Congratulations Marshall University Spring 2020 Physics Graduates!
https://ensemble.marshall.edu/Watch/Wi9r7A4C.
Ellie White earns prestigious Goldwater Scholarship! – 04/02/2020
Marshall University Physics Department Student earns prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Congratulations Ellie! Ellie is one of the 2 Marshall students who have ever earned the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.
“Marshall University student Maria “Ellie” White has been named one of 396 college students to receive a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.
The scholarship, a partnership between the Department of Defense National Defense Education Program and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, is one of the highest honors undergraduates in STEM fields can receive.
The award offers a $7,500 scholarship for the junior and senior years of college. White is only the second Marshall University winner of the scholarship, and the first recipient in 20 years. She was the only student from West Virginia selected in the competition. A physics major, she plans to earn her Ph.D. in astrophysics studying astrobiology, radio astronomy instrumentation, and SETI. She aspires to work as a staff scientist at an observatory.”
TEDxMarshallU – Ellie White – 03/14/2020
Ellie White is a second-year physics student at Marshall University. Her goal is to pursue a PhD in astrophysics and work toward a career as a radio astronomer. She is co-director of a program called Open Source Radio Telescopes, which aims to introduce students to STEM topics by providing open-source software and instructions on how to build simple radio telescopes for citizen science. In addition, she has worked on a number of research and instrumentation projects with the Green Bank Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Central Development Laboratory. She is particularly fascinated by the fields of astrobiology and SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and enjoys communicating her love of science with others and interacting with students. ~ https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/36329
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOHB-BRRB5g
Green and White Day – 02/18/2020
The First Green and White Day was an exciting time for students! Students that stopped by the Physics tabled were treated to understanding this mesmerizing pendulum wave apparatus. The Physics Department always has cool demos for you to experience and play with at Green and White Day! Come join us at the next Green and White Day! Along with cool demos, we have lots of information on career paths in physics, starting salaries in the job market, and information on further graduate education in physics. Come check us out and ask some questions! Students, please contact Dr. Sean P. McBride (mcbrides@marshall.edu) if you have questions about what you did or saw today or want to learn more about what a degree in Physics can offer you.
SPS earned the Most Improved Organization award for 2019! – 01/25/2020
Congratulations to Marshall University’s Society of Physics Students (SPS)! The student organization has earned the Most Improved Organization award for 2019. Awesome job SPS! Thank you for all the hard work, service, and recruiting you do for the Physics Department, College of Science, and Marshall University! The award was presented to the group by David Cartwright, Instructor in Computer & Information Technology. The faculty advisor to the SPS group is Assistant Professor of Physics, Dr. Sean P. McBride, who was also the Keynote Speaker for the 41st Annual Leadership and Services Awards Ceremony.
Marshall graduate student works to connect research with a younger generation – 12/20/2019
Congratulations to Marshall graduate student Ryan Vincent on his outstanding research and efforts to share his love of science with the region’s high school students this past semester. Thank you for representing the Department of Physics and College of Science so well!
See article for more.
Green and White Day -12/06/2019
December’s Green and White day is in the books for 2019! The Physics Department always has cool demos for you to experience and play with at Green and White Day! Along with cool demos, we have lots of information on career paths in physics, starting salaries in the job market, and information on further graduate education in physics. Come check us out and ask some questions! Students, please contact Dr. Sean P. McBride (mcbrides@marshall.edu) if you have questions about what you did or saw today or want to learn more about what a degree in Physics can offer you. Thank you, Dr. Sachiko McBride, for providing some great demos. See you at the next green and white day!
MU Physics SPS recognized as a Distinguished SPS Chapter!
Congratulations to the Society of Physics Students for being once again nationally recognized as a Distinguished SPS Chapter! This is a an honor the group has held consecutively since fall 2017. A sincere thank you is in order for all your hard work and dedication to the SPS group, to the Physics Department, and to the University for helping to promote Physics and Marshall University through all your actions!
MU Research committee funding – 11/21/2019
A research student of Dr. Sean P. McBride, Mckenzie Granata, has received MU Research committee funding for her new project- Applying Young’s Modulus to Clinical Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. Overall, this project could also be developed into an effective inexpensive classroom teaching demonstration or laboratory module for introductory courses taught at sports medicine institutes, such as at Marshall University.
