Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY -  A senior physics major who graduated in May has been named winner of the Astronomical Society of New York's 2010 undergraduate prize for the work he did as a summer research assistant at Hofstra.

Matthew Vuolo of Mineola was honored for his paper "Ultra-Dense HII Regions in NGC 247" - which was based on research he did using radio frequencies to study the cycle of star formation, particularly that of ‘ultra-dense' or massive stars. He was recommended for the prize Christina Lacey, PhD, associate professor of physics and astronomy. Vuolo completed much of the work on the project while he served as a paid research intern for Dr. Lacey in the summer of 2009.

"He's a very, very bright student and he works really, really hard," Dr. Lacey said. "I'm so happy the (ASNY prize) committee recognized all the work he did."

The ASNY awards two prizes annually - an undergraduate and graduate - to the best astronomy-related research papers at each level. The prize comes with a $500 award that Vuolo will collect when he presents his paper to the ASNY's annual fall meeting at Rensselaer Polytechnic in Troy, N.Y.

Vuolo, who minored in math and astronomy, has plans to eventually attend graduate school, though he is not yet sure what he'll study. "I got to see what it's like to do astronomy research," Vuolo said. "We were finding stuff that's new. It's pretty important. And it's pretty cool."

The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers paid summer research internships to its best students.  Two other Physics student teams were awarded prizes at the fall New York Sectional meeting of the American Physical Society last year.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from about 150 undergraduate and more than 160 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services;  and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. The University also provides excellent facilities with state-of-the-art technology, extensive library resources and internship programs that match students' interests and abilities with appropriate companies and organizations.  The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.
                                                                                       ###