Penn State Senior to Participate in Summer Co-Op
in Italy
7 May 2004 --A Penn State senior has been chosen
to participate in a summer cooperative education program (co-op) in Milan,
Italy. Matthew Goss, of Wexford, Pennsylvania, will be
doing research about blood chemistry at the University of Milan with Professor
Michele Perrella for six weeks this summer. The project
will be a continuation of research Goss worked on during a co-op program
last year with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) in Silver
Spring, Maryland.
Goss, a physics major with a math minor, was one of three Penn State
students to participate in a co-op from June to December in 2003 at WRAIR
with Robert L. Berger, who earned his master's and Ph.D.
degrees at Penn State in the 1950s and who was honored with a Penn State
Eberly College of Science Alumni Society Distinguished Service Award in
1998. According to Goss, Berger is nearing the completion of a 20-year
project that is measuring the binding energies of certain chemicals in
blood. Goss is among the last students to have the opportunity of working
with Berger on this project. Goss said of Berger, "He is an amazing
person. It was great to have the chance to work with him."
This summer, Goss has been selected to work with Perrella, one of Berger's
colleagues, on research that is similar to the research he did with Berger.
Goss said he is pleased to have the opportunity to have cooperative-education
experiences as an undergraduate. "I strongly encourage students to
do research outside the classroom. It's such a different environment,
especially if you are able to focus only on research for a semester. The
experience is invaluable," he said.
He added that the Office of Cooperative Education in the Eberly College
of Science played a major role in helping him to obtain these opportunities.
"Almost all of my research experience would not have happened if
it had not been for the outstanding efforts of the staff of the co-op
office. They were very proactive in helping me," he said.
The co-op office also helped him to make arrangements to attend a conference
in January 2004 on biophysics held by the American Physical Society in
San Diego, California. Goss attended lectures given by professors from
many universities, met and spoke with some of those professors, and toured
the biophysics facilities at the University of California in San Diego.
He said, "It was well worth it. I'd like to go again in the future."
In addition, Goss has worked as a technical assistant in the physics
department at Princeton University during the summer of 2002. He assisted
astrophysicists who were studying cosmic microwave background radiation--a
signal created by the Big Bang--by calibrating machines used in the research.
That summer, he also had the opportunity to meet some of the great minds
that have been members of Princeton's faculty: he conversed with famed
mathematician John Nash and he ate lunch with renowned
physicist Freeman Dyson. He said, "That summer was
another great experience. I've had a lot of amazing opportunities."
Goss recently has been inducted into the Penn State chapter of Kappa
Theta Epsilon, a national honor society for cooperative education students.
He also is a member of the Society of Physics Students. He plays on the
men's club lacrosse team and an intramural volleyball team at Penn State.
He enjoys golfing, skiing, playing the guitar, reading, and writing, and
he also is interested in antique cars.
After graduating in December 2004, he hopes to attend graduate school
and to work in medical physics or biophysics. A graduate of North Allegheny
High School near Pittsburgh, he is the son of David and
Kathy Goss, of Wexford.
[ K N / B K K ]
CONTACTS:
Matthew Goss, mdg192@psu.edu
Susan Knell, sek104@psu.edu, 814-865-5000
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