Fall 2012 the Physics Illinois Vol. 1 No. 1 Bulletin inside this issue: Dark Energy Survey’s first light Illinois contributes to Higgs boson discovery Helium shortage threatens research efforts Saturday Physics for Everyone celebrates 20 years Alumnus Dr. Charles Henry, Hall of Famer Goldenfeld awarded $8 million NASA center Department of Physics College of Engineering University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign four more faculty searches in progress for next year. In addition, we are engaged with two exceptional senior professors at other institutions whom we hope to attract to Illinois. We A Message from the Head are hoping to grow back to our target size of 60 faculty in Physics, which we believe to be a productive and sustainable size for our faculty. • Staff: We have also made a number of investments in growing our staff over the last few years, hiring coordinators for advancement, communications, undergraduate advising, and To Illinois Physics colleagues, alumni, and friends, course delivery. These steps are helping us to enhance the educational experience of our We in the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois are at an important and students and to share our accomplishments and plans with our peers, our alumni, and the exciting crossroads in our history. For the last several years, we have faced difficult challenges public. brought about by financial pressures, leadership changes in the University administration, • Educational programs: Enrollments all over campus have risen sharply in the last five increasing student enrollments, and declining faculty and staff sizes. Because of the years but nowhere more than in Physics. We are now teaching over 5,000 students per dedication and creativity of our Physics community at all levels and the steadfast support of semester—an increase of 30 percent over the last five years—and the number of graduate our loyal alumni, we survived and even thrived in that period, maintaining our scholarship, research students and undergraduate Physics majors is at an all-time high. To respond commitment to learning, and the unique camaraderie within the department that is one of to this rapid growth, we have revised our introductory course sequences, developed new our greatest and most treasured assets. On balance, we have upper-level laboratory courses, and designed and presented new courses that fulfill our done rather well, but it is never easy or much fun to be looking multiple missions to teach the substance of Physics and its excitement to people of all ages. behind us and hoping to survive. The increased number of Physics students creates real problems, but it is a good problem to Now, the landscape has changed dramatically—we are able have, indicating the importance of and interest in our field. to look forward and the view ahead is much brighter. Due in • Infrastructure: We have launched a series of initiatives designed to increase the size and part to downsizing and in part to the implementation of sound quality of our classrooms, offices, and laboratories in the Physics complex. Remodeling fiscal policies by the University in the last few years, there is a is currently underway to modernize the main department office and to renovate some stable financial situation that will allow increased hiring across of our instructional spaces with the help of funds from the College of Engineering and campus, investment in new initiatives, and long-overdue the campus Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment, a student fund directed rewards for our talented and dedicated faculty and staff. to improve the educational experience for students. We are planning conversion of the There is a strong leadership team on the campus, one with space behind the library that formerly held our research journals into a flexible interactive particular knowledge and appreciation for scientific discovery classroom and a faculty-staff lounge area adjacent to the Physics Interaction Room. We and creativity—Chancellor Phyllis Wise, a biologist; Provost are also in the process of carrying out feasibility studies to generate a design and cost Ilesanmi Adesida, an electrical engineer; and Vice Chancellor estimate for an addition to Loomis Laboratory over the lecture halls and a new Advanced for Research Peter Schiffer, a physicist. And most of all, there is a pervasive feeling across Experimental Research Building to be located next to MRL. These are ambitious projects, campus that this is our time to grow and take on new challenges. but Physics is an ambitious department and we want to position ourselves for opportunities That is not to say that all is perfect—far from it. The State of Illinois continues to have for major capital projects that may come up from the State, University, or the help of our long term financial problems that will almost certainly bring decreases in State support for loyal alumni. the University, increases in