USU Student Physicists Receive Multiple Accolades

For the fourth year in a row, Utah State University’s chapter of the Society of Physics Students has been designated an “Outstanding Chapter” by the society’s national office.

 

“USU's SPS Chapter exhibits a depth and breadth of activities, from research to outreach to service, that every chapter in the country would do well to emulate,” read the citation from the national society, which is affiliated with the American Institute of Physics. “And who wouldn't want to attend Physics Day at the Lagoon Amusement Park?!”

 

 USU’s group was the only chapter in Utah selected for a 2009 award and one of only two chapters honored in the national organization’s northern Rocky Mountain region, which includes colleges and universities in Utah, Montana and eastern Idaho.

 

“We’re very proud of our student chapter and the hard work they’ve contributed to provide interesting programs that benefit people both on and off campus,” says Jan Sojka, professor and head of USU’s physics department.

 

The SPS recognition was the icing on the cake for the student chapter, which recently received three national grants to boost its educational outreach efforts to youngsters throughout Utah.

 

In November, the chapter received one of 20 LaserFest Outreach Grants administered collaboratively by the American Physical Society, the Optical Society, the Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers and the IEEE Photonics Society, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the laser. With the grant, the USU students will build and distribute laser maze games to students in local middle schools. They will also conduct public demonstrations of USU’s “Green Beam” lidar system and participate in USU’s Science Unwrapped program.

 

The chapter also received a Marsh W. White Outreach Award from the Society of Physics Students, as well as an Undergraduate Research Award from Sigma Pi Sigma, the national physics honor society.

 

The Marsh White Award includes a cash grant that the chapter will use to develop hands-on activities for Cache Valley fifth graders that teach principles of electricity. The SPS Undergraduate Research Award, which also includes a grant, will be used to help fund the construction of a small radio telescope observatory, using a dish donated by Utah Public Radio, on the roof of the Science Engineering Research “SER” building.

 

“Educational outreach to young students is central to our mission,” says Robert Call, an Indiana native and president of USU’s SPS chapter. “It’s fun to get kids excited about science.”

 

He adds that many people are intimidated by science but he believes that everyone, if introduced to science on a level they can understand, is interested in science.

 

“Going around to schools is very rewarding,” adds Doug Ball, a physics major who serves on the SPS society’s national council. “Kids see what we’re doing and develop a passion for science, and then they get excited about going to college.”

 

Among the first projects the physics students have planned for their new radio telescope observatory is mapping of the 21-centimeter emissions from the Milky Way galaxy.

 

 

Contact: David Peak, 435-797-2884, david.peak@usu.edu