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University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics 2009

Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics

 

Program

 

 Friday, Oct 30th, 2009
Holiday Inn Downtown Lincoln
 
1:00 p.m.
 Registration (Ballroom A & B)

2:00 p.m.

 Welcome Remarks
Greg Snow (Associate Dean of Research in the College of Arts and Sciences) and Dan Claes (Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy, UNL)
 
Afternoon Session I (Session Chair: Axel Enders)
2:20 p.m.
 Plenary Speaker: Prof. Susan Enders (University of Nebraska - Lincoln)
  “Get Attached!”
3:10 p.m.
 Ryan Clegg (Florida Institute of Technology)
“Physical and Mechanical Properties of Lunar Soil with Application to Lunar Outpost Operations”
 
3:40 p.m.
 Sarah Huey (Western Kentucky University)
“Adsorption of Alcohols on Allotropes of Carbon”
 
4:10 p.m.
 Coffee Break
Afternoon Session II (Session Chair: Shireen Adenwalla)
4:40 p.m.
 Plenary Speaker: Prof. Elisabeth Behrman (Wichita State University)
  “Quantum Neural Networks - the Next Generation of Computers?”
5:30 p.m.
 Edward Kintzel (Western Kentucky University)
“Dynamics of Molecules in Confinement”
 
6:00 p.m.
 Kellie Sappington (TutoringZone – Athens)
“Promoting Physics Literacy through Private Enterprices” 
 
6:30 p.m.
 Dinner Banquet at the Holiday Inn (Arbor Room)
Evening Session III (Session Chair: Greg Snow)
7:30 p.m.
 Plenary Speaker: Prof. Carolina Ilie (State University of New York - Oswego)
  “How to Succeed in Physics?”

 

 Saturday, Oct 31st, 2009
Nebraska Champions Club
   
 

Bus Shuttles from Holiday Inn to Champions Club:

8:15 a.m
 1st P/UP @ Downtown Holiday Inn
8:30 a.m
 2nd P/UP @ Downtown Holiday Inn
 
Morning Session IV (Session Chair: Brad Shadwick)
8:45 a.m.
 Plenary Speaker: Dr. Evalyn Gates (University of Chicago)
  “Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy”
9:35 a.m.
 Jessica Shipman (University of Cincinnati)
“Testing a Prototype Cerenkov Radiation Detector for Identifying Pions and Kaons”
 
10:05 a.m.
 Coffee Break
Morning Session V (Session Chair: Joan Dreiling)
10:35 a.m.
 Leah Trafford (University of Oklahoma)
  “Modeling a High Flux Atom Guide for Continuous Loading of a Chromium Trap”
11:05 a.m.
 Tracy Lawson (University of West Florida)
“Dielectric Properties of Liquid Crystals near their Phase Transitions”
 
11:35 a.m.
 Schuyler Wolff (Western Kentucky University)
“The Origins of Type Ia Supernovae from Rates in the Local Universe”
 
12:05 p.m.
 Lunch
Afternoon Session VI (Session Chair: Maria Becker)
1:25 p.m.
 Charee Peters (University of Denver)
  “Polarization Diagnostics for Supernova Circumstellar Material”
1:55 p.m.
 Charla Boom (Weber State University)
“High Albedo Events indicate Water Ice in Mars' Southern Polar Craters”
 
2:25 p.m.
 Katherine Garrett (Creighton University)
“Dark Matter: an Accessible Introduction”
 
2:55 p.m.
 Coffee Break
Afternoon Session VII (Session Chair: Roger Kirby)
3:25 p.m.
 Alyssa Stephenson (Lawrence University)
  “EIT with a Noisy Laser”
3:55 p.m.
 Maria Becker (University of Nebraska – Lincoln)
  “Atmospheric Monitoring with LIDAR systems at the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory”
4:25 p.m.
 Eric Norrgard (University of Nebraska – Lincoln)
“Techniques for Optically Pumping Rubidium and Measureing Spin Polarization”
 
4:55 p.m.
 Poster Session
6:55 p.m.
 Dinner Buffett (Nebraska Champions Club)
8:30 p.m
 Mueller Planetarium Show (optional)
“In Search of our Cosmic Origins”
 

 

There will be evening shuttles from 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. going from Champions Club and planetarium to the hotel.

 

  Sunday, Nov 1st, 2009
   
 

Visit of selected labs at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, among them the Extreme Light Laboratory, Low Temperature Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, etc.

 
 

Time

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

 9:00-
9:30 am

TIER 2
Dr. Ken Bloom

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Lab:
Dr. Axel Enders

Dr. Shireen Adenwalla's Lab

Central Facility for X-Ray Mat. Characterization:
Dr. Sellmyer

Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory: Dr. Umstadter

9:30-10:00 am

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Lab:
Dr. Axel Enders

Dr. Shireen Adenwalla's Lab

Central Facility for X-Ray Mat. Characterization:
Dr. Sellmyer

Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory: Dr. Umstadter

TIER 2
Dr. Ken Bloom

10:00-10:30 am

Dr. Shireen Adenwalla's Lab

Central Facility for X-Ray Mat. Characterization:
Dr. Sellmyer

Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory: Dr. Umstadter

TIER 2
Dr. Ken Bloom

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Lab:
Dr. Axel Enders

10:30-11:00 am

Central Facility for X-Ray Mat. Characterization:
Dr. Sellmyer

Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory: Dr. Umstadter

TIER 2
Dr. Ken Bloom

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Lab:
Dr. Axel Enders

Dr. Shireen Adenwalla's Lab

11:00-11:30 am

Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory: Dr. Umstadter

TIER 2
Dr. Ken Bloom

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Lab:
Dr. Axel Enders

Dr. Shireen Adenwalla's Lab

Central Facility for X-Ray Mat. Characterization:
Dr. Sellmyer
 

 

Dr. Axel Enders, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Lab (21A Ferguson Hall)
You will see a so-called low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope, which we use to image and manipulate the nanoworld with atomic precision. We assemble small structures like legos, building block by building block, to achieve functional and useful structures or to study the origin of materials properties. You will have the chance to see single molecules live and with your own eyes!

Dr. Shireen Adenwalla’s Lab (362 Behlen Lab)
We investigate what happens when magnets and ferroelectrics shrink in size, at the level of a few atoms thick.  How do they "talk"to each other when separated by these distances?   How fast can we switch the direction they are pointing in?

Dr.  Sellmyer, NCMN Central Facilities for X-Ray Materials Characterization and Materials Preparation (168 Behlen Lab)
NCMN Central Facilities for growth and characterization of materials-researchers need to know the structure of what they grow, to be able to control the growth and to investigate how the behavior in a magnetic field.  This facility allows researchers from across campus to study these important questions.  X rays, magnets, high vacuum systems.

Dr. Umstadter, Diocles Extreme Light Laboratory (Behlen Lab room SB-76)
The Diocles Laser has a peak power greater than all the world’s power plants combined and is more powerful than 100,000 Hoover Dams.  This laser operates at the 100-terawatt (1 terawatt =1012 watts) power level, and is currently being upgraded to one petawatt. (1015 watts).

Dr. Ken Bloom: TIER 2 (June and Paul Schorr Center "South Stadium”)
The Large Hadron Collider, which will collide protons for the first time ever in the coming weeks, will explore the physics of the highest energy scales ever. The LHC experiments will produce tremendous amounts of data, thousands of terabytes per year of operation. UNL operates a computing cluster that is part of a world-wide network of data centers where physicists will be analyzing collision data and making discoveries that could change our understanding of matter, space and time.
   
   
   
  Departure