I’m Jaime Moya from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I completed my undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics at New Mexico State University before joining the Applied Physics program at Rice University in the Fall of 2017. Soon after, I joined the lab of Professor Emilia Morosan where I have earned an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to design, synthesize and study new quantum materials. Thus far in my tenure at Rice, I have served as the Applied Physics Graduate Student Association (APGSA) secretary and president. In my spare time, you can find me running in circles around the Rice loop, enjoying a 95 cent beer at Valhalla, playing a hand of cards, or cheering on the Astros at Minute Maid park.
What projects are you currently working on?
Growing crystals has allowed me to stretch into many areas of quantum materials. Currently, I am working on three projects. (1) The design and discovery of new itinerant magnets without magnet elements. (2) The Design of non-Gd based skyrmion hosts in centrosymmetric materials. (3) The interplay between charge order and superconductivity in a candidate topological superconductor.
What is something you are proud of accomplishing at Rice?
I am proud of earning the NSF GRFP while at Rice.
What support have you received at Rice that was particularly valuable to you?
The personal support especially when things seem not to be working that I have received from my lab group and the friends I have made at Rice really keep me going.
What was it about the Rice Applied Physics Program that initially appealed to you?
I was not convinced I knew exactly what kind of research I wanted to pursue in my graduate study. The most appealing feature to me was that the Applied Physics Program allows you to pick an advisor in almost any STEM field which gave me an opportunity to explore many avenues. Also, the high quality of life I saw the graduate students had when I visited left an extreme impression on me.
What is your favorite thing at Rice?
The good times spent at Valhalla.
What is your favorite thing to do outside of Rice?
Enjoy a baseball game at Minute Maid Park. Go ‘Stros.
What is the best advice you have been given?
Start saving for retirement early.
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I’m the youngest sibling with three older sisters.
If you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why? What would you talk about?
Richard Feynman. I’ve read all his books and I really enjoy his sense of humor and the elegance with which he explains everything. I’d ask him to teach me the bongos.
What is your favorite word?
Gaggle