I’m told some young men played football in Brookings last weekend and that several people gathered to watch. How nice for them.
In collegiate news of real import, South Dakota State University’s chapter of the Society of Physics Students has been named one of the top chapters in the nation:
For the second-straight year, South Dakota State University’s Society of Physics Students chapter was named an outstanding chapter by the Society of Physics Students. The honor is the highest level of distinction given to chapters and is received by less than 13% of its top chapters annually, with just 103 of 829 chapters honored this year [SDSU, press release, 2019.12.09].
What do SDSU physics students do to boost their chapte rinto the top tier of their organization? Be good hosts and good researchers:
Robert McTaggart, the chapter’s adviser and an associate professor in the Department of Physics, said part of the chapter’s award is based on the successful Zone 11 region meeting SDSU hosted in November 2018. Approximately 60 students from nine universities across a five-state area were in attendance.
SDSU is also in good shape for the current year’s ranking as it won the research award at the 2019 Zone 11 region meeting.
“We have always had a strong research focus,” McTaggart said. “We are looking at various ways to keep moving the chapter forward by partnering with other clubs. We have had a strong presence in outreach activities for the department and look to do additional ones” [SDSU, 2019.12.09].
Well done, young physicists! Keep solving problems and come save the world!
Congrats Dr. McTaggart, The world is moving ahead of us and we must catch up. The European’s have taken climate change seriously and with that, will help to lead the way for future growth and employment.
Great accomplishment for you and your students. Now to convince the cave dwellers that there is a problem and with science, we can work to solve it by combining all of our research to do so.
“The new range of electric and hydrogen trucks produced by IVECO and Arizona-based Nikola Motor Company will be game changers for truck drivers and operators, according to Trevor Milton, Nikola’s CEO and Founder.
Speaking during the launch of the Nikola TRE, a zero-emission heavy-duty truck aimed at the European market and powered by Nikola’s proprietary hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology, Milton said Nikola’s technological prowess combined with IVECO’s manufacturing might was “unstoppable” and would transform European trucking.”
Thanks jerry (and Cory!),
The students have put a lot of hard work to make this happen. The department’s research interests tend to be in either the magnetic materials that are potential replacements for the rare earth elements, and applications of nuclear science.
It is not atypical for our students to do a research project with me, do another one in materials science, and then help us in outreach activities in physics education and astronomy. Physics is very multidisciplinary, so students do other things in engineering, chemistry, and math.
Nationally, about half of all physics majors go into the workforce directly, not to graduate school. If the job title says engineering, the physics major can apply. They are also pretty good at being the systems engineer to identify problems before they occur.
And yes jerry, the problems that you identify would benefit from the problem solving capabilities of a physics major on the team. The guy behind Tesla was a physics major.
Physics majors have a lot of the skills that employers are looking for…creativity, the ability to solve technical problems, the ability to work with others in a team, the practice in giving presentations and public speaking, and writing technical documents.
The Society of Physics Students is just one vehicle to develop the lifelong learners and leaders that we desire as a product of our educational system, and I am happy to play a small role in that.
Congratulations, Society of Physics Students team and Dr. McTaggart. Hip Hip Hooray!
Thanks Porter,
Here is something you probably did not know… a physics major was one of the many democratic candidates for president this year.
Seth Moulton got a BA in Physics from Harvard.
Congratulations students and Mac.
Thanks Debbo!
Congrats Doc!! Don’t fill your students heads with Republican bullsheit please!
There is neither a republican set of the laws of physics nor a democratic set of the laws of physics….students of any political party are welcome.
To participate in SPS activities one only needs to have an interest in physics or astronomy.