{"id":145548,"date":"2024-12-09T13:37:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T19:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=145548"},"modified":"2024-12-09T13:37:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T19:37:08","slug":"three-ole-miss-faculty-members-selected-for-nsf-research-fellowships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/three-ole-miss-faculty-members-selected-for-nsf-research-fellowships\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Ole Miss Faculty Members Selected for NSF Research Fellowships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Research to span space construction materials, statistics to predict the future, stellar extreme physics<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By Clara Turnage<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, three University of Mississippi <\/strong>researchers have been awarded National Science Foundation EPSCoR Research fellowships<\/strong> in the same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shan Jiang<\/strong>, associate professor of\u00a0mechanical engineering<\/a>; Nicholas McDonald<\/strong>, assistant professor of\u00a0physics<\/a>; and Hailin Sang<\/strong>, professor of\u00a0mathematics<\/a>, were awarded the\u00a0Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research<\/a>\u00a0RII fellowships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hailin Sang. Submitted photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“These fellowships can create career-spanning collaborations between experts that foster innovative science,” said John Higginbotham<\/strong>, UM vice chancellor for research and economic development. “The awards demonstrate the promise NSF sees in the future careers of these outstanding researchers.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These grants fund extended visits by the fellows to jump-start research collaborations at some of the nation’s premier research facilities. Fellows also have the opportunity to bring a student along for the development experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university’s awardees will use their grants to study some of the most extreme physics in the universe, advance 3D printing construction materials for the moon and Mars, and create spatial statistical models that can predict the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3D Printing on the Moon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through complex computer simulations, Jiang will work with researchers at the\u00a0NASA Marshall Space Flight Center<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to use surface matter found on the moon and Mars\u00a0and simulants of that matter\u00a0to create 3D-printable construction materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA \u2013 among many other space agencies and private businesses \u2013 wants to develop a base on the moon<\/a>, but hauling construction machinery and materials from Earth is not feasible, Jiang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, he and other researchers are working on ways to use soil found on the moon’s surface to create landing pads, blast shields and habitats for astronauts via large-scale 3D printing technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jiang’s job will be to use simulations and complex machine learning algorithms to predict the mechanical behavior of these materials and determine which combination of binders and surface materials \u2013 known as regolith \u2013 will withstand extreme space climates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The temperature swings on the moon or on Mars are really, really large,” Jiang said. “We don’t know how these construction materials will react in such extreme environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So, what I can do is use my computer model to predict different scenarios and give them the optimal procedure.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nicholas MacDonald. Photo by Kevin Bain\/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Construction on the moon must withstand temperatures of up to 250 degrees during the day and as low as -208 at night,<\/a> but also must hold up against intense pressure and heat from rocket launching and landing. A blast shield \u2013 the wall around a launch or landing pad \u2013 is built to block bullet-like projectiles a spaceship can kick up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For all of these structures, 3D printing is more convenient and it can directly use the material synthesized and processed on the moon surface,” he said. “The technology can actually help us print more complex structures than the traditional manufacturing method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Once we have the formula, I can do the modeling and testing of the materials to find a solution.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statistics of the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sang will partner with researchers at Michigan State University<\/strong> to study long memory linear random fields, which is a mathematical model that can help researchers understand patterns in data such as weather changes or stock prices. Each of the data sets includes some random factors with dependent structure, which has historically made them difficult to estimate and predict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By studying these complex models, Sang hopes to develop better, more accurate estimations and predictions that account for the random factors and the dependent structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For example, you may consider the chance of high or low temperature, right?” Sang said. “You want to study it so you can make a prediction for the future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While any city may have a high or low temperature for a day of the year, numerous factors, including hurricanes, cold fronts and warm fronts, can throw off predictions. Accounting for the random factor can help researchers make better predictions with more accuracy, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This type of statistical model could help businesses predict when sales for different items would be highest, which can help optimize which items are stocked when. The model can be applied broadly to environmental studies\u2014such as predicting air pollution dispersion across cities\u2014financial markets and even public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sang and his students plan to develop four research papers for publication throughout the two-year grant, giving Ole Miss students opportunities to create tangible work in mathematics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s an opportunity for students to have a big vision in this field and pursue it,” Sang said. “We plan to not only work on our project, but to attend activities in their department, seminars, talks, and even workshops. It’s going to be a benefit for them, and for me, too.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shan Jiang. Photo by Kevin Bain\/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bright Lights, Extreme Physics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the brightest and most persistent sources of light in the universe will be the subject of study for MacDonald and his graduate student.\u00a0Blazars<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0are streams of high-energy particles and radiation that shoot out of super-massive black holes, and they create light beams that are observable from Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blazars are unpredictable objects. Some are active for minutes, months, or years. But they also present a unique opportunity to study black hole behavior and high-energy physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are dealing with\u2014without exaggeration\u2014some of the most extreme physics in the universe,” MacDonald said. “A\u00a0blazar presents us with an opportunity to look down the throat of a black hole engine, and that’s quite literally what we’re doing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Physics behaves differently near black holes and around blazars. Particles and time itself get wrapped up in a gravitational maelstrom. It’s in this realm of extreme physics that scientific discoveries are waiting, MacDonald said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The reason blazar research matters is because we are working the very limit of physics, and so I think studying phenomena that occur at this limit gives us the potential to learn more about nature on a fundamental level,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If we’re going to learn something new about how physics works, I have a deep suspicion that it will come from observing extreme environments in the universe. And that’s certainly the case inside a blazar jet, which is like a cosmic particle accelerator.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacDonald and astronomy graduate student Kaitlyn Thurmond<\/strong>, of Kiln, will collaborate with the Boston University Blazar Group<\/strong> and will conduct blazar observations using the Perkins Observatory<\/strong> in Flagstaff, Arizona<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For me, this is what it’s all about,” he said. “Getting students to the telescope and offering them a hands-on opportunity to help take actual observations. That’s a big part of what we’re trying to do: connect students from Mississippi to this whole scientific world that’s out there waiting for them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation grant nos. 2428880<\/a>, 2429027<\/a> and 2429473<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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