Newsletters

Winter 2020 Newsletter

Todd Brintlinger, Editor

In This Issue

Letter from the Editor

March Meeting 2020 is upon us, and with more than 11,000 abstracts, it will be quite the assembly of physicists in the Mile High City. With a robust applied science focus, FIAP will be sponsoring sessions on the latest in Industrial and Applied Physics. In this letter, we will preview this year’s program for Industry Day and FIAP-related events at March Meeting 2020, hear about the experience of an integral FIAP team member on the APS staff, and hear from the Chair in advance of the meeting. FIAP distributes this newsletter to ensure the larger community can follow the latest developments within the Forum, esp. at APS Meetings, to highlight FIAP activities and to engage with the Industrial and Applied Physics community. Any additional contributions are welcome, and we would like the newsletter to provide an outlet for discussions of interest to the FIAP membership. To submit articles, letters to the editor, or ideas for discussion, please contact me at fiap_newsletter@aps.org.

March Meeting 2020 Preview

March Meeting is coming to Denver March 2-6 and FIAP is proud to present an extensive program built around Industry Day on Wednesday March 4th. Industrial and applied physicists generate enormous value by creating new ways of looking at the world, both literally and figuratively. From medical imaging to the insights of data science and paradigm shifts like the rise of autonomous vehicles, we stand on the leading edge of expanding frontiers. Come join us in exploring this year’s theme, “New Ways of Seeing.” Your executive committee has partnered with six other APS units to bring you ten sessions of invited talks:

  • Metrology of Medical Imaging – presented with GMED
  • Seeing Your Career in a New Light – presented with FECS
  • Infrared Sensing and Imaging – presented with GIMS
  • New Ways of Seeing with Data Science – presented with GDS
  • Seeing the Energy Future – presented with GERA
  • Imaging in Industry – featuring everything from subterranean visualization to private weather satellites
  • Fellows of FIAP – showcasing the work of our recently elected fellows
  • Physics of Foams: From Beer to Windmill Blades and Everything in Between presented with DPOLY
  • New Ways of Seeing with Electrons – an exploration of modern electron microscopy applications
  • Innovations from Industry featuring the Pake Prize and Distinguished Lectureship Award talks

FIAP will again present a world class program of career-oriented content like the annual Meet Your Future career panel and many opportunities to make new connections. We look forward to seeing you in Denver!

Industry Day: New Ways of Seeing

Reflections on Six Years on Staff at APS

I arrived at APS Headquarters in September 2013 eager to begin a new phase in my career. I earned my PhD in superconductivity and magnetism at UCSD, then worked in Silicon Valley in the hard drive industry doing technology development in magnetic recording for 27 years. My wife and I were enthusiastic to relocate near Washington DC and give urban living a try for a year or two.

More than six years later my job at APS proved to be more interesting and engaging than I expected. With strong support from FIAP leadership and APS management we have raised the profile of Industrial Physics within APS. I’ve worked in close partnership with the dedicated volunteers on the FIAP Executive Committee to establish Industry Day as the flagship of an exciting program of sessions at the March Meeting. New initiatives include the Industrial Physics Advisory Board, the IMPact mentoring program which connects students with private sector physicists, and formalizing a role for FIAP in the policy discussions overseen by the APS Office of Government Affairs. Students are more aware than ever about career opportunities in the private sector due to the exceptional work of Crystal Bailey, APS Head of Careers, and I’ve enjoyed supporting those efforts. Outreach to physicists working in the private sector is an important goal in the new APS Strategic Plan. There’s much more work to be done, including finding ways to encourage more private sector physicists to maintain their connection to APS.

Living near DC has also been an excellent experience. I spent my entire prior life in suburbia, and it has been a novel and enjoyable adventure to live in a 2-bedroom apartment on the 11th floor of a high rise building. Despite being from California where driving is an essential part of daily life, we don’t have a car in DC, so we walk a lot and rely on the Metro and buses with the occasional ride share or short-term rental. We can be downtown in 25 minutes and go there often for concerts, lectures, plays, and to visit museums, monuments, and government buildings. This has been an enriching adventure that far exceeded our expectations.

I will retire from APS in May and begin the next phase of life without any work responsibilities. We plan to travel and spend more time with our children who live on the West Coast. APS is actively interviewing candidates to be my successor, and I am optimistic that private sector physicists will continue to see growing influence within APS. My thanks to all of you who made this an exceptional adventure, and I leave with confidence that the leadership of FIAP is in excellent hands.

Steven Lambert
APS Industrial Physics Fellow

APS March Meeting FIAP Meet and Greet Tuesday Evening Event

Dear FIAP Members, 

On Tuesday Night March 3, from 7:30pm - 9:30pm, FIAP will be hosting a Meet and Greet at the Corner Office Restaurant and Martini Bar, which is 5 minutes from the Denver Convention Center on foot. This will be one of many FIAP events and sessions that we hope you will join us to promote industrial participation in Denver and meet fellow industrial colleagues. I look forward to seeing you and discussing future FIAP ideas and thoughts you may have at the APS Denver March Meeting. 

Matt Kim, FIAP Past Chair

New FIAP Fellows

Husam N Alshareef
King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST)
Citation: For contributions to the development of semiconductor materials and processes for electronics and energy applications, including deployment in volume production.

James William Bray
GE Global Research
Citation: For outstanding contributions in applying superconductivity to MRI magnets and industrial scale generators/motors, and for management of these and other projects that have led to world-class products and leading-edge technology innovations.

Hendrik F Hamann
IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center
Citation: For the innovative use of physics in information technology, information systems, and information use and management.

Matt Kim
QuantTera
Citation: For the entrepreneurial development of compound semiconductor heterojunction transistor devices.

Raymond Jeffrey Phaneuf
University of Maryland
Citation: For development of novel industrial applications of thin film techniques including coatings for the protection of cultural heritage objects against corrosion and directed-assembly of nanostructures on semiconductor surfaces.

Leanne C Pitchford
Paul Sabatier University
Citation: For outstanding service to the industrial and applied physics communities in the area of low-temperature plasma modeling through the development of new approaches for solution of the electron gas Boltzmann equation, modeling software, evaluated data sets, and open-access websites.

Xin Zhang
Boston University
Citation: For research and education using microelectromechanical systems and metamaterials to address a wide range of important problems in areas ranging from energy to healthcare to homeland security.

FIAP Chair’s Thoughts

As we enter the new decade, it is good to reflect on the changing role of the industrial and applied physics in the society. In our daily life, we are constantly reminded of the effect of the climate change, and there is a continuing need for advances in renewable energy technologies as well as high-efficiency and environmentally-friendly schemes for generating energy and providing comfort. In the electronics arena, the race is on to identify the frontrunners in the post-Moore’s Law world. Within the fields of quantum computing and neuromorphic computing, for instance, there are many technologies vying for the leadership positions. These are indeed challenging and yet exciting times for industrial and applied physicists at large. FIAP addresses such topics and more at the APS March Meeting this year (Denver Convention Center, March 2-6). Thanks to our Vice Chair Matt Thompson, we have once again come up with a compelling program of invited sessions for Industry Day where you can directly hear from many leading industrial physicists in respective fields. Industry Day closes with our annual reception on Thursday the 5th at 5:30PM. This year, the Industry Day reception is co-sponsored by the American Institute of Physics (AIP), the Forum of Early Career Scientists (FECS) and the Topical Group on Data Science (GDS). We hope to see you there!

Ichiro Takeuchi
FIAP Chair

Opinions expressed represent the views of the individual authors and not the American Physical Society or author’s employers.