tuition for our students, and major changes in the pensions and • Alumni: As we grow in our size and our reach, it has never been more important benefits of our faculty and staff. It is possible, actually likely, that there will be significant for us to keep in contact with our alumni, former colleagues, and friends. You serve as reductions in federal funding for science, making it crucial that we compete aggressively for role models for our students, reminding them where they can go and what they can do these resources. Along with that are increases in cost of doing research, especially for some with a Physics degree, and we greatly appreciate your loyalty to Illinois that you have essential commodities such as energy and liquid helium for cryogenic research. Resources demonstrated through your gifts and service to the department. We are stepping up will continue to be limited, compelling us to be thoughtful in our planning and the choices our efforts to keep you better informed about our activities and accomplishments, and we make. These are real problems, but no more difficult than the research problems that we increasing opportunities for you to visit the department and share your story with our embrace and address every day in our labs and offices, so we are confident that we can control students. and even solve them. As I enter my seventh year as head of the Department of Physics, I continue to be honored So what we see in the next few years is a unique window of opportunity to shape the by the opportunity to serve our talented faculty and staff and to strive to maintain and Department of Physics and the University of Illinois and to put ourselves in a strong position enhance our cherished legacy of excellence in education and scholarship. It a good time for for the future. In Physics, this is already happening: Physics. A time to be thoughtful. A time to be aggressive. A time to think big, reach high, and • Faculty: After four years of no faculty hiring and a nearly 20-percent reduction in our become even greater as a department. numbers from 65 to 50, we hired three faculty members last year, four this year, and have the Physics Illinois Physics Illinois invites alumni Bulletin to stay in touch! To receive our latest news, Dale Van Harlingen Professor and Head 10 16 please update your contact Illinois contributes to Higgs discovery Goldenfeld leads $8 million NASA information. center Celia Elliott Director of External Affairs http://go.physics.illinois.edu/alumni and Special Projects Erin Kirby Assoc. Director of Advancement Follow us. Like us. World’s most powerful digital Siv Schwink 14 41 camera records first images Alumnus Charles Henry inducted Communications Coordinator in hunt for dark energy into COE Hall of Fame the Physics Illinois Bulletin is a semiannual publication of the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Please send us your comments 34 43 or ideas for future stories: Stelzer, Gladding, and Selen win APS Alumni mentor today’s education award physics students the Physics Illinois Bulletin Department of Physics Loomis Laboratory, MC-704 6 Physics Illinois welcomes new faculty 1110 West Green Street 8 iRISE and Denos work to get students hooked on science in middle school Urbana, IL 61801-3080 12 Tevatron observes Higgs decay channel, first predicted by Willenbrock or contact Siv Schwink at 18 Research Experiences for Undergraduates at Physics Illinois [email protected] 21 Interaction Room new intellectual hub or (217) 300-2201 24 Saturday Physics for Everyone turns 20 26 Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics comes to Illinois Cover image: The silvered dome of the Blanco 4-meter telescope, 28 Helium shortage threatens research efforts which holds the Dark Energy Camera at the Cerro Tololo Inter- 31 Faculty highlights American Observatory in Chile. 40 Alumni highlights Photo credit: T. Abbott and NOAO/ AURA/NS 44 Student highlights Printed on recycled paper with soybean ink. 51 In memoriam New faculty spotlight Physics welcomes three new faculty members theoretically describe potential biophysical forces that determine the architecture and organization of genomes,” said Kuhlman. Kuhlman’s molecular-engineered tools—now in use at dozens of labs around the world and licensed to several commercial biotech companies—allow the precise eter Schiffer is an extensively Sciences at Penn State in 2006, and integration of large synthetic gene published condensed won the Ruth and Joel Spira Award constructs into any desired location matter experimentalist for Teaching Excellence at Penn of the E. coli chromosome. Pwhose research interests include State in 2008. As just one example of the kind magnetic oxides, geometrically Schiffer said he is looking of research enabled by these tools, Assistant Professor frustrated magnets, and magnetic forward to his new role on the Assistant Professor Kuhlman and his colleagues were Gregory MacDougall nanostructures.