The Physics Undergraduate Conference (PHUNC) for 2013 was held on April 9.
Plenary speakers (left to right in photo) were Dr. Steve Rehse of The University of Windsor, Dr. Adrian Owen of Western University, and Dr. Robert Boyd of the University of Ottawa and The University of Rochester.
In addition there were 15 student presentations throughout the day.
Marek Brzozowski, Suzanne Dalgleish, Leesa Fleury, Liz Gray, Gabe Keenleyside, Jim Nicholson, and Kyle Windsor
Professor Emeritus Dr. Yen Fu Bow died at age 92 on April 1, 2013 at University Hospital. Dr. Bow was a faculty member in the then separate Department of Physics (there was a separate Department of Astronomy under Head Dr. William H. Wehlau until the amalgamation of the two departments in 1996), from 1966 to 1986.
You can view Dr. Bow’s obituary at http://www.westviewfuneralchapel.com/pages/obituaries/details.php?p=1274.
Professor Emeritus Dr. Don Moorcroft recalls that Dr. Bow received his PhD rather late in life, at age 42, from The University of Michigan.
You can view Don Moorcroft’s history of the Department either on the departmental news->history archives or on Don’s personal web pages.
I was taught 4th year nuclear physics by Dr. Bow. There were two students, so we were lectured in Dr. Bow’s office. I recall him as a very kind and generous teacher who always had a ready smile to give.
Come and join our undergraduate on Tuesday, April 9, 2013, as they celebrate their research activities. [ Itinerary for the day ]
There will be two keynote speakers:
Adrian Owen (above), Canada Excellence Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging here at Western will speak at 10:30am.
Robert Boyd (above), Canada Excellence Research Chair in Quantum Nonlinear Optics at Ottawa University will speak at 1:30pm.
An information session for prospective physics and astronomy students was held on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. The session included pizza and drinks.
I feel a little bit of affinity towards Sun Kwok, if only because I was growing up in Hamilton when he did his BSc in astronomy at McMaster University. Much later, at The University of Calgary, he was on physics and astronomy faculty, where a stone’s throw away, I trying to get my MSc degree in electrical engineering. He also writes books about really cool astronomy!
Now, Sun Kwok has paid us a visit as Dean of Science at The University of Hong Kong where he is radically restructuring the teaching programs. While on his visit here, he met with many science faculty members, as well as our Dean of Science, Charmaine Dean. He then gave a talk about the changes that are happening in Science at The University of Hong Kong.
[images from Sun Kwok’s visit to Western]
If you missed it, our meteor physics group, specifically Elizabeth Silber (shown above), is highlighted in this Daily Planet feature. There is great footage, both on-site at the Detroit River, and in our Physics and Astronomy building.
Their research paper titled, “Quantum confinement in Si and Ge nanostructures“, by authors
E. G. Barbagiovanni, D. J. Lockwood, P. J. Simpson, and L. V. Goncharova
is on the Journal of Applied Physics list of top 20 most read papers for the year 2012.
[abstract of the paper] (Shown in photo is principal author Eric Barbagiovanni)
Elizabeth Silber and Western’s meteor physics infrasound group are helping with the research on the Windsor Hum.
There will be a report on this research on Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet, tonight, Monday, March 18, at 7:00pm.
If you missed it, here is a link to the video.
Melanie Wright is presently doing outreach work in the arctic. She is a student of Wayne Hocking.
You can follow Melanie’s adventures on her blog.
