Newsletters

September 2020 Newsletter

TSAPS Chair's Message

Dear TSAPS Members:

I am happy to report that in these unprecedented times we were still able to organize the 2020 Joint Fall Meeting of the TSAPS, TSAAPT and Zone 13 of the Society of Physics Students, which will be held virtually and is organized by the Physics Department at UT Arlington. The layout is unique, but now, almost a year into the pandemic, many of you will be used to the numerous possibilities technology has to offer to still be connected and to still pursue cutting edge research in these most unusual times. We all hope to be back to our usual system of meeting and connecting in person by next year, but for now we are trying to make the best of our current situation.

The meeting will be a full two-day meeting on November 13 and 14, 2020. On the evening of November 12, the executive committees of TSAPS and TSAAPT will meet virtually. This meeting always offers an excellent opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to present their work for the first time and to build their own network of physics colleagues. A number of career-building sessions and physics education workshops will be organized as well by the TSAAPT and TSAPS.

Organizing Chair Prof. Wei Chen and his team have put together an impressive list of invited speakers in physics research and education ranging from medical physics to the latest results in high energy physics. Many of the keynote speakers in the morning session are National Academy members and experts in a wide variety of fields (Prof. Nygren in High Energy Physics, Prof. Coleman in Quantum Materials, Prof. Zank in Space Physics, Prof. Datta in Nanostructures, Prof. Long in Optics). Profs. Sham, Kotov, Cooley and Ren are rounding out the group of distinguished keynote speakers. We are very proud to have such a select group of speakers this time.

In addition to the keynote talks, there will be several topical invited talks in the parallel sessions given by a wide range of colleagues from all over the world, made possible by the unique format of this meeting. We are definitely trying to use the unfortunate circumstances of the pandemic to our advantage in putting together a program that would be impossible to arrange for an in-person meeting. So please take advantage of this opportunity. The UTA organizers also plan a special session on medical physics, and if you are interested in this session, please contact Wei Chen (weichen@uta.edu).

After an extended research period during Covid, please think about a student/mentor pair at either the undergraduate or graduate level whose work you find particularly impressive and nominate them for the Robert S. Hyer Award. Nominations are due October 18 to bellwied@uh.edu. The award criteria, a list of past recipients and information about the award are available at Hyer Award link on the new TSAPS website.

Another award we hope to present at this fall’s meeting is the Distinguished Service Award. More information about the award and a list of past recipients are available at the Distinguished Service Award website. Also, these nominations are due October 18th to TSAPS Chair Rene Bellwied at bellwied@uh.edu.

Last year’s Joint Fall Meeting of the TSAPS, TSAAPT and Zone 13 of the Society of Physics Students at the Texas Tech University was a great success. Organizing lead Tom Maccarone did a fantastic job of putting everything together, and the TSAPS membership strongly supported the event. I anticipate that the 2020 meeting will offer our membership another stellar opportunity to present their research, engage in discussions, and learn about the many different fields of physics. We will see you in your home, at your computer, and hopefully in many of the virtual sessions we are putting together for you.

Sincerely,

Rene Bellwied
TSAPS Chair
MD Anderson Professor of Physics

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TSAPS Executive Committee

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TSAPS 2020 Fall Meeting

The Joint Fall 2020 Meeting of the Texas Section of the APS (TSAPS), Texas Section of the AAPT, and Zone 13 of the Society of Physics Students will be held November 12-14, 2020 virtually with the University of Texas at Arlington hosting the conference. The meeting will draw participants from all fields of physics and physics education throughout Texas and contiguous states.

TSAPS 2020 Fall Meeting

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Deadlines

• Online Registration is currently available! The early registration deadline is October 25. Note that one need not be an APS member to register for the meeting and all registrations are FREE of charge.

Register Here

• Abstract submission for contributed talks has a deadline of October 25. All presentations are oral and virtual for this meeting. (The abstract submission link is not yet operational, but should soon be available through the main conference website.)

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Keynote Speakers

Keynote Speakers for TSAPS 2020, Nov. 12-14, UT Arlington

Name	Title	Institution	Area
Dr. David Nygren	Presidential Distinguished Professor Member of National Academy of Sciences	Department of Physics The University of Texas at Arlington	High Energy and Particle Physics
Dr. Jodi Cooley	Professor of Physics Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science  Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award	Department of Physics, Southern Methodist University	Dark Matter Physics Neutrino Physics
Dr. James Coleman	Presidential Distinguished Professor  Dr. Richard N. Claytor Professor Member of National Academy of Engineering	Departments of Physics and Electric Engineering, The University of Texas at Arlington	Condense Matter Physics Quantum Materials
Dr. Gary Zank	Director of CSPAR Aerojet Rocketdyne Chair in Space Science, Eminent Scholar, and Trustee Professor Member of National Academy of Sciences	Department of Space Science (SPA) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville	Interplanetary Space Physics Physics of the Solar Corona Physics of the Local Interstellar Medium
Dr. Tsun-Kong (T.K.) Sham	Distinguished University Professor Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Canada Research Chair Officer of Order of Canada Hellmuth Prize	Department of Chemistry Western University Canada	Materials Science Synchrotron Spectroscopy  Energy Materials
Dr. Supriyo Datta	Thomas Duncan Distinguished Professor Member of National Academy of Engineering Morrill Award Winner	Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Purdue University	Quantum Transport Physics  Nanoelectronics Nanostructures
Dr. Steve Long	Ikenberry Endowed University Chair Member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Fellow of AAAS and ASPB	School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	Plant Science Energy Crops Mathematical Models of Photosynthesis
Dr. Nicholas A. Kotov	Joseph B. and Florence V. Cejka Professor Top 25 Materials Scientists in 2000-2010, 2011 and Top 100 Chemists in 2000-2010, 2011 Thomson Reuters ACS Nano Editor	Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan	Nanomaterials Nanotechnology Nanobiotechnology
Dr. Zhifeng Ren	D. Anderson Chair  Professor Director of Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH)  Editor-in-Chief of Materials Today Physics	Department of Physics, University of Houston	Nanomaterials  Nanophysics Condensed Matter Physics

