Meet the SPS National Interns
Twelve SPS National Interns (several of whom are pictured at left) are spending the summer in the Washington, DC area – the largest group in the program’s nine-year history. They are working with organizations such as SPS, The AIP History Center, APS, NASA, NIST and MRSEC through August 5. Some are conducting scientific research; others are working on education or outreach projects. You are invited to read their introductions, check out their photo gallery, and to return often to read their weekly journals.

Intros & Journals | Photo Gallery | About the Program | Previous Interns

Karen Williams receives Worth Seagondollar Award
Dr. Karen Williams, professor of physics at East Central University, has been awarded The Worth Seagondollar Service Award in recognition of her extraordinary level of service and commitment to Sigma Pi Sigma and SPS. It recognizes her “service as a chapter adviser, zone councilor and president of the SPS, overseeing a great expansion of the role of president and the precedent-setting 2004 Sigma Pi Sigma Congress.”

Full story | About SPS & Sigma Pi Sigma

Your dreams, their experience: MentorNet
Want to talk to a science professional about career options? Need support from someone that has overcome similar challenges? Looking for a foot in the door to your first job? Find a mentor! SPS partners with MentorNet, an award-winning nonprofit e-mentoring network, to offer free mentoring services to ALL SPS members!

MentorNet Details | Get a Mentor | Be a Mentor

SPS and NSHP offer joint membership
SPS and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP) are now offering joint student memberships at a discounted price. NSHP seeks to increase opportunities for Hispanics in physics and to increase the number of practicing Hispanic physicists, particularly by encouraging Hispanic students to enter a career in physics.

More information | Joint Membership Application | NSHP Website

2009 SPS Outstanding Students Named
Joshua Fuchs, Rhodes College, (left) and Gabriel Caceres, Augustana College, (right) are recipients of the 2009 SPS Outstanding Students Awards for Undergraduate Research. They will represent the United States and SPS and present their research at the 2009 International Conference of Physics Students (ICPS), August 10-18, 2009, in Split, Croatia. Expenses for transportation, room, board, and meeting registration will be paid by SPS. They will also receive a $500 honorarium and a $500 award for their SPS Chapter. In addition, they will be invited to give their research presentation at a SPS Research Session at a national meeting in 2009-10.

See Abstracts & Honorable Mentions | Award Details | 2009 ICPS Website

2009 Student Fellowships in Physics and Society
The American Physical Society (APS) Forum on Physics and Society (FPS), in partnership with the Society of Physics Students and the APS Forum on Graduate Student Affairs (FGSA), proudly announce the 2009 recipients of the Student Fellowships in Physics and Society. They are Kevin Thomas, University of Central Florida (left), and Zhenyuan Zhao, University of Miami (right). The primary goal of the Fellowships is to provide research and project opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students interested in physics and society, and to raise the awareness of applying physics to problems in society as a career and as an important undertaking by members of the physics community. 

See Project Details | Fellowship Details | APS FPS | APS FGSA

Makin' Waves with the 2008 SOCK!
Get ready to make some waves! The 2008 SPS SOCK provides three different lessons designed to engage college students and school children alike. Lessons include polarization, sound, reflection, and refraction. By using a long spring, Boomwhackers®, polarized sunglasses, and Jell-O®, SPS members can make waves in the community as well as in their own chapter. Each User’s Manual includes two lessons per topic, demos, worksheets, and a resource CD with instructional videos for parts of each lesson. Didn’t receive a 2008 SOCK? Compile your own by downloading it - instructions are included in the User’s Manual.

SPS hosts activities at Six Flags America
Ever had a 96-foot drop as a part of your demo show? On April 24th, 2009, thousands of high school physics students descended on Six Flags America, near Washington, DC, and its gut-wrenching, free-falling, thrilling rides—and SPS was there to welcome them! SPS volunteers from across the Mid-Atlantic region joined staff members from the SPS national office to take physics to the students.

Photo Gallery | Six Flags America Website | Amusement Park Physics

Putting a New Face on Physics
By Krystle Williams, 2007-08 SPS National Council
SPS Council member Krystle Williams brings SPS's 2008 theme Future Faces of Physics to Symmetry readers. Symmetry is a magazine about particle physics and its connections to other aspects of life and science, from interdisciplinary collaborations to policy to culture. It is published by Fermilab and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Read Krystle's article in Symmetry | SPS Future Faces of Physics Initiative

Future Faces of Physics Jeopardy
With the theme Future Faces of Physics, (FFP) SPS is raising visibility and focus on issues of student diversity in physics. Future Faces of Physics Jeopardy is centered on this theme...try it out with friends or at your next SPS meeting!

If you would like to request a free FFP meeting kit that includes the Jeopardy game, please contact SPS. You can also compile your own kit.

Play FFP Jeopardy | FFP Meeting Kit

The first man-made nuclear explosion
By L. Worth Seagondollar, Co-Founder of SPS and Professor Emeritus, North Carolina State University
This talk describes one of the greatest war-time experiences possible for a young graduate student in the 1940's, including an eye-witness account of the Trinity Test in the New Mexico desert. Near-catastrophic accidents, working with armed guards watching, Enrico Fermi asking you to come to his office—these are unforgettable adventures.

Full Transcript | Video Highlights

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