Prizes & Awards

Past Recipients

The following prizes are awarded each year to scientists from California, Nevada, and Hawaii for the outstanding work performed by their recipients and the groups and institutions they work with.

Post Doctoral Awards

Charles Kittel Award (Best Theoretical Research)

  • 2010 - 1st Prize: Eric Bousquet - UC Santa Barbara, 2nd Prize: None
  • 2009 - 1st Prize: Poul Georg Moses, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2nd Prize: None
  • 2008 - 1st Prize: Yonatan Dubi (UCSD), 2nd Prize: Maciej Haranczyk (LBNL)
  • 2007 - 1st Prize: Yonatan Duby (UCSD), 2nd Prize: Steve Whitelam (UCB)
  • 2006 - 1st Prize: Karoline Wiesner, 2nd Prize: Rodrigo P. Negreiros
  • 2005 - 1st Prize: Tom Banks (UCB), 2nd Prize: Jaspinder Singh (UCD), 3rd Prize: Joseph Davis (UCD)

Luis Alvarez Award for Best Experimental Research

  • 2012 - 1st Prize: Paul Davis (UC Berkeley), 2nd Prize: None
  • 2010 - 1st Prize: Cliff Chen - LLNL, 2nd Prize: None
  • 2009 - 1st Prize: Jeffery Smith, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2nd Prize: None
  • 2008 - 1st Prize: Yohannes Abate (UCB,LBNL), 2nd Prize: None
  • 2007 - 1st Prize: Cecile Portello-Roucelle (LBNL), 2nd Prize: Jigang Wang (LBNL)
  • 2006 - 1st Prize: Brandon Hartfiel, 2nd Prize: None
  • 2005 - 1st Prize: Michael Zwolak (Caltech), 2nd Prize: Brooke Haag (UCD), 3rd. Prize: Jessamyn Fairfield (LBNL)

Graduate Student Awards

Kennedy Reed Award for Best Theoretical Research

  • 2015 - 1st Prize: Brandon Kawata (CSU Long Beach), 2nd Prize: Jessica Asbell (CSU Long Beach)
  • 2014 - 1st Prize: Natalie Brown (CSU Long Beach), 2nd Prize: Max Bright (CSU Fresno)
  • 2013 - 1st Prize: Thomas Baker (UC Irvine), 2nd Prize: None
  • 2012 - 1st Prize: Michael Maroun (UC Riverside), 2nd Prize: None
  • 2011 - 1st Prize (tie): Steve Wilburn - CSU Fresno, Thomas E. Baker - CSU Long Beach
  • 2010 - 1st Prize: Sinead Griffin - UC Santa Barbara, 2nd Prize: Joshua Staker - San Diego State
  • 2009 - 1st Prize: Marcus Afshar, University of California, Davis, 2nd Prize: Alison Hatt, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • 2008 - 1st Prize: Matt Krems (UCSD), 2nd Prize: Andrea Arias de Gill (CSUF)
  • 2007 - 1st Prize: Tommaso Pardini (UCD), 2nd Prize:Alison Hatt (UCSB)
  • 2006 - 1st Prize: Quan Yin, 2nd Prize: John Burke
  • 2005 - 1st Prize: Kwan-Woo Lee (UCD), 2nd Prize: Alex Todd (CSUB), 3rd Prize: Jonathan Muliang (UCD)

Margaret Burbidge Award for Best Experimental Research

  • 2015 - 1st Prize: David Russell (CSU Long Beach), 2nd Prize: Alysson Vrielink (Stanford University)
  • 2014 - 1st Prize: Kevin Yates (University Nevada Reno), 2nd Prize: Natalie Hell (LLNL and University of Erlangen-Nuremberg), 3rd Prize: Allessandro Castelli (UC Merced)
  • 2013 - 1st Prize: Dustin Gilbert (UC Davis), 2nd Prize: None
  • 2012 - 1st Prize: Omar Moreno (Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics), 2nd Prize (tie): Andrea Rodarte (UC Merced) and Kathleen Krueger (Cal Poly SLO)
  • 2011 - 1st Prize (tie): Erik Swanberg - UC Berkeley, Andrea Rodarte - UC Merced, 2nd place: Amy Furniss - UC Santa Cruz
  • 2010 - 1st Prize: Alexander Gray - UC Davis, 2nd Prize: Jose Amaral - Cal State University, Fresno
  • 2009 - 1st Prize: Nelson Coates, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2nd Prize: Adam Dioguardi, University of California, Davis
  • 2008 - 1st Prize: Adam Wachtor (UCI), 2nd Prize: Jennifer Shockro (UCI)
  • 2007 - 1st Prize: Stephen Minter (UCM), 2nd Prize: Mikel Holcomb (UCB)
  • 2006 - 1st Prize: Jason Giacomo, 2nd Prize: Rajan Bista
  • 2005 - 1st Prize: Randy Dumas (UCD), 2nd Prize: Donell Hoffman (UCD), 3rd Prize: Justin Olamit (UCD)

Undergraduate Awards

Steven Chu Award for Best Research

  • 2015 - 1st Prize: Salman Kahn (UC Berkeley), 2nd Prize: Mark Shelor (Hartnell CC)
  • 2014 - 1st Prize (tie): Alex Dorsett (UC Davis), Andrew Kanagin (University Nevada Reno)
  • 2013 - 1st Prize (tie): Kevin Zack (SSU), Carlos Sanchez (CSU LA), 2nd Prize (tie): Stephan Jackowski (SSU), Zachary Glassman (Pomona College), Claire Dickey (Pomona College)
  • 2012 - 1st Prize: Ritankar Das (UC Berkeley), 2nd Prize: Dana Hipolite (Cal Poly SLO)
  • 2011 - 1st place (Theory): B. Busemeyer - UC Davis, 1st place (Experiment): Trinity Pradhananga -CSU East Bay, 2nd place (Experiment): Melinda Soares -UC Santa Cruz
  • 2010 - 1st Prize: Matthew Jon Curry - California Polytechnic State University, 2nd Prize: Addison Cugini - Cal Poly
  • 2009 - 1st Prize: Kristopher Eric Martin, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2nd Prize: Christopher Brown, California Polytechnic State University
  • 2008 - 1st Prize: Johannes Stiller (LBNL), 2nd Prize: Mark Lohmann (CSUDH)
  • 2007 - 1st Prize: Geoffrey Nelson (CSUF), 2nd Prize: Peter Greene (UW/UCD)
  • 2006 - 1st Prize: Jared Wong, 2nd Prize: Daniel Guzman & Roger Newcomb
  • 2005 - 1st Prize: Keshav Dani (LBNL), 2nd Prize: Shahid Qamar (Arizona State), 3rd Prize: Jeanna Royal (UCD)

Helen Quinn award for Undergraduate Research

  • 2015 - 1st Prize: Mikhael Semaan (University of Toledo and CSU Long Beach), 2nd Prize: Nima Assad (UC San Diego)
  • 2014 - 1st Prize: John Paredes (UC Merced), 2nd Prize: Brandon McKinzie (UC Davis)
  • 2013 - 1st Prize: Benjamin Gruey (Santa Rosa Junior College)

Poster Awards

SPS Poster Award

  • 2015 - Undergraduate Prize: Gretel Mercado (UC San Diego), Graduate Prize: Walter Alvarado (CSU Long Beach)
  • 2014 - 1st Prize (tie): Zephyr McCormick (University Nevada Reno), Emil E. Petkov (University Nevada Reno)