Page 21 - RFCUNY Annual Report 2016

Holly Porter-Morgan Li Ge

Associate Professor, Natural Sciences Assistant Professor, Engineering Science & Physics
LaGuardia Community College College of Staten Island
“Many students have misconceptions about the geo- Moore’s Law, a theory developed in 1965, predicted
sciences; it’s not just about rocks,” states Professor that computational power would double every
Porter-Morgan, “There are a wide range of great eighteen months. This advancement depends on the
careers students can pursue with geoscience train- capacity to fit more transistors (electronic switches)
ing, including Environmental Science.” Her goal, on to smaller and smaller computer chips. Recent
in cooperation with Queensborough Community reports suggest that today’s technology can no
College and Queens College, is to increase the longer keep up with this curve. Professor Ge explains,
number and diversity of students joining the geo- “In the last two decades people realized that in order
sciences and completing a Baccalaureate degree to increase information capacity in our electric circuits
in the field. With her three-year $77K NSF award, we can’t use electrons anymore (because they talk
GP-Impact: Freshman Year to Gecoscience Career, to each other and limit both bandwidth and power
Porter-Morgan focuses on recruitment, advising, and density). Since optics (light) doesn’t have this same
hands-on research at the community college level effect it’s possible to overcome this performance
to better prepare students for success at a four-year bottleneck in modern computers.” Ge is studying
school. Coordinating with her Queens College col- this possibility with his three-year, $183K NSF award,
leagues, Porter-Morgan introduces her students to Investigation of Rotation – Time and Inversion – Time
the labs, professors, and peers they will encounter Symmetries in Photonic Materials. Utilizing a new
when transitioning to the four-year college. “Having approach to manipulate the behaviors of light, Ge
personal interactions between the two levels makes a is able to dramatically improve the functionality of
tremendous impact. The students feel that they’re part today’s photonic devices and optical computing.
of the community and able to progress in their studies.”

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