PHYSICS www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/physics www.facebook.com/mhcphysics

November 2013 Dear Friends,

It’s time for a new installment of the Physics newsletter with all the exciting happenings of the MHC Physics Department. This will be our last paper issue of our newsletter, so please update your e-mail address with the alumnae office so you will receive future electronic issues. Also, check us out on Facebook! STUDENT NEWS: Class of 2012

2012 Graduates: (from left to right) Xiaolin Hu, Amelia “Amy” Plunk, Alyssa McKenna, Sarah Dole, San Theingi, Zahra Anwar and Hexuan Wang. Not shown: Gloria Boye

2012 Senior Awards Rogers D. Rusk Prize (Distinction in Physics) : Alyssa McKenna and Xiaolin Hu Shattuck Prize (Intellectual Curiosity and Desire to Succeed): Amy Plunk

Congratulations to Alyssa McKenna ‘12 and Amy Plunk ’12 for being selected to receive a 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Fellowship! STUDENT NEWS: Class of 2013

The class of 2013 was the physics department’s largest graduating class yet!

2013 Graduates: (from left to right) Lorelle Pye (FP), Alena McNamara, Emily Tansey, Qinxia Wang, Phoebe Tengdin, Sophia Weeks, Jessica Freese, Lauren Clack-Johnson, Caden Friedenbach (minor) and Faith Larson. Not shown: Kimberly Finn, Seav Huong Ly and Pawana Shrestha,

2013 Senior Awards Rogers D. Rusk Prize (Distinction in Physics): Lorelle Pye, Qinxia Wang and Sophia Weeks Shattuck Prize (Intellectual Curiosity and Desire to Succeed): Emily Tansey and Phoebe Tengdin American Association of Physics Teachers Outstanding TA: Jessica Freese and Kimberly Finn

Sophia Weeks ’13 and Andreea Bancila ’13 won the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative. for a programmable remote camera trigger. The trigger device named “Triggy” is programmed to take a picture at whatever intervals the user chooses and the pair is looking into marketing it for security systems FACULTY NEWS

Following the success of his book “Galileo’s Muse: Renaissance Mathematics and the Arts”, Mark Peterson was interviewed by Harvard University for the De Bosis Colloquium. During his sabbatical, he traveled to Italy to research the original manuscripts of Galileo’s disciples’ works. This semester he will return to teaching Introductory Physics at Mount Holyoke as well as co-chair of the department. This was a big year for changes and achievement. Janice Hudgings, after finishing her three year appointment as associate dean of the sciences, left MHC to serve as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college at in California. Janice first started at MHC in 1999 as a Clare Booth Luce Assistant Professor of Physics and was promoted to associate professor in 2005 and professor in 2010. Her research focused on optics and semi-conductor devices and she was known for her tough but extremely effective teaching style. We wish Janice the best of luck and hope she finds success in California.

Kathy Aidala continues to be productive in research, supervising two post-doctoral researchers and about ten Mount Holyoke undergraduate students in her lab. She also recently gave a talk at the Hayden Planetarium on “Gender & Science” and also flew out to Tokyo to give a talk on Scanning Probe Microscopy at the Women’s University. Additionally she is still co-chairing the Physics department with Mark Peterson and chairing the engineering program at Mount Holyoke.

Alexi Arango meanwhile, was chosen to be a baccalaureate speaker for the class of 2013. He continues to oversee his solar cell lab while on leave for the 2013-2014 academic year. The solar lab also succeeded in making their first solar cells and LEDs last year. The next step for his lab will be using the funds from an NSF MRI grant he was recently awarded to obtain a sputter deposition system, a piece of equipment designed by two of the students working in his lab, Sophia Weeks ‘13 and Ednah Louie ‘14. On a more personal note, Alexi is busy planning the building of his zero energy passive house in nearby Amherst.

Info for Physics newsleer 8/13

FACULTY & STAFF NEWS

Juan Burciaga has spent time focusing on his educational research in both pedagogical theory and curricular engineering. While preparing to teach the algebra-based sequence using Mark Peterson's book, he worked with four MHC students on the pedagogical aspects of maximizing textbook learning. Part of this includes a project to develop illustrations and a student problem manual to supplement Mark's book. Juan and five of his colleagues were also recently awarded an NSF grant for a Conference on Introductory Physics for Life Sciences IPLS).

Spencer Smith was originally hired as the physics lab instructor but was promoted to visiting assistant professor in 2013. He and his wife Liza welcomed their first child, Asher Holden, into the world this past January. Spencer joined us in 2012 from Tufts University after completing his PHD in physics, focusing on theoretical and computational fluid dynamics. He will be teaching three classes this semester. Teresa Herd, an assistant professor from Earlham College, will be taking over as full-time lab instructor. Teresa will also be running a research program in Medical Physics focusing on using ultrasound to study tissue properties and will act as the SPS advisor. Len McEachern continues to serve the Physics Department as our technician and teaches the Techniques of Experimental Physics course. His future goals include learning more Nitrogen Ice cream and cookies (Left to Right: about robotics and programming in Shola Wylie ’15, Emily Tansey ’13, Husna order to get better acquainted with Anwar ’15 and Len McEachern) this up and coming industry. FACULTY & STAFF NEWS

