Malcolm F. Dias Jr., a rising sophomore at Hamilton College, received a stipend from the GE Fund to research a way to size down a neutron polarizer into a more practical volume for application in the field. The GE Fund supports summer research for minority students and women in under-represented areas of the sciences and mathematics at Hamilton College. His faculty advisor is Assistant Professor of Physics and nuclear physicist Gordon L. Jones.
Dias is focusing primarily on building a helium-3 polarizer, which currently can only be found in a size comparable to a four-drawer filing cabinet, into a working model that can fit into a tube about 20cm in diameter. A polarizer aligns nuclei in the same direction thus allowing neutrons to be polarized. Polarized neutrons can be used to examine magnetic structures in materials. For example, the hard drives in computers. Having a portable polarizer would be revolutionary to scientists who do work out in the field. When asked why he decided to do summer research in physics Dias remarked, "I like hands-on work, learning theory applying it to the lab is great exposure for me."
Dias is the son of Malcolm and Bernardine Dias of Jayawadanagama in Battaramulla.
