News
Masters of Medical Physics Accreditation
The Penn Graduate Program in Medical Physics has received an extended period of accreditation through 2015 from the Board of Directors of the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP). CAMPEP promotes consistent quality education of medical physicists by evaluating and accrediting Graduate, Residency and Continuing Education programs that meet high standards established by CAMPEP in collaboration with its sponsoring organizations.
Celebration of the Higgs Discovery
The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics was won by Peter Higgs and Francois Englert for development of the theory of the scalar field that gives mass to elementary particles. Penn physicists Brig Williams, Joe Kroll, Evelyn Thomson, and Elliot Lipeles played important roles in the design and construction of the ATLAS detector and analysis of its data to find the Higgs particle. See the Penn News item for more information.
Singh Center for Nanotechnology opens
On Oct. 4, Penn officially opens its Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology. See the Penn News article.
Explorations with Physics Pedagogy
In seeking new ways to have students learn by directly engaging with their peers and professors, Prof. Ken Lande and Lecturer Robert Johnson are implementing "case-study" laboratories for introductory physics. Students learn how to recognize and explore original observations and deal with unexpected obstacles as part of the process of doing research.
Anshuman Pal wins Undergraduate Award
Anshuman Pal is the international award winner in the Mathematical & Physical Sciences category for The Undergraduate Awards. The Undergraduate Awards is the world’s only pan-discipline academic awards program that identifies the leading creative thinkers and problem solvers through their undergraduate coursework. Anshuman will travel to Dublin for the Global Summit in November to receive his medal.
UPStart graphene company awarded NSF grant
Graphene Frontiers, a company developed through Penn's Center for Technology Transfer's UPStart program by Physics Prof. Charlie Johnson and Zhengtang Luo, a former postdoctoral researcher in Johnson’s lab, has been awarded a $744,600 grant from the National Science Foundation. Graphene Frontiers, founded in 2011, is developing roll-to-roll production of graphene, the “miracle material” at the heart of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Dark Energy Survey 5-year mission begins
The 5-year quest by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) team is underway (3 September 2013) to solve the cosmic detective puzzle of why the expansion of the universe is speeding up rather than slowing down. Penn physicists are playing integral roles on the team and on the mission. Prof. Bhuvnesh Jain is leader of the Penn contingent and co-coordinator of the gravitational lensing group. Prof. Gary Bernstein is co-leader of the Science Verification team that has been fine-tuning the DES camera. Assoc. Prof. Masao Sako is co-coordinator of the Supernovae group working with Prof.
Anshuman Pal selected as finalist for Apker Award
Penn undergraduate major Anshuman Pal has been chosen as a finalist for the American Physical Society's 2013 LeRoy Apker Award. Each year, this award recognizes outstanding achievements in physics by 2 undergraduate students (one from a PhD granting institution and one from a non-PhD institution) who have demonstrated great potential for future scientific accomplishment. Anshuman was nominated for his work with Prof. Gene Mele on understanding the electronic behavior for "twisted graphenes".
Charlie Johnson appointed as the new Director of NBIC http://www.nanotech.upenn.edu/
We are pleased to announce that Prof. A. T. Charlie Johnson has been appointed to the position of Director of the Nano/Bio Interface Center as of July 1. Charlie has been on the NBIC Executive Committee since its inception and has been instrumental in the growth of the Center. He brings a combination of leadership in collaborative research and a clear vision for the future of the Nano/Bio Center.