University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Physics Now - Winter 2016

UWL Physics NOW Winter 2016

Dear Alumni, Students, and Friends: Greetings from the second floor of Cowley Hall! I’ve recently enjoyed talking with all of our majors during advising sessions. Hearing their stories of class triumphs and challenges, and helping them find their paths to degrees (and beyond) is one of the most rewarding parts of my position as Chair of the Physics Department. Another privilege I have is to update you on several of the interesting activities that have happened in and around the Department. We are very excited that the American Institute of Physics has ranked us NUMBER

ONE in the nation for producing bachelor-level physics majors among BS-only institutions. We continue to have outstanding incoming freshman classes, and our upper-level majors remain engaged mentors to the new students. Our Society of Physics Students chapter was also recognized as an Outstanding Chapter for the 2013/2014 academic year. We are looking forward to hosting another Nobel laureate in Physics in the fall of 2016, Dr. Shuji Nakamura (the 2014 Nobel Laureate), and we hope you get a chance to join us.

As always, please let the Department know of your accomplishments as you progress in your career. If you are going to be in the La Crosse area, let us know if you would be willing to present a seminar on your work and/or job/ internship opportunities that you know of.

Best wishes,

Sudha

The new student center is being constructed in the parking lot east of Wimberly Hall. This picture was taken from the Cowley Hall rooftop.

Faculty Highlight Dr. Shelly R. Lesher I joined the UWL Physics Department as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2009 and specialize in experimental nuclear physics. My interest in nuclear physics stems from an undergraduate research project.

I am originally from northern Indiana and attended Indiana University South Bend. Since the physics department was small and did not offer many research options, I was sent across town to the University of Notre Dame and their large nuclear physics laboratory for a research project. It was here that I found collaborative research, problems without solutions, and what it meant to lose yourself in a project. I earned a Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky in 2004.

My first postdoctoral experience was at the Katholieke

Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium.

There I worked on discovering new isotopes (nuclei that have the same number of protons but different number of neutrons) and figuring out the shape of their ground states using the facilities available in Europe including GSI in Darmstadt, Germany, and CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Upon returning to the States I spent two years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California experimentally measuring around the world, undergraduate fission cross sections using new and students and I set up detectors and novel approaches. run experiments with collaborators to measure the interactions between My research at UWL focuses on the the nucleus and the outgoing basic structure of the nucleus, particles. It is in observing these primarily the shape and motion of specific interactions that we can start isotopes in the rare-earth region of unraveling the behavior of the the periodic table. To probe inside nuclides of interest. the nucleus, particle accelerators are required. At accelerator facilities This research work helps us understand the nucleus, which aids in understanding practical applications such as how to produce new isotopes for medical treatments and imaging. From PET scans to cancer treatments, nuclear physics plays a large part in modern medical treatments.

UWL student Marcus Lowe (left) adjusting the distance of a detector with postdoc Tim Ross during an experiment at the University of Kentucky in March 2014.

I enjoy teaching at UWL, especially the three nuclear related courses in the Physics Department: Introduction to Nuclear Science; Radiation Physics; and Going Nuclear: Navigating Global Nuclear Issues. Going Nuclear is a newly developed course that explores how the development of nuclear weapons, and the decision to use them have affected the world.

Distinguished Lecture Series in Physics Since the fall of 2000, the U W L Distinguished Lecture Series in Physics (DLS) is cosponsored by generous funding from donors, the UWL Foundation, Inc., the Department of Physics, and the College of Science and Health. The purpose of the series is to bring to La Crosse a world-renowned physicist whose significant accomplishments and communication skills can inspire and enrich the careers of students, faculty, and the general public. In September, Dr. David Gross served as the 16th Distinguished Lecture Series speaker. Dr. Gross is on the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is a former director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UCSB. He received his one-third share of the

2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, along with his former student Frank Wilczek and H. David Politzer, for their illumination of “asymptotic freedom” – an idea central to understanding the behavior of the quarks that compose the protons and neutrons that, in turn,

that challenged the audience with the next set of questions physicists are tackling in their quest to fully understand matter, energy, and time.

