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Tag: undergraduate

Physics Seniors’ Swiss Journey

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Students pose at entry to CERN
L-R: Josh Rolfe, Estyn LaMotte, Rita Wilson, Grant Schlaff, Daniel Barr, Josiah Jahncke, Rose Harvey, Lucas Hetrick, Nico Cifani, Cooper Chiarino

Ten senior undergraduates spent the beginning of May in Switzerland exploring scientific and cultural sites. Notably, the trip focused on a tour of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). CERN houses the largest high energy particle collider in the world, and performs cutting edge particle physics research. In fact, some of the students were so taken by the tour they returned to take it twice!

Students at a playground with mountain peaks in background
A classic static friction problem in the Alps.

Their trip continued in Interlaken, where they engaged in outdoor activities in the Swiss Alps. They visited Albert
Einstein’s former residence in Bern, and had a day excursion to Lyon, France.

With the help of the Henes Center for Quantum Phenomena, we’re proud to provide our students the opportunity to find their place in the global community of physics.

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Physics Students Expanding Horizons

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Students on the steps of the the Curie Pavilion of the Paris Radium Institute
On the steps of Musée Curie. L-R, Back Row: Wyatt Reller, Trevor Kieft, Marc Fritts, Dalton Knight, Riley Dickert. Front Row: Sarah Huffman, Kaz Zeiter, Bethany Hellman, Casey Aldrich, Daniel Koshar.
Marie Curie’s laboratory space
A 12 hour layover in Chicago allowed for time in the city. Here, students contemplate the unique optics of Cloud Gate (better known as “The Bean”)

This spring, senior physics majors had the opportunity to visit Paris, France, a center of sciences, arts, technology and culture for centuries.

The focus of the trip was a tour of the Laboratory for Optics and Biosciences, Ecole Polytechnique. Thanks to Director François Hache for his warm welcome. LOB scientists showed how their advanced microscopy techniques are used to study molecular and cellular biology, including the imaging of living tissues.

With Ecole Polytechnique demonstrating the future of microscopy, touring the Musée Curie (Curie Museum) presented an important tie to the past. Housed in the Curie Pavilion of the Institut du Radium, the museum presents the lab in which Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie performed her research between 1914 and her death in 1934.

Students also broadened their cultural understanding with visits to the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles.

In a field with as rich a history as physics, it is important to find opportunities to understand how we fit into that history and our global community of science. Collaboration and communication with scientists worldwide is how our discipline will continue to grow.

Special thanks to the Elizabeth and Richard Henes Center for Quantum Phenomena, who’s support made this trip possible.

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