July 2017: Student Spotlight featuring Preston Whiteman
A Summer of Research and Competition
In April, I was awarded a Villanova Undergraduate Research Fellowship (VURF), so I am able to spend my summer conducting research at Villanova. My research focuses on Nano-colloidal films, which have uses in cutting edge electronics, with applications such as anti-glare and anti-fog screens. Because these films are difficult and expensive to run tests on, my goal is to create a computer model of them. This would allow tests to be run as simulations, a much easier and cheaper option. If successful, I may have the opportunity to present my work at the IMECE world conference this November.
Outside of the lab, I am a competitive shotgun shooter. I started in seventh grade, when my mom learned about a local youth shooting team. Nine years later, I am now one of the oldest on my team that includes fifth graders through college. As I have grown in experience, I have focused more on coaching and mentoring the younger shooters, trying to give them the same help and guidance that was shown to me. Each year, we compete in the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) state and national competitions. Having won the state competitions for skeet and sporting clays, I joined over 3,000 youth shooters from around the country in Marengo, Ohio for the national competition. After a week of shooting, I fell just outside the podium in several events, but saw several my teammates walk away with awards. Despite it becoming harder to fit shooting into my professional and academic schedule, I have already begun planning for next year!