For the more physics-minded, Dr. Gross discussed “The Enduring Legacy of Albert Einstein” in our

form atoms (and us!). Dr. Gross’ physics seminar. You can view public lecture was entitled, “The recordings of these talks by visiting Frontiers of Fundamental Physics”. It the DLS Past Speakers website. was an enormously entertaining talk As always, the Physics Department webpage is the hub for information on upcoming DLS speakers – make a plan to come enjoy the talks with us!

The 2016 speaker will be Dr. Shuji Nakamura, also from UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Nakamura was coawarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for pioneering work in semiconductor physics – namely, the invention of efficient blue LED. Join us for what is sure to be another wonderful set of presentations. If you would like to help support the Distinguished Lecture Series in Physics, please contact Sudha.

Evan Dowling received a Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Research Fellowship for his proposal, "Can Dark Matter Halos Change Shape?". He presented a poster summarizing his summer findings at the annual Wisconsin Space Grant Conference in August 2015 (shown left). electrostatic discharge protection for circuits in the mu2e (muon to electron) experiment as part of the SIST (Student Internships in Science and Technology) program.

Elizabeth Mattson, Tom Zimmer and Adam Bortz presented a poster "Comparing Different Methods of Estimating Achilles Tendon Tension in Running" at the Miranda Elkins presented a poster, UWL Celebration of Student "The Development of ZnO-based Research and Creativity in April Electro-Absorption Modulators" at 2015. the 2015 National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Cole Paulsen presented a poster, in Cheney, Washington, and at the "Optimizing the Detection Circuitry UWL Celebration of Student of Quantum-Dot-Based SingleResearch and Creativity in April Photon Detectors" at the 2015 National Conference on Under2015. graduate Research (NCUR) in Bryan Nestingen presented a Cheney, Washington, and at the poster, "ZnO-Based ElectroUWL Celebration of Student Absorption Modulators" at the Research and Creativity in April Wisconsin Science and Technology 2015.

Symposium" in River Falls, Wisconsin in July 2015. This work Rachel Schornak and Tyler was supported by a Wisconsin Thorsen presented a poster, "The Space Grant Consortium Effect of Foot Strike Pattern on Undergraduate Research Fellow- Achilles Tendon Stress and Strain During Running" at the ship.

UWL Celebration of Student Madeline Lambert spent the Research and Creativity in summer at the Fermi National April 2015.

Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) constructing a test system to determine the necessary amount of Marcus Lowe worked with the VANDLE group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory over the summer and presented his work at the American Physical Society Division of Nuclear Physics Fall Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico in October 2015 with partial support from the Conference Experience for Undergraduate (CEU) program. His poster was, "Measured 19F(Îą,n) with VANDLE for Nuclear Safeguards" (shown right). His work was sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

a r g r e d n U Tanner Wolf presented a poster, "ZnO-Based Electro-Absorption Modulators" at the 9th Annual UWL Summer College of Science and Health Celebration of Undergraduate Research in August 2015.

Benjamin Vinz presented a poster, "Investigating the Role of Resistance in the Detection Circuitry of Quantum-Dot-Based SinglePhoton Detectors" at the Wisconsin Science and Technology Symposium in River Falls, Wisconsin, in July 2015. This work was supported by an external National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.

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h c r ea As a Department, we believe student participation in research is of equal importance to traditional classroom activities. Research allows the students to apply what they have been taught in the classroom to "real world" experiences. During the academic term, students work in research laboratories for class credit and through fellowships. In the summer, students are chosen to work in the laboratories full-time to feel the full research experience. These pages give an idea of the research some of our students have participated in this year.

Student Authors on Papers (Students in maroon, faculty in teal) Due to the time it takes papers to be published, student authors have already graduated with degrees from UWL. Eric J. Korpela, Shauna M. Sallmen, and Diana Leystra Green. "Modeling Indications of Technology in Planetary Transit Light Curves -- Dark-Side Illumination", The Astrophysical Journal, 809, 139 (2015).

