SWOSU Chapter of SPS wins 'SPS Outstanding Chapter Award'
Regular Scheduled Meetings
Mark your calendars! The physics club will hold regularly scheduled meetings on the first and third Thursday of each month. Regular scheduled meetings will be in CPP103 and will start at 7:30 PM unless otherwise stated. In addition there will be other scheduled meetings as well. Check this page, the event page, or better yet email Dr. Stein to be placed on the physics club email list. Dr. Stein periodically sends out emails to keep club members informed about what is happening.
News
- We won an Outstanding Chapter Award from the national SPS!
- Congratulations! Your hard work (and play) has been recognized by the national SPS. This is the second year in a row we have been recognized for this award. Keep up the good work. (See below for more information about how we will celebrate.
- Spring Banquet (April 18 Saturday)
- Our annual Spring Banquet will be held on Saturday April 18 at 7:00 PM in the ballroom. Check here for more information about the sigma pi sigma (physics honor society) induction, scholarships, our banquet speaker and more.
- Girl Scouts Pasta bridge building contest (morning of Saturday March 28)
- The SWOSU chapter of the SPS is proud to announce that we will be hosting a pasta bridge building contest for the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma. The event will occur on the morning of March 28. We will need volunteers to give tours and run physics demonstrations. More information to come.
- Seminar Series starts on Friday February 13 at 1:00 PM in CPP 160.
- Our own Daniel Lundy will speak to us about 'Using Nuclear Power to Achieve Energy Independence' as the first of our student seminar series. All are welcome to attend any or all of these seminars about energy and society.
- Celebration of winning SPS Outstanding Chapter award (Date and time to be announced)
- In celebration of winning the SPS Outstanding Chapter award we will make ice cream using liquid nitrogen and we will probably have other good things to eat as well (pizza and/or wings) for instance. I will announce the date and time as soon as we find a time that most people can make it.
What we have done this year already
- New Freshmen Welcome: (August 4)
- We invited our new Freshman to learn about the club and enjoy free pizza. Attendance was good. We had 8 new students attend plus a handful of the physics club officers. Most of the students stayed for the tour of the building. We spend a some time discussing physics club events including the upcoming Hamburger Fry.
- Hamburger Fry (Tuesday September 2)
- Come one, come all to celebrate the beginning of a new semester with the physics faculty. Free hamburgers, chips, pop and maybe a dessert or two will be served. Food will be served hot off of the grill starting at 6:30 PM outside on the South lawn of the CPP building.
- The Hamburger Fry was well attended. Thirty students, faculty and family enjoyed a good meal on a gorgeous summer day.
- Paper rocket launch : (Tuesday, September 16, 6:00 PM, CPP-103)
- The paper rocket launch-off went very well. We launced around a dozen or so rockets multiple times. The event was well attended with around eight people building and launching rockets. Two of them even landed on the roof of Stewart Hall. We did not beat last years record for distance, though.
- Paper Rocket Launch: Why do rockets need fins? Design your own rocket and find out! We'll build paper rockets and launch them to amazing heights using compressed air. (Note the early time so that we can have some light to launch with.)
- T-shirt Design and Fall Trip planning (October 7)
- We settled on a design for this years t-shirt. The front says simply SWOSU Engineering Physics. The back says Eat Sleep Physics with appropriate (and well designed) icons for each above the words. Jonathan Keahey (SPS Secretary) designed the t-shirt and will be awarded with a free t-shirt for his effort. Thanks Jonathan!
- We did not settle on an exact date for the Fall Trip. Although I think we are leaning toward having it on a Friday soon. I am in the process of setting up an exact date to visit graduate programs at OU in physics and petroleum engineering. See here for details soon
- We are using our first regularly scheduled meeting for October to design our physics club t-shirts (used for physics day) and to finish up planning for our Fall Trip to OU. The meeting will start at 7 PM in CPP 103. Bring your t-shirt design ideas. The winning design will win a free t-shirt.
- Observatory Session for Physics Club Members (October 21)
- Around ten people joined us to observe the stars on a spectacular night. Jupiter put on an amazing show with all of its
moons. We also observed Venus, the Andromeda Galaxy, and beautiful double star Albireo. Unfortunately, we had
to cut the observation session a little short because of technical difficulties with the telescope. It was a successful session
nonetheless.
- The physics club will sponsor an observation session for members on Tuesday October 21. We will meet at the observatory at 7:30 PM. Students who do not have rides please be at CPP103 at 7:00 PM sharp. More information about the observatory including a map can be found at the following web site: http://swosu.edu/physics/astronomy/observatory.asp
- Halloween Party (October 28)
- This years Halloween party will be on Tuesday October 28 starting at 7:15 PM in CPP103 and will feature a movie (Armies of Darkness) chosen by our vice-president Justin Silkwood. Pizza will be served. Don't miss out.
- Volunteers needed for physics day
- Please volunteer by signing the sheet outside of CPP103, as soon as possible.
- Volunteers are needed from all levels of engineering physics.
- This year, Physics Day is on Thursday November 6 from 8:30 AM until 12 noon.