NASA Student fellowship program – 11/21/2019
Dr. Sean P. McBride has worked with the three undergraduate students below to help them submit to the NASA Student fellowship program. All three were successfully funded, thus each student will receive a $750 stipend to work in the laboratory next semester spring 2020 with each student receiving $250 in supplies for their project. Each was funded by WV NASA Space Grant Consortium under the advisement of the Marshall University NASA Space Grant Advisory Committee.
Jon Keaton – Mechanical properties of freely suspended self-assembled nanoparticle membranes.
Jeremy McCloud Functionalizing Commercial Filters to Enhance Rejection of Molecular Dyes.
Mckenzie Granata Applying Young’s Modulus to Clinical Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.
MS Thesis Defense – 11/11 & 13/2019
Congratulations to all our Physics MS Students in the GS80 Master’s program who have successfully defended their thesis work this past week. Ryan Vincent, Dillon Buskirk, and David Facemyer all did an outstanding job!
Green and White Day – 11/11/2019
November’s Green and White day is in the books for 2019! The Physics Department always has cool demos for you to experience and play with at Green and White Day! Come join us at the next Green and White Day! Along with cool demos, we have lots of information on career paths in physics, starting salaries in the job market, and information on further graduate education in physics. Come check us out and ask some questions! Students, please contact Dr. Sean P. McBride (mcbrides@marshall.edu) if you have questions about what you did or saw today or want to learn more about what a degree in Physics can offer you. Thank you, Dr. Sachiko McBride, for providing some great demos. See you at the next green and white day!
Physics at the 2019 International Festival – 11/09/2019
Physics at the 56th annual International Festival, which was sponsored by the Office of International Student Services, was a large success! The event was held in the Don Morris Room in the Memorial Student Center on Marshall University’s Huntington campus on November 9th from 4-8pm. Well over 100 kids, and many adults, got to see physics in action and play with cool hands on demos at the event. It was a great experience!
A-AAPT Meeting at Marshall University – 11/07-09/2019
Thank you to all participants and speakers at the 2019 Meeting of the Appalachian American Association of Physics Teachers (A-AAPT 2019) Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 7-9, on the Huntington campus of Marshall University. This successful meeting was open to students and high school teachers from throughout the region. The theme of this year’s meeting commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. Dr. Don Thomas, former NASA astronaut and a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions, gave the free and open to the public keynote speech starting off the conference. Dr. Don Thomas stayed late and signed autographs in the Birke Art Gallery Atrium with the gallery holding special hours for the event. Bo Lowrey, a NASA solar system ambassador, also provided a free talk open to the public as part of the A-AAPT conference. The meeting had talks and workshops presented by local educators from surrounding high schools and universities. Thank you to the conference organizers Dr. Maria Hamilton and Dr. Sean P. McBride and thank you to Society of Physics Student members Ryan Vincent, Ellie White, and Jackie Sizemore for assisting in providing Scanning Electron Microscope/Atomic Force Microscope tours and assisting with conference registration. The success of the meeting would not have been possible without funding from education and outreach funds via NSF-EPSCoR RII-Track 1 OIA-1458952 and the State of West Virginia, the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, a local Section Meeting Award, American Association of Physics Teachers, the Appalachian Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the College of Science and Department of Physics at Marshall University.
Astronaut Dr. Don Thomas Visits Marshall University – 11/07/2019
Thank you, Astronaut Don Thomas, for a wonderful talk this evening! The talk by Dr. Don Thomas marks the start of the Appalachian American Association of Physics Teachers Meeting (A-AAPT 2019), which goes on at Marshall University from Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 7-9, on the Huntington campus. This year’s meeting will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. The conference is open to students and high school teachers from throughout the region. Conference attendees will be able to participate in workshops presented by area educators, as well as having the opportunity to test out an Apollo space flight simulator and learn about the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, a citizen science project for students age 13 and up. Dr. Don Thomas, former NASA astronaut and a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions gave a fantastic talk titled “Overcoming Obstacles and Reaching for the Stars,” which started at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, in Room 154 of Smith Hall and was free and open to the public. A reception followed in the Birke Art Gallery Atrium, with the Birke Art Gallery in Smith Hall holding special hours of 6 to 9 p.m. for the event. Dr. Thomas stayed late and signed autographs and took pics with many Marshall students.
