By Tiffany Whitfield
The Old Dominion University chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) received the 2020-2021 Outstanding Chapter Award from the SPS National Office. This is the first time the ODU SPS chapter has been recognized for its excellence as a top-tier student-led physics organization. This designation is given to fewer than 10 percent of all SPS chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and internationally.
"I'm extremely proud of our ODU SPS students," said Perry Nerem, Ph.D., lecture in Physics and advisor to the SPS Chapter at ODU. "Their prolific outreach events are becoming matched with astronomy research projects they are creating themselves."
"This is an important milestone for our chapter because it helps bring attention to both the department and the club," said Alicia Mand, president of ODU's SPS. "I cannot be prouder of our members for all their hard work to earn this recognition."
ODU's SPS was eventful during the 2019-2020 year despite COVID-19. The student organization held its annual Pumpkin Drop where students are challenged to defy gravity and drop pumpkins from 130-feet in the air without breaking the pumpkin. SPS also held monthly social events where students met their peers in the physics department and interacted with physics faculty, virtually and eventually back in-person. Undergraduate research is important in the College of Sciences and SPS students received a Speed Research grant that helped them to setup a telescope on the roof of the Oceanography and Physics Building to study variable stars. Additionally, there were three members who attended the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (WuWiP), and the SPS held a resume workshop in the fall.
ODU's SPS 2020-2021 student officers are as follows:
- Ali Mand, President
- Adam Lane, Vice President
- Evan Johnson, Secretary
- Markus Zirnheld, Treasurer
The Society of Physics Students (SPS) is a professional association designed for students and membership is open to anyone interested in physics and related fields. SPS operates within the American Institute of Physics (AIP), an umbrella organization for professional physical science societies.
SPS chapters are evaluated on their level of interaction with the campus community, the professional physics community, the public, and with SPS national programs. The Outstanding Chapter Award recognizes high levels of outreach as well as unique approaches to fulfilling the mission of SPS to "help students transform themselves into contributing members of the professional community."