2021 Fall Zone 7 Meeting

Meeting Announcement

The virtual Fall 2021 Zone Meeting for SPS Zone 7 was held on November 12, 2021, in conjunction with the Fall 2021 Meeting of the Eastern Great Lakes Section of the American Physical Society (EGLS APS). The meeting was locally hosted by the University of Mount Union although all activities were remote. There was no cost to attend, but you did need to register at the meeting's web site.

Students who wished to make an oral or poster presentation at the EGLS APS meeting should have submitted an abstract by October 29 following the instructions on the meeting's web site.  You needed to set up a free APS account to register and submit.  Note, however, that free membership  is available for students who are first-time APS members (yes, it's really free!), so you might as well join!

Students who are not presenting at the EGLS APS meeting do not need to be an APS or SPS member to participate in the SPS zone meeting activities.  But, of course, we encourage all students to join SPS to take advantage of its great benefits!

Zone Meeting Schedule

All the zone meeting events were scheduled as part of the full EGLS APS meeting. All activities were held remotely via Zoom.  

Friday, November 12, 2021

1:15-2:00 pm:  Zone 7 Meeting Kick-off Event

The kick-off event gave students the chance to meet students and faculty from other chapters around the zone. Associate Zone Councilor, Rebecca Abbott-McCune, and Zone Councilor, Prof. Ronald Kumon, provided an overview of the latest news, events, and programs from the SPS National Council.  A video recording of this  presentation has been posted on the SPS Zone 7 YouTube page. The slides from the presentation have also been posted.

2:15-3:15 pm:  Student "Lightning Talks" and Poster Session

Students who submitted abstracts for posters were given the opportunity to give a 3-minute, 1 slide summary of their work.  These talks were  followed by a breakout rooms for poster presenters to further interact with meeting participants. 

3:45-4:45 pm: "Science of Storytelling" with Rebecca Thompson

Rebecca Thompson is the head of the Office of Education and Public Outreach at Fermilab.  She gave an interesting and entertaining talk about her work on writing comic books that teach about physics ("Spectra: The Original Laser Superhero").  She also discussed the role that physics plays in popular culture providing examples from the movie "Frozen" and the television series "Game of Thrones."  

4:45-5:30 pm:   "Careers in Physics" Panel

This student-oriented panel discussion was focused on career opportunities for physics students outside of academia. The panel included Carol Burns, a high school science teacher; Kiran Pant, a resident in therapeutic medical physics; and Marciano Biagioli, a project and laboratory manager at Georgia Pacific and founder of their Near Infrared Spectroscopy Center of Excellence.  The panel had a wide-ranging discussion from how the panelists came to their current positions to tips for seeking jobs in the private sector.

(If you are interested in additional perspectives about career opportunities specifically for undergraduate physics majors, please see the previous panel discussion from the Spring 2021 SPS Zone 7 meeting.)

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend!

At the kick-off event, we had representation from Gannon University, Grove City College, Kettering University, Lawrence Technological University, Marshall University, Miami University, and University of Mount Union. A total of 21 SPS members registered for the EGLS APS meeting.

Check back on the SPS Zone 7 web site for announcements about future zone meetings!