Wayne Elementary School Demo Show – 11/01/2019
Thank you to Wayne Elementary for recently visiting Marshall University and the MU Physics Department! I am not sure who enjoyed themselves more the morning of the demo show, the students from Wayne Elementary, or Drs. Sean and Sachiko McBride, both Assistant Professors in the Physics Department. The genuine reactions that the students displayed showed just how much they enjoyed the science demos. The students from Wayne elementary were a great group of students and super eager to be volunteers to participate in the science demos. They got ‘see’ sound with fire, walk on a non-Newtonian fluid, see Bernoulli’s principle in action, and much more. Overall a great energetic group of students!
3rd Annual High School Physics Day, October 18th 2019 – 10/18/2019
The Third Annual High School Physics Day at Marshall University, October 18th 2019, 10am – 1:30 pm was a large success Thank you to all the University faculty, staff, and student helpers that helped make it an amazing day for the ~400 high school students and teachers spanning the tri-state! On this day a fun series of exciting physics demos were provided to all interested teachers and science-oriented students by the Physics faculty. A pizza lunch was provided, topped off with a quick game and prizes! Congratulations to Chesapeake HS on winning the lunch game, securing a drone for their school. Good discussions between Marshall faculty, high school teachers, and high school students were had during lunch. Students and teachers were also able tour teaching lab space in the Physics Department, which was filled with hand-on-demos. Teachers and students got to explore the cosmos in the department’s portable planetarium (Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Building lobby, first floor) and investigate the nano-world using two Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM), one in either room 200 or room 106 of the Science Building. HS students and teachers also learned about phase changes when making some liquid nitrogen ice cream. A special thanks to the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine who helped sponsor the event, allowing for the construction of several new demos and a special thank you for the approval from the University for use of the Sodexo Catering Fund. Also, a special thanks to the Society of Physics Students who helped out tremendously with preparation for the event. If HSPD is an event you think a science class or classes from your school would like to attend next year in October 2020, please email Dr. Sean P. McBride at mcbrides@marshall.edu. RSVPs with estimated head count will be needed for accurate accommodations. We look forward to seeing you at HSPD in October 2020! Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Sean P. McBride (mcbrides@marshall.edu) in advance if you have any questions or concerns or would like to provide feedback about your experience at HSPD 2019.
3rd Annual Physics Research Orientation and BBQ – 10/16/2019
The 3rd Annual Physics Research Orientation and BBQ was held on Wednesday October 16th from 5 pm to 8 pm at the St. Cloud Commons Lodge at 1701 Jackson Ave., Huntington, WV 25704. Buddy’s BBQ was catered for current Physics students and Alumni. Successful physics alumni gave 30-minute talks directed to the students and illustrated how they have used their physics degree. The Physics Faculty also gave very brief 6-minute talks so students were aware of the research occurring in their labs. Knowing what the faculty do research wise will be important when capstone time rolls around. Ryan Vincent, David Facemyer, Jayden Leonard, and Dillon Buskirk were all inducted into the Sigma Pi Sigma National Honor Society. Medical physicist, Chad Michell, earned his B.S. degree in physics and math from Marshall in 1991 and went to graduate school at Ohio State University where he completed a PhD. He is currently a diagnostic medical physicist working for a consulting firm in Maryland, Virginia, DC, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. His career has allowed him to work at the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, as a medical physicist in military hospitals, on deployments on aircraft carriers, work with emergency preparedness in shipyards, homeland security-related research, and humanitarian assistance efforts in Japan following the tsunami of 2011 just to name a few. Justin Angus, graduated from Marshall in 2007 and the earned a PhD from the University of San Diego. He is now working Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as scientist working on Numerical Simulations of Z-Pinch Plasmas.