S. R. Lesher, C. Casarella, A. Aprahamian, B. P. Crider, R. Ikeyama, I. R. Marsh, M. T. McEllistram, E. E. Peters, F. M. Prados-EstĂŠvez, M. K. Smith, Z. R. Tully, J. R. Vanhoy, and S. W. Yates. "Collectivity of 0+ states in 160Gd", Physical Review C, 91, 054317 (2015).

Shauna M. Sallmen, Eric J. Korpela, Brooke Bellehumeur, Elizabeth M. Tennyson, Kurt Grunwald, Cheuk Man Lo. "Interstellar HI Shells Identified in the SETHI Survey", The Astronomical Journal, 149, 189 (2015). (left to right) Rolland Hernandex (Microbiology - UWL), Tegan Marianchuk (Physics REU student from Arizona State Univ.), and Adrienne Hester in Taviare Hawkins Lab summer 2015.

Scott Erickson worked under Drs. Jennifer Ross, Taviare Hawkins (UWL), and graduate student, Naoto Isaki in the Biophysics Group at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts as part of the B-SMaRT (Biological and Soft Matter Research Traineeship) Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program. He was able to present his work "The Effects of Segmentation on Microtubule Rigidity" at a poster session shown below.

Congratulations to those students who were awarded fellowships and awards for their work: Evan Dowling and Bryan Nestingen 2015 Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC) Undergraduate Research Fellowship Tanner Wolf and Brandon Harris 2015 UWL School of Science & Health Dean's Distinguished Undergraduate Summer Fellowship Adrienne Hester 2015 WiscAMP (Wisconsin Alliance for Minority Participation) Summer Research Fellow Physics major Jacob Gloe (Class of 2015) received the 2015 Murphy Award for Academic Excellence. Jacob gradated in May 2015 with a BS degree in Physics and Applied Mathematics and a minor in Computer Science.

Women in Physics Club The Physics Department is home to the Women in Physics (WIP) club, a student organization aimed at encouraging women to pursue physics and supporting them while at UWL. This year WIP received a grant from The American Physical Society (APS) to recruit and retain women in physics. “We wanted to get more underclassmen involved in the Women in Physics Club by offering enticing opportunities,” said Madeline Lambert, the current WIP president. One of these opportunities is an overnight trip to Argonne National Laboratory and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory both located outside of Chicago during spring break. The National Science Foundation will provide funding for a Communication and Negotiation Skills seminar to take place at the Physics Department for the club. These seminars provide women with the tools needed to thrive in physics. Madeline noted, “Hopefully, this will not only encourage more girls to be more active in the group, but also give them skills to become successful physicists and engineers.”

The WIP club is also active in other If you would like more information areas; they volunteer at the La about WIP, please contact president Crosse Children’s Museum and the Madeline Lambert physics department laser light show, lambert.made@uwlax.edu or faculty sell t-shirts, and attend the advisor Dr. Shelly Lesher Conference for Undergraduate slesher@uwlax.edu Women in Physics (CUWiP) every January. This year, six of the women will be attending the conference at Black Hills State University in South Dakota. WIP has been attending this conference for the past three years.

Nikki Dexter, the WIP vice president explains why they have made it an annual trip, “CUWiP offers an incredible opportunity tailored to the needs of undergraduate women in physics by fostering connections with female undergraduates, physicists, engineers, and teachers from From left to right: Rachel Schornak, Priya Patel, Elizabeth around the region”.

McMahon, Abbie Barwig, Madeline Lambert, Nikki Dexter, Adrienne Hester while volunteering at the La Crosse Children's Museum.

Excellence in Scholarship Assistant Professor in Physics, Dr. Jennifer Docktor, was selected to receive the School of Education Recognition of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship award. She was recognized at the School of Education's

Celebration of Education ceremony on April 26, 2015.

Dr. Docktor is shown receiving her award from Dr. Adrienne Loh, Department Chair of the School of Education.

