What will be the future of journal publishing in the 21st century? How can associations and nonprofits survive the current recession? How do societies engage with their international members? These were some of the questions discussed at the 2009 Assembly of Society Officers, an annual meeting held in College Park, Maryland, by the American Institute of Physics (AIP) for its member and affiliate societies.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — David King, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is retiring from the agency to accept a position as executive vice president of Dynetics in Huntsville, effective immediately. Robert M. Lightfoot, Marshall's deputy center director, will serve as acting director until a successor is named.
Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov, a professor at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences since 1996, was today awarded the Abel Prize in Mathematics by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters for "his revolutionary contributions to geometry." In its announcement, the Academy described Gromov as "one of the leading mathematicians of our time" whose work "will continue to be a source of inspiration for many future mathematical discoveries." He is expected to receive the Abel Prize from His Majesty, King Harald V of Norway, in Oslo on May 19. The honor is accompanied by a prize of NOK 6,000,000 or approximately $950,000.
The U.S. Particle Accelerator School recently announced the winners of its achievement prizes in physics and technology. The USPAS prizes honor individuals by recognizing their outstanding achievements over the full range of accelerator physics and technology. Two awards are given every two years.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, March 25, 2009
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today that Dr. Arthur Eisenkraft is the 2009 recipient of the Robert A. Millikan Medal. Eisenkraft is Distinguished Professor of Science Education and Director of the Center of Science and Math in Context (COSMIC), University of Massachusetts, Boston. This award recognizes educators who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics. It will be presented during the AAPT Summer Meeting at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI.
Lila Adair, Chairman, AAPT Awards Committee said, "Arthur Eisenkraft's active involvement with AAPT began in the late '80s, when he and a group of high school teachers began writing his popular Active Physics textbook. Due to his many achievements and his high level of activity in the area of physics education through the years, the Awards Committee is pleased to present him with the Millikan Medal."
Eisenkraft began his physics education at SUNY, Stony Brook where he earned both his B.S. and M.A before moving to New York University for his Ph.D in Science Education.
His teaching career began in Nepal while he was serving in the Peace Corp where he decided he wanted to teach physics. After completion of his studies, Eisenkraft began teaching at Fox Lane High School in Bedford, NY where he met AAPT Executive Director, Jack Wilson. Together the two educators created the process that identified and supported the first U.S. Physics Olympics Team to compete in the 1986 International Physics Olympiad. In 1991 Eisenkraft became the Executive Director of the XXIV International Physics Olympiad, hosted by the US for teams from 40 countries. He also served as academic director of the U.S. Physics Team for seven years. As an outgrowth of this work, he also helped found Quantum magazine. Dr. Eisenkraft was also the creator and director of the prestigious Toshiba Exploravision Awards; he has served as Chair of the Duracell Science Scholarship Competition for many years, and was the originator of the Toyota Tapestry Awards.
Perhaps Arthur Eisenkraft's single most significant contribution to AAPT and physics teaching has been his development of the Active Physics curriculum project, which was funded by research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The goal of the project was to make physics interesting to students of all backgrounds so that they not only learn the material, but understand its application to their daily lives.
Warren Hein, Executive Officer of AAPT said, "AAPT is pleased and honored to recognize Arthur Eisenkraft with the Millikan Medal. Dr. Eisenkraft has made significant contributions to physics education as a teacher, textbook author, administrator, and through service to the profession as president of the National Science Teachers Association." He is very deserving of this honor for his many scholarly contributions to physics education and science education in general."
Dr. Eisenkraft is a previous recipient of AAPT's Distinguished Service Citation (1989) and the AAPT Excellence in Pre-College Teaching Award (1999).
Regarding the Millikan Medal, Eisenkraft stated, "It is hard to reconcile the wave of humility and sheer exuberance that I am feeling at having received this honor. It is an extraordinary recognition of the important work that involves so many of my fellow physics teachers. Two passions drive my professional life - my passion for physics and my passion for teaching. In the pursuit of my passions, I too often am confronted with inequities in our schools, inequities that prevent many of our students from getting access to a quality physics course, a quality physics teacher or an opportunity to discover and experience the joy of science. Addressing equity issues has become my third passion, because justice for children demands it."
