University Park, Pa. -- A Penn State senior has been chosen to participate in a summer cooperative education program (co-op) in Milan, Italy. Matthew Goss, of Wexford, Pa., will be doing research about blood chemistry at the University of Milan with Professor Michele Perrella for six weeks this summer. The project will be a continuation of research Goss worked on during a co-op program last year with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) in Silver Spring, Md.
Goss, a physics major with a math minor, was one of three Penn State students to participate in a co-op from June to December in 2003 at WRAIR with Robert L. Berger, who earned his master's and Ph.D. degrees at Penn State in the 1950s and who was honored with a Penn State Eberly College of Science Alumni Society Distinguished Service Award in 1998. According to Goss, Berger is nearing the completion of a 20-year project that is measuring the binding energies of certain chemicals in blood. Goss is among the last students to have the opportunity of working with Berger on this project. Goss said of Berger, "He is an amazing person. It was great to have the chance to work with him."
This summer, Goss has been selected to work with Perrella, one of Berger's colleagues, on research that is similar to the research he did with Berger.
Goss said he is pleased to have the opportunity to have cooperative-education experiences as an undergraduate. "I strongly encourage students to do research outside the classroom. It's such a different environment, especially if you are able to focus only on research for a semester. The experience is invaluable," he said.
He added that the Office of Cooperative Education in the Eberly College of Science played a major role in helping him to obtain these opportunities. "Almost all of my research experience would not have happened if it had not been for the outstanding efforts of the staff of the co-op office. They were very proactive in helping me," he said.
The co-op office also helped him to make arrangements to attend a conference in January 2004 on biophysics held by the American Physical Society in San Diego, Calif. Goss attended lectures given by professors from many universities, met and spoke with some of those professors, and toured the biophysics facilities at the University of California in San Diego. He said, "It was well worth it. I'd like to go again in the future."
In addition, Goss has worked as a technical assistant in the physics department at Princeton University during the summer of 2002. He assisted astrophysicists who were studying cosmic microwave background radiation--a signal created by the Big Bang----by calibrating machines used in the research. That summer, he also had the opportunity to meet some of the great minds that have been members of Princeton's faculty. He conversed with famed mathematician John Nash and he ate lunch with renowned physicist Freeman Dyson. He said, "That summer was another great experience. I've had a lot of amazing opportunities."
Goss recently has been inducted into the Penn State chapter of Kappa Theta Epsilon, a national honor society for cooperative education students. He also is a member of the Society of Physics Students. He plays on the men's club lacrosse team and an intramural volleyball team at Penn State. He enjoys golfing, skiing, playing the guitar, reading and writing, and he also is interested in antique cars.
After graduating in December 2004, he hopes to attend graduate school and to work in medical physics or biophysics. A graduate of North Allegheny High School near Pittsburgh, he is the son of David and Kathy Goss, of Wexford.