr. Pablo Laguna elected to the Mexican Academy of Sciences

Dec 18, 2007

Dr. Laguna is one of four international members elected to the Mexican Academy of Sciences in 2007. The Academia Mexicana de Ciencias is the Mexican equivalent of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences. The Academia Mexicana de Ciencias, founded in 1959, is an organization of the most distinguished scientists working in diverse institutions in Mexico, as well as Corresponding Members in other countries who are prominent in their disciplines and have contributed in various ways to the development of research in Mexico. A ceremony to celebrate the occasion is planned for March 2008 at Dr. Laguna's alma mater, Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City.

CGWP Science Jamboree

The CGWP seminar featured a "Science Jamboree". This special event was open to all members of the CGWP. The "Jamboree" platform provided an opportunity to summarize and share research along with the chance to welcome new CGWP members.

Spring '07 - Dr. Pablo Laguna discussed black holes in a presentation entitled "When black holes collide: Their echoes in the universe" as part of the "Research Unplugged" spring series.

Advancements

Kelly Holley-Bockelmann accepts position at Vanderbilt University

Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, a research associate at the Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, has recently accepted a position as assistant professor with Vanderbilt University. The position will allow Kelly to continue her research in galaxy dynamics. Dr. Holley-Bockelmann will also be teaching introductory graduate level astronomy as well as focusing on making Vanderbilt a presence in the area of extragalactic and gravitational wave astronomy.

Louis Rubbo accepts position with Coastal Carolina University

Louis Rubbo, a postdoctoral scholar with the Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, has recently accepted a faculty position with Coastal Carolina University. Louis will be teaching introductory astronomy as well as taking the lead in developing the university's advanced physics curriculum. In addition Louis will continue his research in gravitational wave astronomy.

Awards

Nicolas Yunes awarded the prestigious "Blue Apple" award.

Sponsored by the Topical Group in Gravity for best presentation by a student at the 16th Midwestern Relativity meeting.

The 16th Midwestern Relativity Meeting was held in November at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. With over 90 participants this year's event boasts the largest attendance on record. The award called the "Blue Apple" is presented in recognition of the best student presentation at the meeting. Nico's talk entitled: "How to kick a hole and other eccentric stories" was based on a collaborative effort with Dr. Pablo Laguna and Dr. Carlos Sopuerta. This collaboration talk has also merited publication in the Astrophysical Journal.

Scholarships

Leah Liu, has won this year's prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.The scholarship covers eligible expenses for undergraduate tuition, fees, books, and room and board, up to $7,500 annually. The scholarship was created to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering, and to foster excellence in these fields.

Fellowships

Tina Lin, has been awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, which she will use as she begins her graduate studies in physics this fall at Harvard University. From 2004 through 2005 Tin,double majoring in physics and mathematics, worked with Professor Finn studying the sensitivity of the LIGO gravitational wave detectors to sources scattered throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. Ms. Lin is currently working with Professor Samarth. Tina was also awarded first prize in the 2007 Penn State Undergraduate Research Exhibition and received special honors from the math department. She was also a 2005 recipient of the Barry S. Goldwater Scholarship, Congratulations, Tina!

Onward and Upward

CGWP undergraduate Edward Cazalas will graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Astronomy & Astrophysics and a minor in Physics. Edward has worked with Professor Deirdre Shoemaker and Dr. Louis Rubbo on the identification of effective signal models for studying gravitational wave signals observed by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and the proposed space-based gravitational wave detector LISA. After graduation Edward will be attending graduate school to study Nuclear Engineering. Congratulations, Ed!

Kelly Holley-Bockelmann accepts position at Vanderbilt University
	Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, a research associate at the Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, has recently accepted a position as assistant professor with Vanderbilt University. The position will allow Kelly to continue her research in galaxy dynamics. Dr. Holley-Bockelmann will also be teaching introductory graduate level astronomy as well as focusing on making Vanderbilt a presence in the area of extragalactic and gravitational wave astronomy.
Louis Rubbo accepts position with Coastal Carolina University
	Louis Rubbo, a postdoctoral scholar with the Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, has recently accepted a faculty position with Coastal Carolina University. Louis will be teaching introductory astronomy as well as taking the lead in developing the university's advanced physics curriculum. In addition Louis will continue his research in gravitational wave astronomy.
Awards
Nicolas Yunes awarded the prestigious "Blue Apple" award.
Sponsored by the Topical Group in Gravity for best presentation by a student at the 16th Midwestern Relativity meeting.
	The 16th Midwestern Relativity Meeting was held in November at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. With over 90 participants this year's event boasts the largest attendance on record. The award called the "Blue Apple" is presented in recognition of the best student presentation at the meeting. Nico's talk entitled: "How to kick a hole and other eccentric stories" was based on a collaborative effort with Dr. Pablo Laguna and Dr. Carlos Sopuerta. This collaboration talk has also merited publication in the Astrophysical Journal.