Student Spotlight: Azeam Anjum

After College of DuPage offered him a scholarship, Azeam Anjum researched the school and decided to apply.

He's never doubted the decision. In 2010, Anjum was one of two science students from College of DuPage to become the first from the school to participate in summer internships at Fermilab. Anjum participated in a project with a re-accelerator that involved inductive output tubes, or IOTs, which TV stations once used to broadcast analog signals. Fermi is taking these tubes and using them to power superconductor radio frequency cavities for a future accelerator.

"I worked with technicians, engineers and physicists who were designing cooling systems for the IOTs in a test facility," Anjum said. "I learned so much from the people I worked with – Maurice Ball on this project, Kevin Duel on the second project, and my supervisor Frankie Kelly."

Anjum developed an interest in science during high school, where he also enjoyed math and computer programming. He likes to relate physics concepts to his interests, such as the application of electromagnetic induction and how it works in an electric guitar.

In addition to gaining an internship at Fermilab, Anjum was the rare student who also landed an intership at Argonne National Laboratory, where he still works.

"Although my internship through COD ended, I am still working as a co-operative technical research assistant," he said. "I actually interned their two semesters in a row and eventually change to a research assistant so I can work part time while going to college."

Anjum earned his associate's degree from COD in 2011 and transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he is an honors student pursuing a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Once again, he scored a summer internship, this time for Excelon, where he will work as an engineering intern at the Excelon Nuclear Power Plant located in Braidwood.

He is thankful for his time at College of DuPage and how well it started his collegiate career.

"COD has great opportunities," he said. "All of the science classes transfer, and I could take upper-level courses. To study thermodynamics at a two-year college is impressive."

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