Zone 7 Meeting
Winter
2015
In The Zone - Regional SPS Highlights
Zone 7 Meeting
Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania
By:Ilona Tsuper
Cleveland State University
Our SPS chapter was honored to host the 2015 zone 7 meeting for the first time in October. The event launched with a poster session and banquet held with the Ohio-Region section of the American Physical Society (OSAPS). It ended with pizza and physics games, including Fermi problems like estimating the number of drops in Lake Erie.
It was quite an experience! We welcomed chapters from The Ohio State University, Grove City College, Ohio Wesleyan, Grand Valley State University, John Carroll University, and Hiram College.
After a talk about the physics of life from Dr. Peter Hoffman of Wayne State University on the first day, the second began with a complimentary breakfast. Then a round of introductions was made by SPS president DJ Wagner and zone 7 councilor Kiril Streletzky. The interaction between students, faculty, and SPS members facilitated a truly unique dynamic.
Dr. Stanley Micklavzina from the University of Oregon put on a highly anticipated demonstration called the Physics of Rock-n-Roll. He created a concertlike atmosphere to explore music, acoustics, and instruments, all in the name of physics. Another demonstration was CSU professor Jearl Walker’s famous Flying Circus of Physics. The renowned author of the textbook Fundamentals of Physics submerged his hand in molten lead and astonishingly, walked away with all five fingers—unharmed and intact.
Other activities included an AIP Career Toolbox Workshop presented by SPS director and Sigma Pi Sigma director Sean Bentley, a tour of the physics department, a roundtable with CSU physics alumni, and an improvised Rubens’ tube guitar performance. //