2016 APS President — Homer Neal APS April Meeting Bound for Salt Lake City
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February 2016 • Vol. 25, No. 2 A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY New "Piggyback" Journals Page 5 WWW.APS.ORG/PUBLICATIONS/APSNEWS 2016 APS President — Homer Neal APS April Meeting Bound for Salt Lake City By Emily Conover During a recent visit to APS in the town disapproved of their By Emily Conover Homer Neal, a particle physicist headquarters in College Park, Md., relationship. Coming soon to Salt Lake City, Neal recalled his childhood in the “We were both astounded, and from the University of Michigan and Utah: the 2016 APS April Meeting! small town of Franklin, Kentucky, agreed to stop our communica- a member of the ATLAS experiment, The meeting takes place Saturday, a place he described as “highly tions,” Neal said. “But it did teach took over as 2016 APS president on April 16 through Tuesday, April segregated,” with separate schools me that basically when individuals January 1. In 2015 he served as pres- 19 at the Salt Palace Convention and separate waiting rooms in the are working on a scientific project ident-elect and as vice president in Center. The meeting will feature together, the color of one’s skin 2014. At the University of Michigan, research from the APS divisions of doesn’t matter. It mattered to oth- Neal has served as interim presi- astrophysics; computational phys- ers, but it didn’t matter to us.” dent and vice president for research, ics; nuclear physics; particles and Emily Conover APS News sat down with the new fields; and physics of beams, along and as chair of the physics depart- president to hear about his priorities with a variety of forums and topi- Mei Bai of the Institute for Nuclear ment. He has also served as vice for his year leading the Society. cal groups. Physics in Jülich, Germany, will president for academic affairs and Wrapping up Corporate Organizers expect about 1300 discuss the importance of accelera- provost at Stony Brook University, Reform attendees. With 71 invited ses- tors to society; Marcel Demarteau and dean for research and graduate Corporate reform, which began sions, 94 contributed sessions, of Argonne National Laboratory development at Indiana University. after members voted in its favor in three poster sessions, and over 1000 will discuss the tools of particle Neal was a member of the board November 2014, restructured APS papers presented, attendees should physics and their impact, and Helen of directors of Ford Motor Com- Homer Neal senior management and redefined have plenty to do. Quinn of SLAC National Accel- pany for 18 years, and has served doctor’s office for white and black the roles of the Council of Represen- Three plenary sessions through- erator Laboratory will talk about on numerous advisory committees patients. Neal’s childhood hobby tatives and the Board of Directors. out the meeting will feature physics and education. for national labs and other scientific was ham radio, and he became close “There are several dangling issues distinguished speakers and impor- The Fred Kavli Plenary Session institutions. He received his Ph.D. in friends with another ham operator that will need follow-up,” Neal said. tant topics. will take place on Monday, and physics in 1966 from the University in his town, who was white. But, as Saturday’s plenary session fea- of Michigan. Neal is African-American, leaders NEAL continued on page 6 tures talks on physics and society. MEETING continued on page 6 New DOE Science Director Sets Art and Science in the Gallery of Fluid Motion Sights on “Pasteur’s Quadrant” By David Voss they had this gallery up. I was capti- says Kiger. “Then, in 1983 [fluid Attend the APS Division of vated.” Kiger is a physics professor dynamicist] Helen Reed organized By Emily Conover says. But she hopes also to expand Fluid Dynamics (DFD) meeting at the University of Maryland and the first Gallery of Fluid Motion at The new director of the Depart- the Office of Science’s focus on and you’ll be served a fairly con- has been running the gallery since the division meeting. Apparently ment of Energy (DOE) Office of research that falls within “Pasteur’s ventional menu of plenary talks and 2010. “I’ve always felt there was there was pent-up demand because Science, Cherry Murray, has just a quadrant.” Such research, like that technical sessions. Off the beaten an aesthetic quality to the fluid they got 70 entries.” That number year to accomplish her goals before of 19th century chemist Louis Pas- path, however, you might find a motion.” is even more significant when you her term ends with the Obama teur, sheds light on fundamental feast for the eyes. consider that three decades ago the administration’s exit. But