Last year, Hana El Sayed, a sophomore majoring in medical physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was selected to participate in an REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) hosted by the Physics Department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the highly competitive program accepts only a handful of students from a large pool of applicants. Under the guidance of Patrick Snyder at the Illinois Quantum Institute of Science and Technology, El Sayed spent her summer engaged in hands-on research.
Hana El Sayed, a medical physics student, participated in a research experience for undergraduates funded by the National Science Foundation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“I wanted to diversify my research background and explore other interests of mine,” she said. “This experience allowed me to make the most of my summer and experience something new.”
During her time at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, El Sayed was the only student on her research project, and actively contributed to every aspect of it, from planning and conducting measurements to data analysis and problem-solving. Additionally, as part of the REU program, she took on responsibilities for delivering results, presenting at symposiums and honing her research paper writing skills.
Having the opportunity to participate in the REU was one of several reasons El Sayed enrolled at The University of Toledo.
“Having a great institution close to home was convenient for me,” she said. “Making connections and finding opportunities has been very easy at UT, especially with the Physics and Astronomy Department dedicated to helping students succeed.”
El Sayed’s experience is not limited to REU.
She continues her research at UToledo, working with UToledo’s Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization (PVIC). Her role involves writing code to control a system for depositing highly reproducible thin films of ZnTe to support high-efficiency CdTe solar cells.
Under the guidance of Patrick Snyder at the Illinois Quantum Institute of Science and Technology, Hana El Sayed spent her summer engaged in hands-on research.
When asked about how the Wright Center for PVIC contributed to her achievements, El Sayed said, “My mentors who accepted me into their research project knew that my experience at Wright Center for PVIC made me a promising student to make the most out of a short summer. My recommendation letters from Dr. Adam Phillips at Wright Center for PVIC greatly contributed to my application and were the best indicator of my work as an undergraduate researcher.”
Added Phillips, a research professor in physics, “Hana has been a dedicated and curious undergraduate researcher at PVIC with the ability to learn things quickly on her own. This has made her extremely valuable to us at such an early stage of her education, well beyond my expectation. All of her coworkers are excited to see how she grows with us the next few years and how she decides to continue her career beyond graduation.”
Reflecting on her time at the University, El Sayed offered this advice for incoming freshmen: “The professors and the faculty who work at the University work at a university because they want to interact with students. Send those emails, talk to them after class, make connections. Making connections is probably the best use of your freshman year.”
