Three students from Utah Valley University have been honored with an award for a presentation they gave at an international conference in Portugal, held June 11-14.

Matthew L. Trappett, Jessica E. Carlson and Michael J. Bennett received the honor, “Excellent Shotgun Communication Award,” for their project, “High Frequency Ultrasound for carcinoma Detection: Software Development, Data Analysis, and Engineering.” In laymen’s terms, it is using ultrasonic “forceps” to pinch a piece of tissue while a breast cancer patient is in the operating room. It is an improved way to quickly determine whether tissue needs to be removed.

“It is instant diagnostic information,” said Phil Matheson, chair of UVU’s physics department.

“This is quite an honor, since the students were competing against professional researchers, scientists, and faculty in the international ultrasonics community,” wrote professor Timothy Doyle, who helped oversee the project.

Matheson explained why UVU is so passionate about providing opportunities for research in the sciences.

“Most of our students who are going into the workforce right out of our bachelor’s degree are getting jobs largely because of their research experience,” he said. “Because we don’t have graduate students in science our focus is necessarily on ungdergrads. They play more of a leadership role in the research. They end up being the ones receiving the awards.”

Daniel Horns, associate dean of the UVU College of Science, said research is an essential part of being a scientist.

“If you are learning to be a scientist, you have to learn to do research,” he said. “Doing research is what a scientist does.”