physics

Grant Will Boost Student Research Experience

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Kalamazoo College’s efforts to get science majors experience in student research, one of the most important factors in providing them an exceptional start in their post-college careers, just got a big boost.

Student research
A $247,500 grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation will boost the availability of summer student research experiences for K biology, chemistry and physics majors.

The Sherman Fairchild Foundation will provide $247,500 to fund stipends of $4,000 apiece for students in biology, chemistry and physics to conduct research in summer. The three-year grant will also provide up to $1,500 apiece for students to attend scientific conferences to present their findings and to offset the cost of supplies, said Associate Professor of Physics Arthur Cole, who will serve as director of the project.

The student research beneficiaries, 15 each summer, will include both rising seniors working on their Senior Individualized Projects (SIPs) and younger students, allowing them to get early exposure to life in the lab before deciding whether to pursue science as a career, Cole said. He worked with Assistant Professor of Biology Santiago Salinas, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dwight Williams and Anne Dueweke, director of grants, fellowships and research, to conceptualize and develop the grant proposal.

“It gives students an earlier chance to seek out research experiences,” Cole said. “A lot of times you think you want to go into the sciences and you don’t know what research is like until you get to try it.”

He said the grant also will make it possible for those who support themselves while attending the College to concentrate on student research, rather than having to seek summer jobs, and could open doors for members of groups who are underrepresented in the sciences.

Salinas said summer research as an undergraduate played a major role in his own decision to become a scientist and professor.

“It’s more than what’s in the textbook,” he said. “They start to see the bigger picture. And they get to try things. It’s how they learn. And it’s fun.”

For those who do decide to pursue scientific careers, Williams said, the opportunity to get early research experience can give them a “leg up” on getting further grants and research opportunities.

“It’s a great way for us to get more students involved in research, particularly with an emphasis on first- and second-year students, instead of waiting until they’re seniors working on their SIPs” he said.

Though most of the research that the grant funds will involve students working with professors on the College’s campus, it will also provide support for up to three K students a year to participate in research at other institutions, Cole said.

2 K Alumni Among 40 Under 40 Honorees

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Crain’s Detroit Business last week honored its 40 Under 40 honorees, and they include two Kalamazoo College alumni. They are:

  • Ed Mamou ’00, 39, who is the owner of the Root and Mabel Gray restaurants, vice president of GFL Environmental Recycling Services Inc., and vice president of Royal Oak Recycling. Mamou earned a degree in mathematics at K and later earned a master’s degree in applied math at the University of California-San Diego; and
  • Sean Mann ’03, 37, who is a former lobbyist and policy adviser in Michigan politics. Mann quit his job with Michigan Legislative Consultants in Lansing on Sept. 5 to become the full-time CEO of Detroit City FC, a semi-pro soccer club that could soon turn professional. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and history from K and holds a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Bristol.

Crain’s Detroit Business says all of its 40 Under 40 honorees are professionals who have made “big decisions and bold moves.” They’ve also reinvented themselves and their companies across a variety of sectors and challenges involving fields or attributes such as autonomous vehicles, educational attainment, regional transit, home mortgages and health care.

The honorees were selected by the Crain’s Detroit Business editorial team through nominations selected based on their impact and achievements in business. Read more about the honorees and hear in their own words what they think the next 40 years will hold for Michigan.

 

 

Physics Professor Honored with Teaching Award

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Statistical physicists Jan Tobochnik
Statistical physicists like Jan Tobochnik rely heavily on computers to explore anything and everything that has lots of parts.

Jan Tobochnik, the Dow Distinguished Professor in Natural Sciences,  has been named as the 2017 recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Oersted Medal, presented by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). The Oersted Medal recognizes outstanding, widespread, and lasting impact on the teaching of physics. In connection with the award, Tobochnik will deliver a talk on “The Changing Face of Physics and the Students Who Take Physics” at the 2017 AAPT winter meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Past winners include Carl E. Sagan, Edward Purcell and Richard Feynman, among others.

Jan’s research interest fall in the area of statistical physics, the  development of computer models that predict behaviors, not only of physical phenomena (like earthquakes and nucleation) but also social situations, such as wealth distribution patterns and traffic jams. Because Jan incorporates his research into his teaching, students get a better sense of what science is all about. “Without my research,” he says, “my examples would be stodgy.” In fact, the award specifically cites Jan’s “lasting impact on the teaching of physics through his contributions to the use of computer simulations to motivate active learning.”

Jan is well known for his series of texts (six) written with Harvey Gould. They cover computer simulation methods at the introductory level and statistical and thermal physics at the intermediate level. In the early 1990’s he was a practitioner of active learning methods, long before it became fashionable, and was busy developing software to assist student learning. Jan’s fluency in computational methods especially in the service of advanced thermal and statistical physics research has informed dozens of publications in refereed journals. He served as the editor for the American Journal of Physics from 2001 to 2011.

Jan was born and reared in Philadelphia, and he remains an only occasionally wavering Phillies fan. He graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College in 1975 with a major in physics. He then went to Cornell University and earned a Ph.D. in physics (1980).

Jan came to K in 1985. In addition to teaching in the physics department he has served as acting provost and interim provost. And every year, in the spirit of the liberal arts advocate that he is, Jan leads discussions on the year’s Summer Common Reading selection, none of which, as yet, have been about physics.