- For a short description of physics day including pictures from last year see http://swosu.edu/students/orgs/physclub/pictures.htm#physicsday.
- Physics Day Training sessions (November 4)
- All those who volunteered to help out with physics day need to be trained to use the demonstration equipment. I will hold a training session on Tuesday November 4 at 7:00 PM in CPP103.
- Physics Day (Thursday November 6 in the morning)
- We invite area high schools to lend us their physics students for a day so we demonstrate to them the joy of physics. Physics day is held on the first Thursday of November. This year's physics day is scheduled for November 6, 2008. SWOSU physics student volunteers will be needed to help from 8:15 AM until noon.
- Thanks to everyone who volunteered, physics day went very well this year.
- Dr. Tony Stein Speaks about Scholarship and Research opportunities at SWOSU (November 18, 2008)
- Come learn about all the opportunities that SWOSU provides for engineering physics majors and physic club members. Dr. Stein will speak about scholarships, spring banquet, departmental jobs, and physics research sponsored by our chapter of the SPS. Freshmen in particular should be able to benefit from this meeting which is scheduled for 7:00 PM in CPP 103.
- We had a strong turn-out of upper level students, but not as many freshmen as I had hoped. For those of you who could not make it because of schedule conflicts here is a quick summary of the main points. Scholarships: Each year the physics division awards a number of scholarships with a typical value of $1000. Scholarships are based on need and academic performance. Funding for these scholarships comes from donations from our alumni (which are greatly appreciated). Applications are available in the middle of the spring semester. If you are going to be here as an engineering physics major next year and you are not a total slouch then you have a good chance of getting at least some support for next year. Spring Banquet: Each year in April, the physics division celebrates the accomplishments of its students and alumni at our Spring Banquet. We hand out scholarships and awards for leadership and academic excellence. In addition, we induct new members into sigma pi sigma (the physics honor society). All SPS members and engineering physics majors are strongly encouraged to show their support for their fellow students (and themselves) by attending this banquet. Departmental Jobs: All SPS (Physics Club) members are strongly encouraged to apply for departmental jobs. (Applications are accepted at the beginning of each semester.) Department jobs are not just about the money. (You will be paid, but not that much per hour.) Money may be the least important part about the jobs. Departmental jobs give you valuable experience tutoring and helping with labs. Just as important it helps us write stronger and broader letters of recommendation. An added benefit is that it will be a lot more exciting then flipping burgers. SPS research We also discussed current research projects at SWOSU, which mostly focus on lightning, and how to get the physics club (our SPS chapter) more involved in the research. We showed some of the equipment we use including a (homemade) electric field detector and a low light camera we use to measure sprite lightining. If you have any questions about these then please see Dr. Stein.
- Physics Holiday Party is on Saturday, December 13 at 6:00 PM at Dr. Goforth's House
- The physics department will have their annual Holiday potluck dinner and dirty santa extravaganza on the weekend during finals week. This Year's Holiday Party will be at Dr. Goforth's home at 6:00 PM on Saturday December 13. We will provide enough turkey and ham for all. Bring a side dish. We will have a dirty santa gift exchange afterwards so bring a 'gift' (under $5 please—cheaper gifts often work better).
- Meeting to pick alumni speaker for Spring Banquet (Thursday January 29)
- Traditionally we invite an alumni to speak at our annual physics spring banquet. At our first meeting of the new semester we will vote for our top three choices for this honor. Please note that this meeting will be held in CPP 140 right after the general physics students get done with their laboratory. Upper-level students will be working on an Optics laboratory at the time but will not mind spending a little time in the middle to vote as well. The time will probably be close to 4 PM. The voting process should take less then a half hour. Please come and vote!
- We had our best turnout ever for an event. Perhaps we can use this method for other important meetings (if they are short). After some congenial and vigorous debate we settled on our top three choices. The voting was close and I won't post the results here for the concerns of our potential speakers. They were all good candidates. Dr. Goforth will be contacting the list soon working from the top. Keep an eye on your email and this page to find out who the speaker will be.
- Study Session for General Physics (Tuesday February 3) at 7:30 PM
- The SPS chapter (physics club) will sponsor the first study session for our General Physics class on Tuesday February 3 at 7:30 in the student lounge to prepare for their first big test (on Wednesday). It is important that new physics students get off on the right foot to face the first big hurdle of the General Physics class. If you are one of these students please come. It will help I promise. If you are not in General Physics but can help, then please do. I will be there, but we will need you as well. You will learn just as much if not more so by attending.
- The study session lasted for almost two hours. Around a third of the general physics class was there. They were well prepared and asked good questions. The session was productive and we will definitely be doing this again the night before the next exam. Most of our juniors and seniors were unable to be there. On the other hand, we had enough people both to help and to lend moral support.
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General Information and History
The SWOSU Physics and Engineering Club is Southwestern's chapter of the Society of Physics Students, the student affiliate society of the American Institute of Physics. Its purpose is to promote interest in and public education about physics, engineering, and related topics. Membership is open to any SWOSU student.
The SWOSU Physics and Engineering Club is a vital, active organization and has been named an SPS Outstanding Chapter 19 times. Activities include professional, developmental, educational, and social events.
