Summer 2006

• Large Cloud Chamber Prototype at UT Arlington
  
  School: University of Texas-Arlington
  Advisor: Dr. Dr. Jaehoon Yu
  Prepared & Submitted by: Kenneth Crawford, James Creel, Priya Mydur, Jacob Smith, Shane Spivey, & Sabine Sudduth

  Abstract
  We are constructing a prototype for a large self sustaining cloud chamber. The prototype will be used to investigate the behaviors of proposed chamber materials at low temperatures, determine the most effective methods of maintaining a steep temperature gradient, and determine the best conditions to sustain chamber activity.

• Morphologies of Polymeric Membranes formed by Immersion Precipitation
  
  School: North Dakota State University
  Advisor: Dr. Alexander Wagner
  Prepared & Submitted by: Adam Jones

  Abstract
  The underlying dynamics of phase separation of a polymer-solvent solution by immersion precipitation will be studied. A thin layer of the polymer-solvent mixture is spread onto a substrate, which is then immersed in a non-solvent. The resulting morphology of the polymer is dependent on several parameters, which we intend to vary. The dependence of the structure morphology will be quantified and used to develop a theory to describe the process and create simulations to parallel the experimental results.

• Complete List of the 2006 Undergraduate Research Award Winners

The American Geophysical Union: Fall Meeting 2005
By Mika McKinnon, 2005 SPS Intern
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) holds its fall meeting in San Francisco, CA, every December. The conference takes place in the Moscone Center and in the basement rooms of the Hyatt Hotel. It is overwhelmingly big. The influence of the conference stretches along the public transit lines.

There aren’t many places someone on the subway reading about faultlines could be heading. When I arrived at the transit stop in Union Square, it was easy to find the conference even from two blocks away. There were legions of people wearing white nametags and carrying poster tubes converging on the conference hall from all directions.

Complete Article...

Three receive 2005-06 Outstanding Student Awards for Undergraduate Research

SPS has selected three members for the Outstanding Student Award for Undergraduate Research. The trio will represent SPS and the United States as delegates to the 2006 International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS), August 14-21, in Bucharest, Romania.

See Abstracts...

Record Number of SPS Members Selected for Summer Internships
Eleven SPS members were selected for internships in the Washington, DC area during the summer of 2006, the highest number of participants in the annual program to date. SPS internships are broad-based learning opportunities in the areas of scientific research and outreach/policy.

Students are placed in organizations and agencies, such as NIST, NASA, AIP, AAS, AAPT, APS, etc. which utilize the energy and diversity of aspiring students and contribute to their professional development through meaningful assignments, both relevant to the institution’s programs and in the advancement of physics or allied sciences. Participating organizations also assign one or more mentors to guide the interns’ work and overall experience.

Present Your Research at a Professional Society Meeting
SPS holds sessions for members to present their undergraduate research at many professional society meetings around the United States each year. Both poster and oral sessions are conducted at meetings of the American Physical Society (APS), the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the American Geophysical Union, just to name a few. Travel grants are available for those who register the earliest.

You can find the meeting announcements, dates and abstract deadlines in the SPS Meetings section of the SPS national website.

SPS Summer Research Job Site on The Nucleus
SPS and ComPADRE have continued to improve the Summer Research Job Site, and have added a Scholarship Clearinghouse on The Nucleus, the undergraduate sector of ComPADRE. You can post resume information online and search for physics and science-related summer research jobs in the Summer Research Opportunities section.

Last year, our jobs database provided students with access to roughly 1,000 summer science opportunities at more than 140 research sites! We plan to have even more submissions this year, so stay tuned. ComPADRE, the physics and astronomy digital library, is part of the NSF-NSDL.

Preparing a Manuscript for Publication in JURP
Rex Adelberger, Editor