Graduate students in physical sciences receive 11th Annual Sugarman Awards for their research

The 11th Annual Sugarman Awards for Excellence in Graduate Student Research in the physical sciences have been presented to C. Michael Lindsay, chemistry, and Valmiki Prasad, physics.

Lindsay was cited for the development of a highly automated ion spectrometer of remarkable sensitivity and for using this tool for new observations of the infrared spectrum of the H3+ ion and related systems. H3+ is one of the most important molecules in space because it serves as the catalyst that spurs the creation of nearly all other molecules.

Prasad was cited for his contributions to the observation of direct CP violation in the neutral K-meson system and for making this difficult measurement a compelling one.

CP violation is a phenomenon that reveals nature’s preference for the production of matter over anti-matter.

The awards are named for the late Nathan Sugarman, an influential and prominent faculty member who died in 1990.

Sugarman was a Chicago alumnus, charter member of the Enrico Fermi Institute and longtime Professor in Chemistry.