Invited Speakers

Invited Speakers (Medical Physics) for TSAPS 2020, Nov. 12-14, UT Arlington
(This list is not complete)

Name	Title	Institution	Area
Dr. Xiankai Sun	Professor and Director of the Cyclotron & Radiochemistry Program Dr. Jack Krohmer Professorship in Radiation Physics	Department of Radiology and Advanced Imaging Research Center at the UT Southwestern Medical Center	Molecular Imaging  Probes Theranostic Agents Multi-parametric Imaging and Data Analysis
Dr. Xun Jia	Professor ABR-certified Medical Physicist Director of the Medical Physics Track for the BME Graduate Program John Laughlin Award	Department of Radiation Oncology at the UT Southwestern Medical Center	Medical Imaging Radiotherapy Deep Learning
Dr. Felicia S. Manciu	Professor Director of the Optical Spectroscopy and Microscopy Laboratory	Department of Physics Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC) at the University of Texas at El Paso	Optics Nanotechnology Biophysics
Dr. Juyang Huang	Professor	Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Texas Tech University	Biophysics Biomembranes Fluorescence Tech Molecular Dynamics
Dr. Jason Slinker	Associate Professor Head of Physics Undergraduate Program Regents Outstanding Teaching Award Hyer Award for Research	Department of Physics at the University of Texas at Dallas	Optoelectronics Electrochemical Sensor
Dr. Mingwu Jin	Associate Professor	Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington	Medical Imaging Tomography MRI
Dr. Neil Kirby	Associate Professor ABR-certified Medical Physicist	Radiation Oncology, UT Health San Antonio	Medical Physics DNA Dosimeter
Dr. Anton Naumov	Assistant Professor Member at Large at Electrochemical Society	Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Texas Christian University (TCU) & UNTHSC Medical School	Carbon Nanotechnology  Nanomedicine  Biomedical Imaging
Dr. Lloyd Lumata	Associate Professor	Department of Physics, University of Texas at Dallas	Cancer Metabolism MRI NMR spectroscopy
Dr. Yujie Chi	Assistant Professor Rising Stars Award	Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington	Computational Physics Radiobiology

Hyer Student Research Awards

The Robert S. Hyer Research Award will be presented at the Fall 2020 TSAPS meeting to two pairs of recipients. The first pair will consist of a recipient who must have been a graduate student when the research was performed and this student's research advisor. The second pair will consist of a recipient who must have been an undergraduate student when the research was performed and that student's research advisor.

The only criterion is excellence, including potential impact in the relevant scientific community. The research must be in physics or a physics-related subject, and it must have been presented at a Texas APS meeting within the past two years by either the student or the advisor, both of whom must have been TSAPS members at the time. We do allow the research to be presented at the same meeting in which the award is presented.

HYER AWARD NOMINATIONS: The Texas Section of the APS is now accepting nominations for the Hyer Award for both undergraduate and graduate students and their mentors. Details about the award and the nomination process are available at Hyer Award.  Nominations should be submitted by October 18, 2020; the nomination packet should be emailed to bellwied@uh.edu. The award recipients will be announced at the Fall 2020 meeting (TSAPS Fall 2020).

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Texas Section Distinguished Service Award (TSAPS-DSA)

This award is to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions over several years to the Texas section of the APS. These contributions include leadership through service on the executive committee and/or TSAPS sponsored activities such as the Fall and Spring Regional conferences, or other activities that significantly promote excellence in Physics in the Texas region. 

Award and nomination details are at DSA. Distinguished Service Award nominations are due October 18. The Fall 2019 and Fall 2020 recipients will both be announced at the Fall 2020 meeting (TSAPS Fall 2020). Nominations are due October 18 to TSAPS Chair Rene Bellwied at bellwied@uh.edu.

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Student Presentation Awards

The Texas Section of the American Physical Society recognizes outstanding student presentations with cash prizes. Graduate students and undergraduate students are judged in separate categories. Students submitting abstracts and presenting their research will all be judged. 

If you would like to help judge the student presentations, please sign up here.

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TSAPS and Texas University Fellows

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEWEST TSAPS AND TEXAS UNIVERSITY FELLOWS!

• Corsi, Alessandra [2019]
  Texas Tech University
  Citation: For major contributions to the discovery of both gravitational wave sources and their electromagnetic counterparts.
  Nominated by: Division of Astrophysics

• Bao, Jiming [2019]
  University of Houston
  Citation: For the discovery of photoacoustic laser streaming, for seminal contributions to the understanding of basic electronic and optical properties of nanostructured materials, and the development of new nanomaterials for applications in solar energy conversions and optoelectronic devices.
  Nominated by: Division of Materials Physics

• Erukhimova, Tatiana [2019]
  Texas A&M University
  Citation: For developing and disseminating innovative physics education programs for college students and the public, and for organizing major science festivals in university settings.
  Nominated by: Forum Outreach & Engaging Public

• Mioduszewski, Saskia [2019]
  Texas A&M University
  Citation: For sustained leadership of high-precision measurement of the quark-gluon plasma using direct photons and their correlations with hadrons and jets at the PHENIX and STAR experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.
  Nominated by: Division of Nuclear Physics

• Wilke, Claus [2019]
  University of Texas at Austin
  Citation: For discovering that biophysical constraints are a primary driver of protein sequence evolution.
  Nominated by: Division of Biological Physics

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