About the Award
The Robert A Millikan Medal, established in 1962, recognizes teachers who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics. The recipient is asked to make a presentation at the Ceremonial Session of an AAPT Summer Meeting. A monetary award, The Millikan Medal, an Award Certificate, and travel expenses to the meeting are presented to the recipient.
Previous Awardees
2008, Eric Mazur, Harvard University
2007, David R. Sokoloff, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
2006, Art Hobson, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
2005, John S. Rigden, Washington University in St. Louis, MO
2004, Kenneth S. Krane, Oregon State University, Corvallis
http://www.aapt.org/Grants/millikan.cfm
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage teaching practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301) 209-3306, (301) 209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, March 25, 2009
Dr. Lee Smolin, a founding and senior faculty member at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada and Adjunct Professor of Physics at the University of Waterloo, is the 2009 recipient of the Klopsteg Memorial Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Klopsteg awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to the general public. The Klopsteg awardee presents a lecture on a physics topic of current significance suitable for non-specialists, in memory of Paul Klopsteg, AAPT Past President. Dr. Smolin will receive the award at the 2009 AAPT Summer Meeting in Ann Arbor, MI.
"Lee Smolin, a founding member and research physicist at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo Canada, is well known as a popular author and lecturer, and for his many world-wide appearances on television and radio. For his outstanding contributions in the communication of the excitement of contemporary physics to the general public, the awards committee is proud to present the Klopsteg Memorial Award," says Lila Adair, AAPT Awards Chair, and 2009 AAPT Past President.
Dr. Smolin has written three books, The Life of the Cosmos (1977), Three Roads to Quantum Gravity (2001), and The Trouble with Physics (2006), which explore the philosophical ramifications of developments in contemporary physics and cosmology.
Dr. Smolin has also authored more than 140 scientific papers and has made major contributions to the quantum theory of gravity, being a co-inventor of loop quantum gravity and deformed special relativity. He is well known for his work in cosmology and is the inventor of a theory called cosmological natural selection, which applies a Darwinian methodology to the question of how the laws of physics are chosen. He also has research interests in elementary particle physics, the foundations of quantum mechanics, astrophysics, theoretical biology and economics.
AAPT is the leading organization for physics teachers and physics education and provides services that help enhance teaching skills and publishes scholarly journals documenting best teaching practices. APPT is committed to providing the most current resources and up-to-date research needed to enhance a physics educator's professional development. The results are not only a deeper appreciation of the teaching profession, but most importantly, more enthusiastic involvement from their students.
About the Award
Established in 1990, this award is given to a notable physicist in memory of Paul Klopsteg. The Klopsteg Memorial Award recipient is asked to make a major presentation at an AAPT Summer Meeting on a topic of current significance suitable for non-specialists.
Previous Awardees:
2008 Michio Kaku, Henry Semat Professor at the City college of New York
2007 Neil deGrasse Tyson, Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, New York
2006 Lisa Randall, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA,
2005 Wendy Freedman, Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA
2004 Anton Zeilinger, University of Vienna, Austria
www.aapt.org/Grants/klopsteg.cfm
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage teaching practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301) 209-3306, (301) 209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, March 25, 2009
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today Mario Belloni is the recipient of the 2009 AAPT Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching Award. Belloni is Associate Professor of Physics at Davidson College. This award is in recognition of contributions to undergraduate physics teaching and awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to their students.
This prestigious award will be presented to Belloni during the AAPT Summer Meeting in Ann Arbor, MI where he will also present a paper.
Lila Adair, Awards Committee Chair, said, "At Davidson College Mario Belloni is well known as an author, public speaker, researcher, workshop leader, motivator of students, award winning professor, and an innovator in the use of technology for teaching. For his outstanding achievement in teaching undergraduate physics, the AAPT Awards committee is pleased to present him the Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching Award."
Dr. Belloni earned his Bachelor of Arts in Physics and Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Physics at the University of Connecticut.