We were all excited to wish Professor Edward Clancy a happy 100th birthday on 3rd July 2013. The centenarian served at for more than thirty years, an avid advocate for women in the sciences. He also helped change the face of science by being a part of the team that built Cyclotron, the world’s first particle accelerator. He is now in retirement at Piper Shores, where he spends his time with his family and indulging his voracious appetite for book learning. A Note from Cindy Morrell Greetings to all of our physics alumnae! It has been almost two years since I officially retired from the department, although you heard from me in the spring 2012. Since then, I have been keeping quite busy. I went directly from work into providing day care for our then five and two-year-old grandgirls. (But I also kept doing part- time work for the department for a couple of months.) Keeping up with them three days a week was interesting to say the least. Chloe went off to kindergarten last September and that all went very well. So it was just down to Lucy and me for the next nine months. We did a gymnastics class one morning/ week – a half hour program and kept ourselves busy for the rest of the time. [Chloe also attended gymnastics.] Last fall I began going to a personal fitness 45 minute class two mornings/week in Amherst, and I also began volunteer work in the MHC Archives going through alumnae club files sent up by the Alumnae Association in three batches. I have just completed batch #2. This summer I had the two girls for about a month until grandgirl #3 Cora arrived. When Jeanne goes back to work after Columbus Day we’ll be back to two grandgirls again on the three days. This time there will be two of us for two of them since David retired on Aug. 30. I have also started to pay more attention to Linked-In but have not yet taken the plunge into Facebook (Sarah keeps telling me that is the next step!). I love hearing what you are up to. My email address is still [email protected]. And I encourage you to get involved with a local alumnae club in your area and also to keep the department and the Alumnae Association up to date on your whereabouts and doings. I don’t see many physics majors/ minors with write-ups in the class notes in the Quarterly and I know you all have information worth telling!! I wish all of you well – affectionately, Cindy Morrell ALUMNAE NEWS Moureen Kemei, ’10

Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara

I study the coupling of magnetic interactions to the structure of oxide materials. I use a variety of characterization techniques to examine magnetostructural coupling including: high resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction, neutron powder diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, and heat capacity. These studies are important for understanding the magnetic ground states of antiferromagnetic oxides which exhibit highly degenerate ground states. Novel states of matter are predicted to arise in such degenerate systems with new opportunities for magnetic memory storage. I also explore new materials where magnetic ordering can give rise to a finite electrical polarization. These materials are also important for memory storage applications enabling data to be electrically written and magnetically read with high efficiency.

My research at MHC on understanding the magnetic states of ferromagnetic nanorings in many ways complements my graduate work. I developed an understanding for magnetism which I continue to apply in my current work. My background in physics has also been invaluable in understanding coursework, research, and research seminars in graduate school. I have found great friends and mentors among my colleagues and professors at MHC.

I am looking forward to the rest of my graduate student experience. I hope to continue pursuing research as a post-doctoral scientist in the near future. Ultimately, I hope to pursue a career in academia, teaching and doing research in materials physics. Katie Greenberg Pooley, ’09

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

I am a fourth year graduate student in Applied Physics working on fabricating and measuring devices made out of zinc oxide.

During my time at Mount Holyoke I gained a tremendous amount of hands on experience in the lab. That experience along with the knowledge I gained in the classroom has allowed me to explore my passion for research.

In the future I want to work in the science and research industry. I have become very interested in physics, engineering, and materials science and hope to do cutting edge research which combines these interests. IN OTHER PHYSICS NEWS…

The SciTech Café is an endeavor run by Professor Aidala aimed at exposing the public to science in a fun accessible way. With this goal in mind, informal talks by scientists and physicians are held at the Amherst Brewing Company. Upcoming talks include Super-Hero Suits with Professor Kenneth Carter of UMass and Where are the Stone Walls? with Professor John Brady of . Learn more at www.scitechcafe.org

The Nexus Program for engineering continues to run successfully in its third year. The program is designed to prepare students for a path in engineering and includes internships and summers abroad in engineering fields. So far a handful of students are taking advantage of this exciting new opportunity to explore a hands-on approach to science and engineering.

The Physics department was also awarded the Improving Undergraduate Physics Education award by the APS (American Physical Society). The department was commended for its 38 % jump in introductory enrollment and “increasing number of majors”.

THANK YOU We would like to thank our generous donors that have made our annual physics awards and student travel possible. • Jean McPherson Bennett ‘51 established the Bennett prize which recognizes “excellence in physics”. • The family of Rogers Rusk, an emeritus department member, established the Rusk prize which recognizes “distinction in Physics”. • Pheobe Judge ’03, Leah Riley ‘03 and Maria Hunter ‘04 established the Shattuck prize which recognizes “intellectual curiosity and the desire to succeed in physics”. • Jane Chandler Weiss ’59 established a fund for educational travel, which has enabled many students to attend physics conferences and present their research. • Lydia Young ’75 established a fund to support the physics and science center shop.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR I can’t believe it has almost been two years since I started working for the physics and astronomy departments. As I am sure you could imagine, it was pretty intimidating to step into the role Cindy held for so many years, but with her support and the support of the department, things have gone smoothly. This semester has been especially exciting because I am taking my first MHC course! It has been wonderful learning more about the MHC community and experiencing all the “firsts” over the past 18 months. I think I get as excited as the students for Mountain Day!

I would like to send a special THANK YOU to Zahra Anwar ‘12 for all her work to make this newsletter happen. ~Sarah Byrne, Sr. Admin Asst Physics and Astronomy Depts