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Department of Physics / News & Events

News

- - Apr 18, 2018 Launch of NASA’s All-Sky Satellite Mission takes space exploration to the next level, says expert
    With the expected launch of NASA’s new Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) this week, Virginia Tech astronomical science expert Nahum Arav says the all-sky survey mission is an important step forward that will enable space explorers to discover thousands of exoplanets around nearby bright stars.
- - Mar 09, 2018 Clare Boothe Luce Program supports research by female undergraduates
    The funding will be used over the next three years to provide 24 Clare Booth Luce Undergraduate Research Awards that will help make it possible for students to participate in research over the summer.
- - Mar 05, 2018 Rana Ashkar is named assistant professor of physics in College of Science
    With her research area focusing on experimental soft condensed matter physics and biophysics, Ashkar is the first faculty hire for the department in the area of Economic and Sustainable Materials.
- - Jan 03, 2018 Lara Anderson, Marc Michel named Luther and Alice Hamlett Junior Faculty Fellows
    The Luther and Alice Hamlett Junior Faculty Fellowships were established in the College of Science by the estate of Luther J. and Alice Hamlett.
- - Dec 07, 2017 College of Science inducts six new members during fifth annual Hall of Distinction ceremony
    The College of Science Hall of Distinction ceremony honors alumni and friends who have excelled in their professional careers, as well as in their service and philanthropy to civic groups and the university itself.
- - Dec 04, 2017 Chemistry’s John Morris named Dr. A.C. Lilly Jr. Faculty Fellow in Nanoscience by Board of Visitors
    A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 1999, Morris develops nanoscience approaches that can be used to build new catalysts and to provide insight into how the unique properties of small-scale materials affect the environment.
- - Nov 30, 2017 Satoru Emori named assistant professor of physics in College of Science
    His research focuses on “spintronics” and magnetic thin films, or more specifically, nanometer-thick materials with robust spin-driven physics. Many of these phenomena are considered essential for next-generation computing and communications technologies.
- - Nov 28, 2017 Physics researchers hosting NSF-funded workshop on quantum information, future of communications security
    Virginia Tech Department of Physics faculty will lead a three-day workshop in Arlington, Virginia, focused on quantum information, which could provide communications a revolutionary boost in security and privacy.
- - Nov 15, 2017 Cadets chosen to highlight the colors at the Pittsburgh game
    The cadets, selected based on their performance during training, render honor to the flags and then carry them off the field.
- - Oct 23, 2017 John Simonetti part of worldwide effort in detection of two merging neutron stars and resulting explosion
    Last Monday, an international group of scientists announced they had detected a kilonova — the collision of two neutron stars that unleashed a set of gravitational waves into outer space. Among the astronomers is Virginia Tech’s John Simonetti.
- - Sep 19, 2017 Army research grant could employ physics theory to control epidemics, understand brain
    Two Virginia Tech College of Science researchers are spearheading a $1.6 million U.S. Army Research grant with the ultimate goal of finding order and control in the most chaotic and noisy patterns.
- - Sep 05, 2017 Theoretical physicist Nigel Goldenfeld is fourth speaker in J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series
    The Virginia Tech College of Science opens its J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series for the fall 2017 semester on Sept. 14 with Professor Nigel D. Goldenfeld, a theoretical physicist.
- - Aug 02, 2017 Physics researchers eye experimental box as key to tracking nuclear activity by rogue nations
    Researchers at the Virginia Tech College of Science have built an experimental neutrino detector that they say could lead to a turning point in how the United Nations tracks rogue nations that seek nuclear power.
- - Jun 23, 2017 Inaugural College of Science Dean’s Discovery Fund provides support for faculty research
    The first alumni-endowed Virginia Tech College of Science Dean’s Discovery Fund, started by Sally C. Morton, supports vital research advances ranging from cancer treatment to a neutrino detector.
- - Apr 11, 2017 Nobel laureate Arthur B. McDonald is third speaker in the J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series
    The Virginia Tech College of Science concludes the lecture series April 27 with McDonald, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
- - Mar 24, 2017 Michel Pleimling named director of inclusion and diversity for College of Science
    Michel Pleimling has been named director of inclusion and diversity in the College of Science.
- - Feb 27, 2017 In Memoriam: Paul Zweifel of the Department of Physics, supporter of Moss Arts Center
    While at Virginia Tech, Zweifel was awarded the U.S. Department of Energy’s E. O. Lawrence Medal in 1972 and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1975. He also was a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
- - Feb 14, 2017 Nanoscientist Naomi Halas second speaker in J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series
