Boyd Christian grad works as Oak Ridge lab assistant
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This summer marks the second time Hard, a 2004 graduate of Boyd Christian School, has worked as an intern in the astrophysics department at the East Tennessee government institution which gained fame for its role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
“This experience has been one of the best. It wasn’t exciting the entire time, but it was well worth it. I never thought research like this would be so exciting or that it involves so much,” he said via e-mail from Oak Ridge.
Hard said he was able to secure a spot at the prestigious laboratory due to the connections of Boyd science teacher Twan Majors.
Last summer he spent his time at the lab reorganizing and adding on to the Web site of the astrophysics department, a task for which he had to learn HTML. He also had to learn the computer programming language FORTRAN to write a program for use in a department experiment.
Since he was 17 last summer, he wasn’t eligible for pay, but his work was of such high quality he was invited back to work this summer by astrophysics department head Dr. Michael Smith. This year he will receive pay.
Hard began this summer by using his FORTRAN knowledge to write a program to be used in a software suite the department is developing to aid in nuclear astrophysics calculations. He then ran a series of simulations using Monte Carlo, a breakthrough astrophysics simulation program. His results from this project were used to prove Monte Carlo to skeptics at a convention, and even managed to get his name mentioned in a couple of academic papers.
“I would encourage anyone who has a chance like this to take it because you may never get another. I never would have gotten this chance if my parents had not sent me to Boyd (because) then I never would have met Twan or the other great teachers they have,” he wrote.
This fall Hard will attend Tennessee Tech, where he will major in chemical engineering.