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Meet Yenny Martinez & Fabian Walter

Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Yenny Martinez

HOMETOWN: Altadena, California (born in El Salvador)
MAJOR: Physics
SPORT: Water polo
ANIMAL SHE'D LIKE TO BE: Bird

Fabian Walter

HOMETOWN: Berlin, Germany
MAJOR: Physics
SPORT: Judo
HAPPIEST MOMENT: Just a second ago

It's all about relationships. "The satellite beam hits this mirror and bounces off and hits another mirror. You can rotate another and, by measuring the outcome intensity, find constants about that mirror," Fabian Walter explains. Both he and Yenny Martinez have worked in BYU's XUV group (the extreme ultraviolet group) on a well-publicized project that distinguishes the particle tail from the earth with satellite mirrors. "Those are in space already," Yenny says, "but they're designing others to go to Mars."

Although Yenny and Fabian are from opposite sides of the world, their working relationship is close. They don't worry about language barriers between their Spanish, German, and English, they say, because "with math or physics it's basically the same vocabulary." Their different backgrounds just add texture to the interest they share in the lab. They communicate well.

The two students also have a mutual fondness for BYU. The bonds they have developed with faculty and other students—and the opportunities rising from those relationships—are the reasons Yenny and Fabian came to BYU. "I don't think that at other schools you would be able to have relationships with your professors as strong as you would here," Yenny says. "Also, there's a lot of competition between students in other schools, but here you try to help each other."

Fabian, though not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, likes the idea of attending BYU. "I really appreciate the clean atmosphere. I grew up in Berlin, so I'm used to worldly things, but it's nice to have people around to encourage me to do what I want to do and not tempt me to do the things I shouldn't do."

"A big plus," he adds, are the academic advantages here. "I was told over and over that at no other school in the United States can you get as much undergraduate research experience as at BYU. These satellite mirrors that were shot into space were designed primarily by undergraduates at BYU."

That's something Yenny and Fabian relate to.


College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences

UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS
(Specific emphases are indented)

* Limited enrollment major. Students who select these majors must make application and/or complete prerequisite courses to be admitted into the specific major program.


This mission is realized in several ways, including traditional classroom lectures, organized field and laboratory work, and mentored experiences.

The faculty are dedicated men and women who are respected in their scientific fields and who view student learning as their first priority at BYU. A vital part of the students educational experience for is "mentored student learning," the college's highest priority for fund raising. Mentoring links students with faculty members in working to solve real-world problems. These are most often research problems, but they may also involve teaching innovations.

Mentoring may occur one-on-one, or it may involve a group of students at various academic levels all working together. Most important, students in the mentored learning program are enhancing and applying their class instruction by doing real science side by side with scientists. Participating students are typically paid a modest wage. The goal is to offer every undergraduate student majoring in the college a mentored learning experience with a faculty member.


FACILITIES

The College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences is housed in three major buildings on campus. Students benefit from scientific laboratories that are equipped with modern state-of-the-art instruments for investigating a wide range of phenomena. Besides the modern computer laboratories housed in each department, students have access to the Ira and Mary Lou Fulton Supercomputing Center at BYU.

The college also includes the following excellent facilities:


The mission of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences is to provide the environment and the tools with which students and faculty together can investigate, appreciate, and ultimately understand the beauty and complexity of the universe in a setting that fosters reverence for its Creator.



 

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