Inqui r y I s sue 1
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2014
19
he awards for research excellence just keep
stacking up for Andrew Fidler, former Science
Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI)
program intern at Ames Laboratory.
Fidler’s latest award comes from Los Alamos National
Laboratory (LANL), the Department of Energy national
laboratory where he’s currently serving as a postdoctoral
fellow. Fidler was named one of LANL’s Director’s Fellows
in 2014. Director’s Fellows collaborate with LANL
scientists and engineers on staff-initiated research. Award
selections are made based on academic and research
accomplishments and the strength and potential impact of
the proposed research.
But this is not the first time Fidler has been recognized
for excellence in his short career. In 2007, he was awarded
a 10-week SULI internship at the Ames Laboratory. For 10
weeks, he was mentored in the lab with by Ames Laboratory
physicist Ruslan Prozorov. During that short internship
experience, Fidler co-authored the paper, “Suprafroth
in type-1 superconductors,” which was published in the
journal Nature Physics.
Following his internship at Ames Laboratory, Fidler
returned to Albion College to finish his Bachelor’s degree
and enrolled in graduate school at the University of
Chicago, where in 2009, he was awarded a DOE Office of
Science Graduate Fellowship. The prestigious fellowship
provided Fidler financial support to apply toward his Ph.D.
in physical chemistry.
Graduating with his Ph.D. in 2013, Fidler became a
postdoctoral researcher at LANL, where he is currently a
member of theNanotechnology andAdvanced Spectroscopy
Team. The team’s research focuses on synthesis, electronic
and optical properties, as well as device applications of
semiconductor nanocrystals and nanoscale assemblies
built from these particles.
Upon hearing of Fidler winning theDirector’s Fellowship,
Prozorov had this to say about his former student: “I am not
surprised at his accomplishment, and I am very happy.”
Ultimately, Fidler’s success is a testament to the
importance of science internship programs like SULI that
provide opportunities for students to work in real-world
research labs doing cutting-edge research alongside senior
scientists.
“I have nothing but good memories of my summer at
Ames,” says Fidler. “The research opportunities continue
to be of a high caliber and offer a great opportunity for
undergraduates to see what a career in science is like.”
B Y S T E V E K A R S J E N
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Inqui r y I s s
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FormerSULIStudentChalksupAnotherSuccess
Andrew Fidler on a hike in the mountains around Los Alamos.
