All-University Graduate Award Winner is Physics Doctoral Student

One of the most significant honors that Western Michigan University can award any graduate student is the All-University Graduate Research and Create Scholar Award and this year's awardee is Samanthi Wickramarachchi from the Department of Physics. Under the guidance of Dr. John Tanis, her dissertation "Electron transmission through micro-sized funnel shaped glass capillaries" investigates the transmission of atomic particles through electrically insulating capillaries. This research, interdisciplinary in the fields of atomic physics and materials science, offers potential applications in science, medicine, and technology. Her work has resulted in six manuscripts, eight abstracts with poster presentations at conferences and one talk invitation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in 2004 from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and a master's degree in physics in 2010 from Western Michigan University. She was the recipient of the Leo R. Parpart Scholarship for Outstanding Research in 2011 and 2012 and the Jacob DeWitt Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2012-13 from the Department of Physics at WMU. Ms. Wickramarachchi hopes to become involved in research beyond her graduate experiences.