Spring Public Lecture Series The Spring Public Lecture Series in Physics hosted Dr. Helen Quinn, Professor Emerita of Particle Physics and Astrophysics at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory on April 8 & 9, 2015. Dr. Quinn was on campus to give two lectures and met with students over lunch and in small groups. Her physics seminar, “The interconnection of the smallest and the largest things” discussed the Peccei-Quinn Symmetry

and the search for dark matter in the Universe.

The public lecture, “Three dimensions for Science Education: What are they?

Why do they matter?” presented the research for the National Academy report that underlies the Next Generation Science Standards. The event was sponsored by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, the UWL College of Science & Health, and the UWL Department of Physics.

WiSys Student Ambassador Every year, two students from each of the comprehensive campuses are selected to become a WiSys student ambassador. This year, physics student Marcus Lowe was one of the students chosen to represent the UWL campus.

WiSys Technology Foundation (WiSys) is a group which helps bring university ideas and research into the business world. This includes funding promising projects via a competitive grant process, information on intellectual property protection, and how to take ideas to the market. Student ambassadors

are the connection between WiSys and the campus. They organize seminars, host mixers, and serve as a resource for faculty members.

Marcus describes his experience, "While it is still in its beginning stages, WiSys plays an exceptionally useful role in today's scientific process. Seeing science from a perspective outside of the laboratory has exposed me to a side of the field I never pictured myself being involved in, yet it continues to make me realize I have been given an invaluable opportunity."

Marcus Lowe (Physics) and Rachel Neve (Microbiology & Biology) the WiSys student ambassadors from UWL at an Ice Cream Social they organized to bring awareness to campus of programs offered by the foundation.

New Engineering Partnership Physics Program Initiates New Composite Materials Engineering Dual-Degree Option with Winona State University The UWL Physics Program recently established a new dualdegree physics/engineering track with Winona State University (WSU). In this track, students can earn a bachelor’s degree in physics from UWL and a bachelor’s degree in Composite Materials Engineering from WSU. The approximate time that it will take a student to complete the dual degree is 5 years: three years at UWL and two years at WSU. This

the newest addition to UWL’s dualdegree physics/engineering options, was finalized in the fall of 2015 and is now available to students.

UWL also has agreements with engineering programs at UW-Madison, UWMilwaukee, UW-Platteville, and the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

creative minds and innovation in the field of composite materials through education, applied research, and scholarly pursuits in collaboration with the composites industry and community.

Additional information about the WSU CME Program can be found at (http://www.winona.edu/ engineering/)

The WSU Composite Materials Engineering (CME) program is the only accredited undergraduate program in the United States that offers a bachelor of science degree in Composite Materials engineering. The mission of the CME Program is to develop

SPS Named Outstanding Chapter UWL Chapter of the Society of Physics Students Named Outstanding Chapter in 2013/2014 The UWL Chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) was named an Outstanding Chapter by the national organization for the 2013/2014 academic year. It is the fourth consecutive year the UWL chapter has been given the award.

SPS Outstanding Chapter Awards are given each year and are based on information provided in the annual reports provided by the chapters. Criteria for the award include involvement in SPS and other professional meetings; participation in SPS programs; outreach efforts to the grades K-12 or the general public; participation in community service; contri-

In Memoriam Physics Depart-ment faculty, staff, and students were saddened to learn of the death of Colton King. Colton was a 22 year old UWL Dual-degree Physics

butions to student recruitment and retention; participation in social events, and interactions with alumni.

Officers of the UWL Chapter of SPS in 2013/2014 were Colin Egerer (President), Lance Hildebrand (Vice President), Matt Flanagan (Secretary), and Zach Tully (Treasurer), with Dr. Seth King serving as the faculty advisor.

major who had transferred to the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Mechanical Engineering program to complete his degrees. He had obtained an internship position with Kohler and was cycling to work on March 23, 2015 when he was struck by a truck.

Physics Program Receives Award Outreach Efforts of the Physics Program Recognized by the La Crosse Children's Museum Students, faculty, and staff from the UWL Physics Program were awarded the 2015 Judith A. Bouffleur Outstanding Volunteers of the Year Award by the Children’s Museum of La Crosse.

