{"72999":{"#nid":"72999","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Three at Tech Win Goldwater Scholarship","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOne\u0027s a film director turned physicist, another is a second-generation engineer and another is a mathematician who\u0027s studied the relationships between members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Sophomores Jonathan Diaz, Andrew Marin and A.J. Friend are Tech\u0027s latest recipients of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EJonathan Diaz is proof that good high school teachers can change students lives, or at least their minds. He had planned to go to film school to become a director, but after taking a high school astronomy class he decided that his future lay in cosmology.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I was always good in science,\u0022 said Diaz, a physics major from Alpharetta, Ga, \u0022but the thought that I would spend my life devoted to it, didn\u0027t occur to me until I took an astronomy course. I realized that there is something more than what I see in front of my eyes.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt Tech, Diaz is working in the PicoForce lab under Elisa Reido studying the atomic origins of friction and other phenomena on the nanoscale.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut just because he\u0027s an aspiring physicist, doesn\u0027t mean he\u0027s turned his back on filmmaking. He recently finished making his first feature-length film, shot on mini-DV, titled \u0027Disruptions.\u0027 He is currently writing his second feature-length screenplay.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAndrew Marin comes from scientific stock. With an engineer for a father, a mother who\u0027s a nurse, an uncle who\u0027s a geologist and another who\u0027s an ecologist, it\u0027s no surprise to his family that Marin decided to pursue engineering. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn fact, the chemical and biomolecular engineering major from Plano, Tx said he can\u0027t remember a time when he hasn\u0027t been interested in engineering. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It\u0027s very hands-on. I like seeing things develop from an idea to an application - that\u0027s very satisfying,\u0022 said Marin.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen he\u0027s not busy playing soccer or competing in a triathlon, he\u0027s working with professors Charles Eckert and Charles Liotta on tunable solvents. Marin  participated in the development of these solvents in which key properties can be rapidly changed. This could streamline the processing of chemicals - such as those used in the food and pharmaceutical industry.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to A.J. Friend, mathematics is key to understanding the world. Whether it\u0027s discovering the hidden relationships between seemingly unrelated people or groups, predicting and explaining people\u0027s behavior, or solving more traditional mathematical problems such as those faced in engineering or the sciences - math is an essential tool. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile still a freshman, the discrete mathematics major from West Haven, Ct, participated in research examining the degree of partisanship and power networks of the U.S. House of Representatives. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Network theory is going to have a huge impact,\u0022 said Friend. \u0022It\u0027s what Google and Amazon\u0027s recommendations are based on. With the direction that marketing is taking, it\u0027s the only way to understand the world.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELike Diaz, it was a high school teacher who really inspired him to utilize his natural talent for math. And like Marin, he\u0027s also athletic, playing sweeper in intramural soccer.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EConcentrating in both applied and theoretical mathematics, Friend is still experimenting with the direction he wants his future to take. What he is sure of is that he wants to teach. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Relaying mathematical ideas to others in a simple and clear fashion and then seeing the epiphany in that person\u0027s expressions have been joys of mine for as long as I knew enough math to do so,\u0022 he said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ENamed in honor of the former Arizona senator, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program is designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The award covers the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year for up to two years.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Sophomores Jonathan Diaz, Andrew Marin and A.J. Friend are Tech\u0027s latest recipients of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Three sophomores receive coveted honor"}],"uid":"27310","created_gmt":"2006-05-05 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:23","author":"David Terraso","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-05-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2006-05-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"73000":{"id":"73000","type":"image","title":"Jonathan Diaz","body":null,"created":"1449177971","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:26:11","changed":"1475894668","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:28"},"73001":{"id":"73001","type":"image","title":"Andrew Marin","body":null,"created":"1449177971","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:26:11","changed":"1475894668","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:28"},"73002":{"id":"73002","type":"image","title":"A.J. Friend","body":null,"created":"1449177971","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:26:11","changed":"1475894668","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:28"}},"media_ids":["73000","73001","73002"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.act.org\/goldwater\/","title":"Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.che.gatech.edu\/ssc\/eckert\/","title":"Eckert - Liotta Joint Research Group"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Mathematics"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.che.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.physics.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech School of Physics"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}