Nine Oswego students had opportunities to take part in paid summer research projects with faculty, thanks to the generosity of 1980 graduate Paul Vianco.

Vianco, who spent 35 years as a researcher and retired as a senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, provided a $125,000 commitment to  support at least five students each summer for the next five years, with a maximum stipend of $5,000 for participants to focus on advanced research alongside faculty mentors.

Because Vianco never had the chance to do research as an undergraduate — needing to work summers to pay for school — he wanted today’s students to gain both research experience and financial support. 

This provides opportunities for students like Carter Stone of Oswego’s class of 2028.  Every summer since he was 12 years old, Stone earned money to put away toward college and expenses, working as a referee for soccer games, serving as a lifeguard at the community pool in Watertown, mowing lawns or doing any side jobs he could find. 

This year, however, he was able to work on a research project involving physics and artificial intelligence (AI) with SUNY Oswego Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy Shashi Kanbur, earning not only the needed finances but also expanding his knowledge while building his research experience.

“This year, I really felt like I was able to take a step back from all the working and really, like, dive into this computer science/AI project,” Stone said. “That is really something I've always wanted to get my hands on, and thanks to my scholarship, I was able to do that this summer.”

Bianco said he realized that research during the academic year isn’t always feasible, but summer offers a perfect opportunity: students can gain exposure to real-world science, earn money for tuition and living expenses, and prepare for graduate school or industry careers.

Support and inspiration

“This is a very generous donation, and we’re deeply grateful to Dr. Vianco and his family,” said Kanbur, who helped coordinate the first group of students. “It’s a tremendous asset for our department, not only for retention but for inspiring our students to learn at a much deeper level. When you do research, you have to understand the material far beyond what you need for an exam.”

The inaugural cohort of students worked on projects spanning experimental and observational physics, astrophysics and even artificial intelligence:

  • Hudson Miller ’25 collaborated with faculty member Priyanka Rupasinghe on experimental physics, including making light slow down in different mediums.
  • Alex Fiorentino ’26 and Kamayani Richhariya ’26 analyzed pulsars — rotating neutron stars that emit steady pulses of radiation with faculty member and planetarium director Natalia Lewandowska.
  • Patrick Haughian ’26 and Noah Boutwell ’26 advanced the robotic telescope at Rice Creek Observatory, developing software, documenting processes and producing light curves of variable stars with visiting scientist Kamal Jabbour.
  • Shaheen Chowdhury ’27 and Elizabeth Behnke ’26 worked with Kanbur on variable star data analysis.
  • Stone, also a recipient of one of Vianco’s earlier high school scholarships, explored artificial intelligence applications in teaching introductory astronomy and developed a chatbot tool which Kanbur hopes to roll out in his spring 2026 classes.
  • Han Htoo Aung ’28 analyzed the metallicity of Cepheid variable stars.

These projects gave students hands-on experience while advancing faculty research goals.

“The students were reading papers, attending talks, coding, analyzing data and even writing user manuals,” Kanbur said. “They gained invaluable skills and the kind of professional exposure that launches careers, whether in graduate school or industry.”

Building skills

For Richhariya, the summer research project provided her with a unique opportunity to explore different areas within physics as well as to learn about herself.

“Even if I never use pulsars in my life again, the data analysis techniques I learned are transferable,” she said. “Every research experience gives me small skills I can apply somewhere else, even if I don’t remember where I learned them. I feel like during research, I got to know a lot about myself as a person — like how impatient and unorganized I can be. In class, I can procrastinate and cram at the end. But in research, you can’t do that. It’s one step at a time.”

Miller said his undergraduate research experiences felt like he was finally pursuing physics on his own, instead of learning what others had discovered over the past 150 to 200 years.

“In class, you’re learning something that is already well-known, very well-defined,” said Miller, who now works full-time as a test engineer at Lockheed Martin while also pursuing a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and serving as an avionics mechanic in the Air Force National Guard.

“When you’re doing research, it’s a lot more trial and error,” he said. “You don’t know what your result will be. You have to be a lot more creative. People don’t think of science as creative, but how does it not take creativity to push human knowledge? You literally have to think in ways that nobody did before.”

Vianco said that the ability to try new things and be willing to fail are integral to success as a scientist or researcher.

“Research exposes students to failure,” said Vianco. “They’ve got to see failure, because real research doesn’t always work. Failure is good. It teaches you to pick yourself up, ask why it failed and figure out what to do next.”

The summer research program builds on Vianco’s earlier support for scholarships aimed at recruiting and retaining physics majors. His overall commitment of more than $500,000 now includes funding to endow high school scholarships that will bring more promising students to study physics at SUNY Oswego.

His past philanthropy also endowed the Dr. John J. O’Dwyer Memorial Physics Scholarship, named for the late professor emeritus of physics and past department chairman who was a mentor to Vianco. It is awarded to a high-performing rising senior who is majoring in physics.

Opening pathways

For students like Stone, the combination of scholarship and summer research funding is life-changing. He came into the program as a secondary education major with a focus on physics, but now has added a major in physics, too.

While he still is interested in becoming a high school physics teacher, he also recognizes there could be other pathways to explore, as he learned through the research experience.

“I’m keeping my options open,” Stone said. “I would be interested in doing research in other areas. The physics department is a small, tight-knit community. By my first year, I already knew all the professors and most of the students I’ll be working with for the next three years. Having that support from alumni, and seeing how close this department is, is really reassuring when you’re going into a field like this. It’s awesome.”

The department showcased this summer’s work during a July research symposium attended by Vianco and other alumni, faculty and students.

“The research was very interesting,” Vianco said. “The students were enthusiastic, professional and into it. The culmination of listening to their presentations led me to the conclusion that it was money very well spent.”

Participants will also present their findings during Oswego’s Fall Research Symposium on Friday, Sept. 12.

Looking ahead, Kanbur said the impact of Vianco’s gift will ripple across the department.

“These summer research opportunities will keep students engaged, promote retention and allow our faculty’s research to flourish,” he said. “It’s truly an investment in the future of physics at Oswego.”