Details: The IUSB Observatory will be open, weather permitting, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29. Six planets are visible in the evening sky this week, and we’ll try to see them all through the 16″ telescope during this event. Come to the elevators on the 1st floor of Northside Hall at any time between… Read more »
Departmental News
Alum Sabrina Whitaker Wins National AAPT Travel Grant
Sabrina Whitaker (BS Physics ’07) has been named the recipient of the 2025 Barbara Wolff-Reichert Travel Grant by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Here’s the press release. Congratulations, Sara!
Lunch with Alum E-Lexus Thornton
E-Lexus Thornton (BS Physics ’18) had lunch with Prof. Emeritus Jerry Hinnefeld at The Chocolate Cafe while back in town over the holidays. E-Lexus earned an MS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Kentucky as part of an APS Bridge program, and he now works as a Quality Engineer for Toyota in Kentucky. We… Read more »
Andrew Ratkiewicz Receives 2024 Alumni of the Year Award for School of Natural Sciences
Andrew Ratkiewicz, who graduated in 2006 with a B.S. in physics and a minor in math, was honored with the 2024 Alumni of the Year Award for the School of Natural Sciences at the 3rd annual Night of the Titans event on Tuesday, September 17th, 2024. Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus Jerry Hinnefeld was featured in a… Read more »
Commencement 2024
Five physics graduates participated in IUSB Commencement exercises on Tuesday, May 7. Four of them are pictured here with Prof. Emeritus Jerry Hinnefeld — Phillip Derrickson, Zach Groshans, Joy Thompson, and Michael Wujcik. The fifth, Emilee Edmonds, processed with the Platform Party as this year’s student speaker. Here she is giving her speech and receiving… Read more »
Special Eclipse-Education Meet the Stars Events in January, February and March
Please join IU South Bend faculty and student hosts for all-ages educational programming designed as preparation for the April 8th, 2024, solar eclipse (link to NASA’s eclipse site). These events are free, open to the public, and all are welcome! These are intended to be fun yet educational and structured so that attendees have… Read more »
New Endowment: Dr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Connon Physics and Astronomy Department Fund
We are pleased to announce that a new endowment has been established to support the Department of Physics & Astronomy: Dr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Connon Physics and Astronomy Department Fund Dr. Thomas Connon, O.D., and his wife, Sue Ann Connon, were both students at IUSB in the 1970s. Dr. Connon worked closely with Professors… Read more »
Meet the “Stars” Event
Details: The IUSB Observatory will be open, weather permitting, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 15. Two of the best object for visual observing, Saturn and Jupiter, are in the evening sky these days, and we’ll be slewing the telescope back and forth between them, with maybe a short detour to Uranus, during this event…. Read more »
Physics Club Hosts Renewable Energy Competition for IUSB Sustainability Challenge
As part of this month’s Sustainability Challenge (a series of campus-wide activities related to IU’s Climate Action Plan), the Physics Club hosted a “Renewable Energy Competition” on Tuesday, October 24th. Although billed as a competition, this was more of a fun, participation-based activity to get people together and think about renewable-energy technology — harnessing wind… Read more »
2023 Adams’ Night at the Observatory
Physics faculty members Jerry Hinnefeld and Henry Scott hosted the Adams High School Science Department Chair, Matthew McQueen, and students from two of his Fall 2023 astronomy classes, for a special Meet the Stars event at the IUSB Observatory on Monday, October 16th. There were over twenty people in the Adams group, including some parents… Read more »