The Pool Hall – The Start of Physics Week 2019! – 10/14/2019
Physics week, October 14th through the 18th has started with students proving their geometry and conservation of momentum understanding to physics faculty via some from friendly games of pool. This was the first event of Physics Week on Monday October 14th, from 6-8pm at The Pool Hall, 1036 Washington Ave., Huntington WV 25704. Excellent pizza from Macros was provided. This event was no cost to students. This was a relaxed casual get together outside of class to shoot some pool with physics professors and have a little fun outside of class. On Wednesday October 16th from 5-8pm, the department will host the 2019 Physics Research Orientation and BBQ from 5 pm to 8 pm at the St. Cloud Commons Lodge at 1701 Jackson Ave., Huntington, WV 25704. Buddy’s BBQ will be catered. This event is no cost to the student. Come listen to past successful physics alumni how they have used their physics degree and also listen to very brief 6-minute talks from faculty about the research they do in their labs. Knowing what the faculty do research wise will be important when capstone time rolls around.
SPS trip – Green Bank Observatory – 10/05-06/2019
Marshall University’s chapter of the Society of Physics Students, SPS, just completed a two-day field trip to Green Bank Observatory, GBO, this past weekend October 5th-6th. The Green Bank Observatory is located in the National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ). A total of 6 physics majors (all SPS members) and one engineering major belonging to MU Space went to GBO this past weekend. Fun was had by all. Students of the group, along with Faculty Advisor to SPS, Dr. Sean P. McBride, got a rare chance go up on the 485-foot-high receiver of the Green Bank Telescope (not for the faint of heart by any means, you can see straight down through the metal grating at 485 feet above the ground), pretty awesome! Special thanks goes to SPS member Ellie White who played a large role in the organization of trip and has spent significant time at GBO doing research in radio astronomy over the years. Students on the trip also got to control a 40-foot radio telescope by themselves, collecting data, measuring the spectrum of neutral hydrogen coming from space at a frequency of 1420.4 MHz in the early morning hours on Sunday. The students also got to control a 20 meter diameter telescope remotely from the control room at Green Bank. Overall, both an exciting and educational trip!
Kanawha County College Fair! – 10/01/2019
For the third straight day in a row, the College of Science and the Physics Department from Marshall University have reached out to local juniors and seniors in surrounding high schools to help convey the opportunities that Marshall University has to offer. The Kanawha County College Fair was held Tuesday, Oct. 1at the Charleston Civic Center. Participating schools were Charleston Catholic, Cross Lanes Christian, Elk Valley Christian, South Charleston, Herbert Hoover, Nitro, Carver, Ben Franklin, Virtual, St. Albans, George Washington, Sissonville, Clay, Riverside, and Capitol. A special thanks goes out to Ryan Vincent for assisting in representing the Physics department, the College of Science, and Marshall University.
Huntington Area College Fair! – 09/30/2019
Associate Dean of the College of Science, Evelyn Pupplo-Cody, and Physics Department faculty, Sean and Sachiko McBride, rotated through to help staff a table at the Huntington Area College Fair to support the College of Science and its programs – Monday, Sept. 30 – at the Rec Center. The Huntington Area College fair ran from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. It is estimated that around 1,000 juniors and seniors from Cabell, Wayne, and Lincoln counties visited the fair. Schools that participated were Huntington High, Spring Valley, Tolsia, Wayne, Lincoln County, Cabell Midland, Cabell County Career Center, and Huntington St. Joe.
Green and White Day! – 09/28/2019
The first Green and White Day for the Fall 2019 semester is in the books (9-29-2019)! The Physics Department always has cool demos for you to experience and play with at Green and White Day! Come join us at the next Green and White Day! Along with cool demos, we have lots of information on career paths in physics, starting salaries in the job market, and information on further graduate education in physics. Come check us out and ask some questions! Students, please contact Dr. Sean P. McBride (mcbrides@marshall.edu) if you have questions about what you did or saw Saturday or want to learn more about what a degree in Physics can offer you. See you at the next green and white day! Thank you to Physics Major Ellie White for helping out Drs. Sean and Sachiko McBride.
