2024 Fall Zone 7 Meeting

Meeting Announcement

The Fall 2024 Zone Meeting for SPS Zone 7 was held on October 18-19, 2024, on the campus of Marietta College in conjunction with the Fall 2024 Meeting of the Eastern Great Lakes Section of the American Physical Society (EGLS APS) and Appalachian Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers.  The meeting will be locally hosted by the Marietta College SPS Chapter #4091. The overall theme of the EGLS APS meeting is "Physics at the Confluence: Bridging Theory, Computation, and Experiment" but contributions will be accepted on any topic related to physics or astronomy.  

Registration

Registration details were announced via the meeting host's web site. There was no cost for students to attend the meeting. However, to register for the EGLS APS meeting, students needed to set up a free APS account if they did not have one already. Free APS membership  is available for students who are first-time APS members (yes, it's really free!).  Note, though, that tickets for the Friday evening banquet on the Valley Gem Sternwheeler riverboat was $10 and needed to be purchased in advance at the time of pre-registration for the EGLS APS meeting.  Pre-registration closed on October 4 at 5:00 pm EDT.  Students were still able to register to attend the meeting in person at the meeting.

Presentations & Posters

Students were encouraged but not required to present a poster or oral presentation. Students who wished to present a poster or talk needed to submit an abstract by September 24. Awards were given by EGLS APS for the best poster and oral presentation by undergraduate students. 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 (except for the banquet).  But, of course, we encourage all students to join SPS to take advantage of its great benefits!  

Students who are preparing to present during the meeting are recommended to review the videos by Lisa McDonald from the American Ceramic Society on giving effective oral presentations or poster presentations.

Student Travel Scholarships

A limited number of EGLS APS student travel scholarships were available for undergraduate students traveling to the meeting from outside of the Marietta, Ohio, area to attend the meeting.  Travel scholarships were limited to one per institution and covered up to $100 in travel costs. Applicants were encouraged to team up with other meeting attendees for travel and lodging purposes and must register for the meeting to be eligible for a travel scholarship. Student travel applications were available using this online form.  Students needed to apply by October 4 at 5:00 pm for full consideration. Scholarships could still be granted for applications received after October 4 if funds were still available.

Zone Meeting Schedule

The final meeting schedule for the zone meeting is posted below. To locate the meeting venues, please see the linked map of the Marietta College campus.

Friday, October 18, 2024

1:15-4:00 pm: Meeting Check in [McDonough Center Hallway]

1:45-2:00 pm: Welcoming Remarks [McDonough Center Auditorium]

2:00-2:55 pm: EGLS APS Invited Speaker Session [McDonough Center Auditorium]

"From Blue Sky to Bleeding Edge: What's Becoming Possible with Ultra-High Power Laser Technology"
Chris Orban, Associate Professor
Ohio State University-Marion Campus & STEMcoding Project

2:55-3:05 pm: Break [McDonough Center Hallway]

3:05-4:00 pm: SPS Zone 7 Kickoff Meeting [McDonough Gallery] (also live streamed via Zoom)

This event was an opportunity for students to introduce themselves, meet fellow students from across the zone, and find out more about the programs and activities of the Society of Physics Students.  The event was chaired by Associate Zone Councilor Jacob Callebs (Wayne State University) and Zone Councilor Ronald Kumon (Kettering University).  Slides of the presentation have been posted along with a video recording on the SPS Zone 7 YouTube channel.  Additional slides about APS student membership have also been posted.

4:15-5:30 pm: Poster Session [The Gathering Place]  (light refreshments provided)

6:00-8:00 pm: EGLS Banquet [Valley Gem Sternwheeler]

Note: Banquet tickets needed to be ordered in advance via EGLS APS registration by October 4. Thanks to a generous subsidy from EGLS, the banquet tickets were only $10 for students attending the meeting.

8:30-9:30 pm: Planetarium Show [Anderson Hancock Planetarium (AHP)]

"Supermassive Black Holes: Uncovering the Invisible"
Ann Bragg, Professor & Planetarium Director
Marietta College

9:30-10:30 pm: SPS Observing Night [Gurley Observatory on the roof of Mills Hall] (weather permitting)

Craig Howald, Associate Professor
Marietta College

Saturday, October 19, 2024

8:00-9:30 am: Meeting Check in and Refreshments [Rickey Science Center (RSC) Lobby]

8:20-9:15 am: Welcome and EGLS APS Invited Speaker Session [RSC 150]

"Lasers, Shock Physics, Explosives, Oh My!"
Elliott Wainwright
DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory

9:15-9:30 am:  Break [RSC Lobby]

9:30-11:10 am: EGLS/A-AAPT Contributed Oral Presentations (parallel sessions) [RSC 166, 162, 150, 148, AHP, 131]

11:15 am-12:10 pm: EGLS APS & SPS Invited Speaker Session [RSC 150]

"Open to Options: Exploring Science Careers Outside the Laboratory"
Lisa McDonald,
American Ceramic Society
(Lisa McDonald is a former SPS Associate Zone Councilor from Zone 11 and currently a writer for ACS.)

12:10-12:20 pm: Closing Remarks by EGLS Chair [RSC 150]

Zifeng Yang, Associate Professor
Wright State University

12:30-1:00 pm: SPS Pizza Lunch [RSC 148]

The Marietta SPS chapter and SPS Zone 7 sponsored a free pizza lunch for all undergraduate students and SPS chapter advisors.

1:00-1:45 pm: SPS Jeopardy [RSC 148]

The Marietta SPS chapter sponsored a "Jeopardy" competition themed around physics and astronomy. Come out to represent your school!

Thank you to everyone who attended.

At least 69 undergraduate students attended the zone meeting from at least different 15 chapters. Chapters in attendance included Albion College, Kettering University, Lawrence Technological University, Marietta College, Marshall University, Miami University, Northern Michigan University, Ohio State University, Ohio University, Ohio Wesleyan University, University of Mount Union, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wayne State University, West Virginia Wesleyan College, and Youngstown State University. Thanks to the Marietta College SPS chapter for providing  a report about the meeting.

We look forward to seeing you at the next zone meeting!

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