The William Randolph Hearst Undergraduate Research Fellowship at K

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Thanks to a generous gift from The Hearst Foundation, Inc., Kalamazoo College has established the William Randolph Hearst Undergraduate Research Fellowships. These competitive fellowships will provide support for summer research projects for K students majoring in the sciences or mathematics. The goal is to continue the College’s success in preparing individuals for graduate studies and careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines.

Eight fellowships will be awarded each year for the next three years beginning this summer 2014. Each award will consist of a $3,000 stipend to defray travel and living expenses. Eligible disciplines include biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, and mathematics. Projects must be investigative and have the goal of generating primary research results. K first-year, sophomore, and junior students are eligible to apply.

Kalamazoo College Upjohn Professor of Life Sciences Jim Langeland ’86, Department of Biology, will serve as faculty coordinator for the program.

The Hearst Foundation and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation are national philanthropic resources for organizations working in the fields of culture, education, health, and social services. The Hearst Foundations identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States have the opportunity to build healthy, productive, and inspiring lives.

Kalamazoo College Professor Péter Érdi Earns Award from International Neural Networks Societies

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Peter Erdi among three accepting awards
Kalamazoo College Professor Peter Erdi (left), Plamen Angelov (Lancaster University), and Daniel Levine (University of Texas at Arlington) received Outstanding Service Awards at the 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks. Photo by Wentao Guo.

Péter Érdi, K’s Henry R. Luce Professor of Complex Systems Studies, served as the Program Chair for the 2013 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN), the premier international conference in the area of neural networks theory, analysis, and application. This year’s IJCNN was held in Dallas, Texas and was attended by more than 500 people.

Professor Érdi, who teaches in K’s departments of Physics and Psychology, was also one of three chairs of the Organizing Committee to receive the Outstanding Service Award from the International Neural Network Society and the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers Computational Intelligence Society, the two leading professional organizations for researchers working in neural networks.

He joined other big names in neural research who received awards at the conference, including Stephen Grossberg (Boston University), considered by many in the field to be the father/inventor of adaptive resonance theory; Terry Sejnowski  (University California at San Diego) who works on President Obama’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies initiative, which is being compared to the Human Genome Project and the moon landing initiative; and Frank Lewis, a Distinguished Professor at University of Texas Arlington Research Institute who received the IEEE Pioneer in Neural Networks Award for his work in bringing together optimal and adaptive control.

Professor Emeritus of Physics David Winch Has Died

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Professor Emeritus of Physics David Winch
David Winch, Professor Emeritus of Physics

The Kalamazoo College community is saddened to learn of the death of Professor Emeritus of Physics David Michael Winch, age 78. David, of Taos, New Mexico, passed away unexpectedly October 7, 2013 while riding his bicycle. David taught at the College from 1967 to 2001. Before coming to K he taught at John Carroll University, Clarkson College of Technology, the United States Air Force Academy, and British Open University. He conducted research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Argonne National Laboratory, and the Desert Research Institute.

Winch was an enthusiastic bicyclist, and was often seen on campus on his bicycle. He usually biked the 13-mile round trip from his home to K. He also loved the out-of-doors, especially mountains, and he co-founded the College’s popular LandSea wilderness first-year orientation program.

In addition to physics, he was deeply involved in science education at all levels. He believed that science is best learned using a hands-on approach, and he believed that science is best learned through collaboration and group work. He was a founding board member of the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center, a magnet school for gifted high school math and science students in Kalamazoo County. He also was a teacher and director with ScienceGrasp, a national program that encouraged elementary school teachers to use hands-on science teaching strategies in their classrooms. During his career he received more than $2.8 million in grants on behalf of science education, and he published more than a dozen articles and presentations on physics education for various learning levels. In one of those publications he wrote, “An infant reaches for a brightly colored object; tiny fingers squeeze the object, exploring its shape and texture. The infant shakes the object to see if it rattles and almost certainly puts the object in her mouth. She uses all of her senses to experience the sizes, shapes, colors, sounds, and textures of her world. A child is naturally curious and begins at an early age the lifelong business of learning about this world in which we live. This innate curiosity is perhaps most evident during the period of human development marked by the question ’Why?’ It can be frustrating to deal with a child who wants to know ’why,’ yet it can also be refreshing to have renewed contact with this childlike curiosity. Science tries to answer the ’why’ of the physical world. It is a grand journey, guided by a myriad of questions and a few answers. We, as teachers, are guides in this journey of exploration.” Winch said that the most important element of his pedagogy was to “ask questions and then keep quiet,” and he noted the difficulty of the latter for teachers. And yet the duration of the period of silence following a question, said Winch, is (to paraphrase an aphorism about teaching often ascribed to Socrates) the difference between kindling a flame and filling a vessel.

After moving to Taos in 2002, he served as president of the Upper Las Colonias Neighborhood Association. He loved Taos. He also loved skiing, kayaking, canoeing, He is survived by his wife, Suzanne Winch; children, Michael Winch, Janet McBarnes, Martin Winch, Douglas Winch (Lisa), Kenneth Winch, Robert Kuiper, Shelli Kuiper, Joseph Kuiper (Kim); and 11 grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, many other family and friends. A memorial service in New Mexico will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to C.A.R.E. or the American Red Cross.

A memorial service for David will be held Sunday October 20, 1:30 p.m., in Stetson Chapel on the K campus followed by a reception in the Olmsted Room, Mandelle Hall. An obituary appears in the Kalamazoo Gazette.