Murray scientific questions but is also Each year the meeting hosts the meeting had only 400 attendees, still has plenty of plans in store. inspired by potential applications. division’s Gallery of Fluid Motion compared to over 3000 now. “It’s a short time, but I actually “I come from industry, and I (GFM), which showcases the win- Back then, the gallery entries think there can be some accom- think it is absolutely essential for ners in the annual contest for the were poster presentations. “Video plishment,” Murray says. “So, of advancing technologies — such best short videos and colorful poster entries came a decade later,” Kiger course I have a gazillion priorities, as energy technologies or national presentations. These highlight how explains, but even then it was cum- but I am very much focusing on security, which is another role of modern visualization methods and bersome. “They had to be sent in several of them.” the department — to have break- computer power can convey the on VHS tape, local organizers had First on her list is maintaining throughs in science.” To this end, complexity of fluid behavior (GFM to dub a master tape, then put it the Office of Science’s support of she plans to collaborate with other is at gfm.aps.org). in a VCR and have it loop. It was tedious.” fundamental research. “We are offices within DOE, like the Office And it’s not just science—also Simulation of the airflows created the biggest supporter of physical of Energy Efficiency & Renew- included is the aesthetic plea- by hummingbird wings during ma- science in the U.S., and I want able Energy (EERE), that work on sure of motion, color, sound, and neuvering flight. (Video V0088 at to absolutely maintain that,” she DIRECTOR continued on page 6 gfm.aps.org, winner of a Gallery of light. GFM coordinator Ken Kiger Fluid Motion award.) remembers his first encounter with DOE the gallery: “As a first year grad This year’s gallery featured student, I went to the DFD with videos and posters ranging from my advisor,” Kiger recalls, “and colorful simulations of hum- mingbird flight to gruesome but effective models of blood loss and hemorrhaging produced by a pro- jectile passing through a human leg. Applied work involving new kinds of spray nozzles was displayed next Optical patterns produced by cha- to fundamental vortex ring dynam- otic flows on the surface of a soap ics. One clever video titled “A Day bubble. (Video V0040 at gfm.aps. in the Life of a Fluid Dynamicist” org, winner of a Milton van Dyke award.) showed many of the ways that we interact with fluid phenomena After a few years of tape wran- whether we know it or not. gling, the division reached out to The inspiration for the gallery APS, which now hosts the gallery came in the 1980s when physicist online. At modern-day DFD meet- "Jellyfish" pattern created by a vor- Milton van Dyke compiled a photo ings, the videos are displayed on The swearing-in of Cherry Murray (at left) as Director of the Office of Sci- tex ring falling through a stratified album to help teach fluid mechanics. eight flat-screen monitors next to ence by Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz. December 18, 2015 at DOE ambient liquid. (Poster P0050 at the poster presentations. And at this Headquarters, Washington, D.C. The third person is Cherry Murray's sister, gfm.aps.org, winner of a Milton van “He solicited images from the com- Nancy. Dyke award.) munity, and got over a thousand,” FLUID MOTION continued on page 7 Revised 4/11/16 2 • February 2016 Inside APS This Month in Physics History Jonathan Burkin, Units Coordinator February 1811: Amadeo Avogadro Enumerated the Molecular World In this series of articles, APS By Richard Williams oxygen were diatomic molecules, News sits down with APS employ- 2H + O → 2 H O ees to learn about their jobs, their Amadeo Avogadro, (1776-1856), lived in a time 2 2 2 Emily Conover would give a volume of H O twice that of the oxy- goals, and the things that make them of flux and uncertainty, in physics and in the gover- 2 gen. The experiments clearly confirmed that the tick. This month we chat with Units nance of his community. In physics, the very nature latter equation was the correct one. This resolved Coordinator Jonathan Burkin, who of the elements was debated by the leading scientists: the question once and for all. Avogadro was the serves as the intermediary between Was oxygen an atom or a diatomic molecule? In gov- first to understand that hydrogen and oxygen were the Society and its units — the ernance, Turin, and the Piedmont Region where he diatomic molecules. To appreciate the prescience member-led divisions, sections, lived were ruled successively by the Dukes of Savoy, of Avogadro’s achievement, note that, curiously, a forums, and topical groups.