Summer Internship at ChemMatCARS
Summer 2002
Working may not qualify as the preferred summer activity for the average teenager unless your name is Charlie Richter and you get to spend your days surrounded by blinking lights, powerful computers and lots of other cool “toys.” An accomplished Oak Park and River Forest High School senior student—he just received the prestigious Caltech Signature Award for his outstanding ability in science—Charlie did an internship for ChemMatCARS this past summer and, by his own admission, "loved it"! Charlie's physics teacher, Dave Schultz (a Research Assistant Professor seconded to CARS on behalf of the University of Illinois at Chicago) was responsible for introducing him to CARS.
Charlie assisted Tim Graber and Jeff Gebhardt with crystallography and surface science experiments on the sector 15 undulator beamline. He also created user-friendly EPICS screens for beamline users, worked on a phase locked loop circuit for use in controlling motors and helped with testing and installation of various hardware items in the lab. When asked what his plans were for next summer, he replied: “I think I will probably learn how to fly.” 