Flight Science Camp! – 07/15-19/2019
Fifth through eight grade students from around the area have completed their Flight Science Camp which was held July 15th-19th at Marshall University in the Physics Department. This camp is designed and run by Dr. Jon Saken, Marshall University Associate Professor of Physics. From the earliest days people have been fascinated by flight, and dreamed of soaring like the birds. What makes flight possible? How can we build machines capable of flight? How can they carry us beyond Earth? In this course, students learned the answers to these questions and built their own simple planes and rockets to achieve this ancient dream of flight. With the help of Dr. Sean P. McBride, advisor to the Society of Physics Students, and Ryan Vincent, SPS member, the flight science camp students also learned about drag and pressure when riding on the SPS Hovercraft. Marshall University’s College of Science, in partnership with West Virginia Science Adventures, offers a total of nine full weeks of science-related camps for kids this summer, Flight Science Camp is one of those events. Contact Dr. Suzanne Strait for more details about remaining camps this summer and future summers (straitho@marshall.edu).
Catapult Summer Camp! – 07/8-9/2019
Marshall University’s College of Science, in partnership with West Virginia Science Adventures, offers a total of nine full weeks of science-related camps for kids this summer, catapult camp is one of those events. In this camp students will spend two exciting afternoons building catapults, learning some of the basic physics behind their operation, and have fun launching projectiles from them. The workshop will conclude with a competition with prizes based on accuracy and ability to hit targets! The catapult camp is led by Drs. Sean and Sachiko McBride in the Department of Physics at Marshall University. Sixth through tenth grade students from around the area participated in today’s catapult workshop. With the paint and glue dry, students won prizes for the best decorated catapult, the catapult that could launch a projectile the farthest, the catapult (and student operator) with the most precision and accuracy, who could do the most damage to a castle of soda cans with their catapult, and who could use their catapult to hit a moving target! The furthest shot was a very impressive 54 and half feet, students could get as close as six inches from their targets and in groups of less than three inches for the best three out of five shots, and we had two students that could hit a very challenging moving target!
Dr. Bruce M. Law Visited MU Physics Department – 06/20-21/2019
The Department of Physics at Marshall University was happy to help aid in welcoming and hosting Dr. Bruce M. Law from the Physics Department at Kansas State University in Manhattan Kansas. On June 21st in room 277 of the Science Building from 2:00 pm to 2:50 pm Dr. Law gave a talk to all interested faculty and students on the subject of “Particles at liquid surfaces: finite-size effects”. Additionally, Dr. Law visited the laboratory of his former PhD student, Dr. Sean P. McBride, now Assistant professor in the Physics Department at Marshall, to discuss a potential collaboration on an upcoming research project.
Girl Scouts of Kentucky Wilderness Road Council – 06/19/2019
The Department of Physics at Marshall University was happy to assist the Girl Scouts of Kentucky Wilderness Road Council (http://www.gskentucky.org/) recently this month. Specifically, the scouts were from Camp Judy Layne. Camp Judy Layne is located in Morgan County, tucked away in the Daniel Boone National Forest. The scouts we’re doing a space week. The scouts completed badge work at the planetarium and the physics department. Dr. Jon Saken provided an educational show within the portable planetarium and Dr. Sean P. McBride provided the basic understanding of how a hovercraft works with fun rides up and down the halls of the Science Building.
All Hands Meeting – 06/13/2019
Physics graduate students Ryan Vincent and Dillon Buskirk presented posters at the All Hands Meeting on Thursday June 13th held on the Marshall University campus in Huntington, WV. Ryan is working on nanofiltration with application towards water purification in the laboratory of Dr. Sean P. McBride and Dillon is working on gravitational wave research with Dr. Maria Hamilton, both mentors reside in the Department of Physics at Marshall University. Dr. Hamilton also provided a summary of the accomplishments of the gravitational wave group at the meeting. The All Hands Meeting was an organizational meeting as well as a celebration of accomplishments over the past year related to the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure award intitled Gravitational Wave Astronomy and the Appalachian Freshwater Initiative (Award Number: 1458952). Many other student and faculty researchers from Marshall University, West Virginia University, and West Virginia State University among others participated in the meeting.