The award, which is given annually to recognize those that donate their time and talents to the museum, was given to Dr. Gubbi Sudhakaran, Dr. Jennifer Doctor, Steve Harris, and the UWL Physics Education Students. The Physics Program has been involved with the Children’s Museum since 2009.

Each semester, students enrolled in the PHY 106 (Physical Science for Educators) conduct physicsrelated activities and demonstrations at the Museum during “STEM Saturdays” that typically are held once or twice a month. The partnership was initiated as a way to get UWL students engaged with the community. The students taking PHY 106 are majoring in elementary or middle school

education, and as a result, benefit from the experience they get teaching science to young children. It is estimated that since 2009, over 500 UWL students have taken part in these servicelearning activities that have impacted thousands of kids visiting the museum. When given the award Dr. Sudhakaran commented, “This collaboration is a win-win situation for students who want to be teachers, area kids, and the Children’s Museum.”

The Children’s Museum of La Crosse, located at 207 5th Avenue South in historic downtown La Crosse, offers three floors of hands-on exhibits and programming for children ages 1-12 and their adult companions.

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday Noon to 5 pm.

Regular admission: $7 per person (infants and members free.)

Save-on-Sunday admission: $6 per person.

(from left to right) Steve Harris, Dr. Gubbi Sudhakaran, and Dr. Jennifer Docktor winners of the 2015 Judith A. Bouffleur Outstanding Volunteers of the Year Award by the Children's Museum of La Crosse along with the PHY 106 class (shown above)

Physics Department Funded Research The Department's funded research portfolio continues to grow. Our faculty members search for funding in Taviare Hawkins multiple avenues including the Physics Teacher • Mechanics of Microtubules with Lattice Education Coalition (PhysTEC), National Science Defects, WSGC Foundation (NSF), Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium • Mechanics of Microtubules with Lattice (WSGC), and the National Aeronautics and Space Defects, UWL Grant Administration (NASA).

Seth King • Development of Low-Resistance Zinc Jennifer Docktor Oxide Nanolaminate Films, NASA • Revitalizing Physics Teacher Education at • The Development of ZnO-Based Electrothe University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, Absorption Modulators, UW System Grant, PhysTEC via the National Science Foundation WiSys Technology (with Eric Gansen) and American Physical Society (with Gubbi Shelly Lesher Sudhakaran) • RUI – Understanding Vibrations in • Mathematics and Science Partnerships Dysprosium, NSF Program, Wisconsin Department of Public • RUI – Vibrational Structure of the Gd Instruction (with Gubbi Sudhakaran, Cheryl Isotopes, NSF Hanson and Jerry Redman) • Search for 0+ States in Rare-Earth Nuclei, Eric Gansen UWL Grant • RUI: Optimizing the Performance of Robert Ragan Quantum-Dot-Based Single-Photon Detectors, • RIP: Predicting Collisionless Equilibria in NSF Dark Matter Simulations, WSGC • The Development of ZnO-Based ElectroAbsorption Modulators, UW System Grant, WiSys Technology (with Seth King)

Attention Alumni We have been working hard on keeping our alumni email list updated so you can receive news and events from the UWL Physics Department. There are email addresses for alumni from 1953 to 2015 but we need your help to fill in everyone in between. Take a moment to look at the email associated with this newsletter and update it to the most current/

permanent address. We have made this easy by using a mail program so you control the process yourself. We assure you we will not share your information with others.

Please share your accomplishments, job news, or pictures with fellow alumni in upcoming issues.

Send this information to Sudha at gsudhakaran@uwlax.edu with express permission that they may be

used in the newsletter.

Remember the Physics seminar?

This one credit class exposes students to research and careers in Physics and Engineering. Consider volunteering to give a seminar and let them know how you are using your physics degree. Please email Sudha.

Sign up to receive this yearly newsletter and other Physics Department news: http://eepurl.com/bh9KNv Contact details www.uwlax.edu/~physics

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