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Salt Lake City — A professor at the University of Utah is putting the focus of his research on helping refugees get involved in science.
That's because he knows what it's like to start over.
The professor's study of the universe is building connections here at home.
The big event Tuesday was a new $1.1 million array of cosmic ray detectors on the roof of the Utah Refugee Center building in Salt Lake City.
You can tell that what makes Tino Nyawelo proud are the students behind it.
You can build a window into some of the building blocks of the universe. Parts are being lifted and assembled to detect cosmic rays.
Nyawelo said these young minds are what matter here.
"These are some of the most amazing, talented students," Nyawelo said.
It is the young people helping him with those high-energy particles arriving from deep space. He understands them in a way other professors might not.
"In 2007, I felt at home here because Utah is a very welcoming place for refugees," Nyawelo said. "We have about 65,000 refugees. I met many, many of my classmates here."
He fled his home in Sudan as a graduate student and eventually went to the University of Utah.
"Tino is really involved in the community and wants all the youth, especially refugee youths, to do well," Reman Adhikari said.
Adhikari's mother came from Bhutan by way of Nepal.
Nyawelo wanted to help refugee students get involved in science, knowing they were all coming from different education levels and backgrounds. He started about five years ago with an after-school program.
"I mean, some of them were infants when they came to the United States. Some of them were in elementary school," Sarah Braden said.
Nyawelo partnered up with Braden, from Utah State University, bringing her background of science and language education.
Braden said, "My job was to figure out, OK, 'How do we create a really positive science learning environment?'"
It seems to be working.
Student Firdaus Voukari said, "Well, I think he's, like, very relatable and does help us with connections."
The result is huge.
Nyawelo said, "When you see them succeed, that is something that you can't describe."
The University of Utah professor plans to expand his program to engage more refugees in science by taking it to other high schools, to all kinds of students.
We could eventually see cosmic sensor arrays, on top of schools around the state.