    Halas is famed for her breakthrough research creating novel nanoparticles and studying their interactions with light. She will speak at Virginia Tech on Feb. 23.
- - Jan 30, 2017 Three departments in College of Science receive Exemplary Department Award
    The 2016 awards theme recognized groups for developing and sustaining effective large-class instruction. An event to celebrate the achievement will be held on Feb. 7 at 4 p.m. at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center.
- - Jan 24, 2017 Scientist David Reitze kicks off J. Mark Sowers Distinguished Lecture Series
    The new series sponsored by the College of Science launches Feb. 1 with Reitze, a physicist and executive director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory Project at Cal Tech.
- - Jan 09, 2017 Virginia Tech hosting American Physical Society’s Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics
    Virginia Tech will serve as one of 10 national hosts for the 2017 American Physical Society Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics.
- - Jan 05, 2017 College of Science inducts six alumni into its Hall of Distinction
    In its fourth year, the College of Science Hall of Distinction ceremony honors alumni and friends who have distinguished themselves in their professional careers as well as their service and philanthropy.
- - Dec 21, 2016 Thomas O’Donnell named assistant professor of particle physics in College of Science
    Prior to joining Virginia Tech, O’Donnell worked as a post-doctorate researcher at the University of California Berkeley on the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events searching for neutrinoless double beta decay.
- - Aug 25, 2016 Mark Pitt named chair of Department of Physics
    Pitt’s research focuses on nuclear physics with a primary interest in electron scattering and weak interactions.
- - Aug 05, 2016 Virginia Tech physics research team scores three projects with Hubble Space Telescope
    While likely not the first time one research team has pulled off such a feat in the 27-year history of the NASA telescope, Nahum Arav said it’s rare and certainly a first for Virginia Tech.
- - Aug 01, 2016 Faculty in Science, Liberal Arts honored with Dr. Carroll B. Shannon Excellence in Teaching Award
    Four Virginia Tech faculty with the College of Science and College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences received the 2016 Dr. Carroll B. Shannon Excellence in Teaching Award.
- - Jun 03, 2016 Patrick Huber among first Distinguished Scholars by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
    The two-year appointment by the Batavia, Illinois-based laboratory will bring Huber and one or two graduate students of his choosing to the lab for research into theoretical physics.
- - May 18, 2016 Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics seeks to connect research across Virginia Tech
    The Virginia Tech Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, launched this past winter in the Department of Physics, will host a symposium May 19.
- - Apr 22, 2016 Michel Pleimling receives Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching
    The physics professor's dedication to his student’s success is best measured by his well-attended office hours, often causing traffic jams in the hallway, as well as his exceptional student evaluation scores.
- - Mar 29, 2016 Sally C. Morton appointed dean of College of Science
    Currently professor and chair in the Department of Biostatistics in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, Sally C. Morton will begin at Virginia Tech on July 1.
- - Mar 22, 2016 Researchers help world’s newest atom-smasher achieve ‘first turns’
    The Belle 2 particle detector, built in part at Virginia Tech, will help give physicists access to a record rate of particle collisions and a unique chance to discover the mysteries of the universe’s origins.
- - Mar 04, 2016 Science alumnus James Lough helps with historic discovery of gravitational waves
    More than a thousand scientists worked on the discovery of the existence of gravitational waves. Among them is James Lough, a native of Blacksburg and a 2001 graduate of Virginia Tech’s Department of Physics.
- - Jan 08, 2016 Researcher's computational model of microtubules could explain basic mysteries of cells
- - Dec 08, 2015 Virginia Tech selected to host Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics
- - Nov 13, 2015 College of Science welcomes new faculty to departments, Academy of Integrated Sciences, and School of Neuroscience
    Roundup of new faculty members who have joined the College of Science
- - Oct 19, 2015 American Physical Society honors College of Science’s Michel Pleimling with Fellowship
    The American Physical Society has elected Michel Pleimling, a professor with the Department of Physics, as a Fellow.
- - Feb 05, 2015 New Virginia Tech QuarkNET center aimed at helping high school teachers
- - Oct 24, 2014 Neutrino scientists to receive more than $1 million of Jefferson Laboratory electron beam time
- - Sep 30, 2014 Randy Heflin named associate dean for research and graduate studies in College of Science
- - Sep 30, 2014 Shengfeng Cheng uses high-performance computing to design new materials
    Shengfeng Cheng, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics, has developed a high-performance computing system to design molecules at the atomistic scale and create new materials with highly sought after properties.

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