News
Hichwa Family Fellowship
The Department of Physics is pleased to announce the creation of the Hichwa Family Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. This fellowship, established through the generous support of Dr. Bryant P. (C’68) and Ms. Diane V. Hichwa, will support an undergraduate student to carry out research in the department during the summer. We are also pleased to announce the first winner of this award, Dionysios Koroulakis, a rising sophomore Physics major, who will be engaging in research in the lab of Prof. Van Keuren this summer on the development of nanoparticles for the detection of cancer.
Prof. Freericks awarded McDevitt Chair
Prof. Jim Freericks has been named the Robert L. McDevitt, K.S.G., K.C.H.S. and Catherine H. McDevitt L.C.H.S. Chair in Physics. This endowed chair is funded by a gift to Georgetown University from the estate of alumnus Robert L. McDevitt (C'40), who had a longstanding interest in science and technology. The appointment honors Prof. Freericks for his scholarly achievements and contributions.Prof. Liu elected to fellowship in the American Physical Society
Prof. Liu was elected as a fellow in the division of computational physics in 2010. Citation: For her innovative and influential computational studies of the electronic, structural, and vibrational properties of solids, and of electron-phonon interactions, with applications to ultra-hard materials; high-pressure phases; fullerenes, nanotubes, and related compounds; and novel superconductors. Prof. Rigol wins IUPAP 2011 Young Scientist Prize
Prof. Marcos Rigol was recently awarded the 2011 International Union of Pure and Applied Physics C10 (Structure and Dynamics of Condensed Matter) Young Scientist Prize. His award citation reads: “For decisive contributions to the understanding of the grand challenge posed by correlated quantum systems far from equilibrium concerning their dynamics and thermalization”. The award was presented to him at the March national meeting of the American Physical Society in Dallas.Professor wins 2011 Dean’s Teaching award
Makarand Paranjape was recently honored as one of the recipients of the 2011 Dean’s Teaching award. During the College Convocation on January 25th, Mak was noted, among other things, for “making fascinating connections between scientific concepts and tangible real-life contexts,” especially in his Ignatius Seminar “The Art of Cooking: Practical Science in Action.” More information can be found at http://college.georgetown.edu/146863.htmlBiopolymers help visualize mechanical strain
Georgetown Physicists Prof. Daniel Blair and Richard Arevalo, in a collaboration with scientists at the Technische Universität München (TUM) have unlocked a sixty year old mystery about the way polymers react when strained. Using a technique developed in the Blairlab, know as confocal-rheology, the team were able to visualize the response of polymers derived from muscle cells. Their results provide the first insights into the microscopic behavior of these materials when they are repeatedly strained and are published in Nature CommunicationsPhysics Major named Mitchell Scholar
The US-Ireland Alliance has named Georgetown Physics major, Derick Stace-Naughton, a Mitchell Scholar. The George J. Mitchell Scholarship program was created more than 10 years ago and has quickly become one of the most sought-after international fellowships. Scholars must have exceptionally strong records of academic achievement, service, and leadership to be chosen from the highly-competitive national pool of applicants.Georgetown Physicists Propose a Method to Create Atom Lasers in Optical Lattices
Publishing in Physical Review Letters (editors suggestion), former Georgetown postdoctoral fellow Itay Hen and Prof. Marcos Rigol proposed a method to dynamically generate coherent matter waves in strongly correlated bosonic systems in optical lattices.Georgetown Physicists Participate in USA Science and Engineering Expo
On October 23rd and 24th Professor Blair and his lab members participated in the first USA Science and Engineering Expo on the National Mall. Their exhibit was titled, "Squishy Science: The World of Soft Matter Physics. Demonstrations included, granular compaction, the "Brazil-nut effect", polymer gels and shear thickening fluids.
To see the University coverage of the event highlighting the physics department contribution, please click here
Members of the physics department who participated:
The 6th Mid-Atlantic Soft Matter Workshop
The sixth installment of the Mid-Atlantic Soft Matter Workshop will be held at Georgetown on Friday, June 18th from 8:00-5:00. To learn more about the workshop and to attend, you can go to the website. This event is being sponsored by the Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology.