A WACO High School student is being recognized for his part in a physics research project at Coe College.

WACO Senior Lennon McClanahan has been a part of Coe College’s Talented and Gifted program learning about material sciences and making modifications to a type of glass that can be known to increase physical and optical properties. Through his connection in the TAG program, McClanahan was selected to take part in a summer physics research academy at the college last year, working alongside professors focusing on ionic conductibility of different types of glass along with looking into medical detectors and trying to create a detector medium for medical x-rays. McClanahan is the sole high school student of a group of seven researchers that will be published in the European Journal of Glass Science and Technology Part B. The publication is still in the works and could be released as early as February. He comments on the research, “The work that we’re doing is very important. So one thing we found with a few of the glasses we tested for medical detectors is they have x-ray stopping power. So we could drastically reduce the cost of those types of scans and make it widely available to everyone. It feels good to be able to make such an impact like that and I hope to be working on similar projects in the future.”

McClanahan thanks the professors that worked alongside him during the summer academy. He has received a $32,000 scholarship to attend Coe College. While he is still considering where to continue his education, McClanahan says he would like to pursue a degree in physics or computer science.