Congratulations class of 2018! I’ve attached a few pictures of some of our seniors and professors who gathered for a quick photo on graduation day (pics courtesy of Zane Thornburg). Special congratulations are in order for Avi Vajpeyi (far left in the second photo), who was selected to be one of the College’s commencement speakers this year!
As my first year as department chair winds up, I am preparing to move to the University of Oregon in Eugene for a one-semester research leave. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with five Wooster physics alumni who are now in the Physics Ph.D. program there!
As I look back on the year, I have a few more random highlights to post that I somehow never found the time to blog about during the busy year!
I enjoyed attending the Senior awards banquet earlier this spring, where Justine Walker, Avi Vajpeyi, and Zane Thorburg (left to right below) were honored for their academic accomplishments. Congrats to all three of you!
The department’s new 3-D printer, housed in Dr. Manz’s Wave Lab, experienced heavy use in multiple research projects, including Collin Hendershot ’18’s project studying the aerodynamics of race car wings of various curvatures. We also used it to 3-D print a plaque honoring Maggie Lankford 16 whose selection as an Apker Award finalist for her I.S. research helped fund the purchase of the printer. Thanks for Jack Mershon ’18 for his help with the plaque!
Last summer, students and professors who participated in our NSF-sponsored summer research program paused their work for an afternoon to go on a hike at Wooster Memorial park, a lovely 300 acre wooded area including many miles of trails around a large ravine. I hope this becomes an annual tradition!
The department is looking forward to another exciting summer of research as our 2018 program begins in less than one week! I’ll be sure to blog from Oregon during my leave, so stay tuned.