Powers and Zemenu awarded the YSEA’s Seniors of Distinction Award for 2023-2024

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May 24, 2024

Wright Lab undergraduates Rose Powers and Barkotel Zemenu, along with undergraduates Finn Gibson (Mathematics & Physics), Rachel Merrill (Physics-Intensive), and Pranav Parakh (Mathematics & Physics), were the students in the Yale Physics department who received the Yale Science and Engineering Association’s Seniors of Distinction award. The award recognizes Yale College seniors who demonstrate excellence in academics, service, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities in Science, Applied Science, and Engineering majors.  

Smiling person.Rose Powers, Physics-Intensive major.

Rose Powers, 24 is a Physics-Intensive major working with Sarah Demers, and a member of Yale’s Wright Lab. Rose’s area of focus is high-energy particle experiment, and she is currently doing research and development for a future Muon Collider. In the past, Rose has also worked with YUAA on the CubeSat project. Rose is involved with the Yale STEM community as a part of Yale’s SPS branch, where she served as Outreach Co-Chair during the 2022/2023 academic year. She is passionate about science education, whether through outreach or the peer tutor program at Yale. Rose is deeply honored to be awarded the YSEA Senior of Distinction Award, and she is grateful for the STEM community at Yale, without which her fulfilling undergraduate experience would not be possible. She also wishes to congratulate this year’s other awardees.

Smiling person.Barkotel Zemenu, Physics-Intensive major.

Barkotel Zemenu, ‘24 is a senior undergraduate researcher in Wright Lab’s Moore group working in the field of nuclear and particle physics. He served as the co-president and outreach co-chair of Yale Society of Physics Students (SPS), peer tutored all four introductory physics sequences (from PHYS 171 to PHYS 261) and represented the Yale physics community as a three-year member of the Physics Undergraduate Student Advisory Committee. After graduating, he will be pursuing a PhD in physics at Stanford University as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar.

Zemenu states, “I am very grateful for the incredible support system I’ve had during my four years at Yale. My advisor, David Moore, could not have been any more supportive, and as a history-turned-physics major, I can’t stress enough how much I owe to his insights, patience and availability.”