Several IUSB students worked on developing and testing the St. George detection system over the past several years, and five of them are included as authors of this paper published recently in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research. Luis Morales, who went on to earn a Ph.D. working with the St. George recoil mass… Read more »
Departmental News
Israel Owens’ (’98) Submission to R&D100 Selected As a Top Invention / Innovation for 2025
1998 IU South Bend physics B.S. recipient, Israel Owens, is currently employed at Sandia National Laboratories as Principal Member of Technical Staff (PMTS). We are excited to share that his “Electro-Optical Sensor (EOS) for High-Energy Environments and Applications” submission has been selected as a winner in the IT/Electrical invention / innovation competition by R&D Magazine… Read more »
Spectra of Nova Ser 2025
Nova TCP J18385851-0351482, also called Nova Ser 2025, was discovered on Thursday, July 17, in the constellation Serpens Cauda. On Monday night, July 21, and again on Tuesday night, July 22, spectra of the nova were obtained with the 16″ telescope and Alpy 600 spectrograph in the IUSB Observatory. The diagram below shows the two… Read more »
A Message from Dr. Lynker to IUSB Physics Majors
As you may have heard, the Governor recently signed a bill that will force restructuring for many degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences at universities and colleges in Indiana, including Physics at IUSB. I want you to know that this change will not affect you as a current major. We will continue… Read more »
Data from June 8th Rainstorm
Here’s an animated gif with TWN data from the June 8 rainstorm, as measured at the IU South Bend station, showing the preceding darkening as clouds rolled in coupled with decreasing distance to lightning strikes. Once the short-duration rain hit, the temperature dropped rapidly, and then the distance to lightning strikes increased again. The rain… Read more »
Planets Galore! — at the IUSB Observatory, Jan. 29
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 »
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 »