Belloni began his teaching career in 1997 as Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics at Eckerd College, moving to Davidson College in 1998 where he is currently Associate Professor of Physics.
He received the AAPT Distinguished Service Citation in 2006 and has served as a member of the Planning Committee for the Section Representative/Area Chair Governance (2007), a member of the AAPT Meetings Committee (2007-08), and a member of the AAPT Membership and Benefits Committee (2004-07). Belloni is currently Chair of the AAPT Committee on Educational Technologies, North Carolina AAPT Section Representative, and a member of the ComPADRE Quantum Physics Editorial Board.
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, March 25, 2009
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today that the 2009 AAPT Excellence in Pre-College Physics Teaching Award winner is Deborah Roudebush, a high school physics teacher at Oakton High School in Herndon, VA. This award is in recognition of contributions to pre-college physics teaching and awardees are chosen for their extraordinary accomplishments in communicating the excitement of physics to their students.
This prestigious award will be presented to Roudebush on during the AAPT Summer Meeting in Ann Arbor, MI where she will present a paper and accept a monetary award.
Lila Adair, Awards Committee Chair, said Roudebush, one of five finalists, was chosen for many reasons. "Deborah is an outstanding high school teacher who has demonstrated her excellent skills in the classroom as well as outside. She has been providing teacher workshops and making presentations for many years. She is personable, enthusiastic, motivating and, obviously, loves physics. Deborah is a great role model for all physics teachers, especially women. She embodies the spirit of AAPT."
Roudebush earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Physics at Ohio University. She received a Masters of Science degree from Michigan State University in 1979 with an emphasis in Physics Education and her Ed.D. in Adult and Community Education from Ball State University in 1984. She became a National Board Certified Teacher in 2001.
Roudebush has served as an AAPT Physics Teaching Resource Agent (PTRA) since 1992, participated in the DC Urban initiative, served as Rural Initiative - James Madison University Lead Teacher, and DC MSP Lead Teacher in 2008. She has been active in QuarkNet since 2000, serving as Teaching & Learning Fellow with QuarkNet centers. She has participated in the National Academy of Sciences since 2004 and is a member of the College Board AP Physics Redesign Commission. She was recognized as a Presidential Awardee for Excellence in Science Teaching in 2001.
Regarding her recognition as recipient of the 2009 AAPT Excellence in Pre-College Physics Teaching Award, Roudebush said, "I am pleased and thrilled to be so honored by the people who make up AAPT. I have found the AAPT members to be supportive and helpful in my personal journey towards improved physics education. I love working with my teen-aged students to help them discover the joy of understanding the world around them. I equally value my work with fellow teachers to help them establish a connection with other physics teachers in working towards better understanding of physics content and how people learn. I have been able to contribute in this way due in large part to the wonderful support structure of my PTRA and AAPT colleagues. I can't thank you enough."
About AAPT
AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.
Acting on the recommendation of President Mark G. Yudof, the University of California Board of Regents today (March 19) confirmed J. Gary Falle as associate vice president for federal governmental relations for the UC system. The appointment is effective March 23.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, March 20, 2009
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced today that the Barbara Lotze Scholarship for Future Teachers has been awarded to Douglass A. Endrizzi and Shaun Piazza with Honorable Mention to Rebekah Myler. Supported by an endowment funded by AAPT Member Barbara Lotze, the scholarship provides a $2,000 stipend to outstanding future high school physics teachers.
About the Recipients
Douglass A. Endrizzi is a member of the class of 2010 at Yale University. "What makes physics interesting is that often one's innate intuition about how the world works is wrong. Moments when you correct your frame of the world, the Aha! moments, are some of the most gratifying moments in school," Douglass says. "My drive to become a teacher derives from wanting to help students realize their own Aha! moments."
Jonathon H. Gillette, Director of Yale University Teacher Preparation & Education Studies, says, "Doug routinely reads beyond an assignment that is excerpted from a book and asks for supplemental work that specifically connects to his interests as a future science teacher. He is relentlessly upbeat and eager to share new insight whether from my class or a moment of clarity in a physics class. He is a real joy to teach and I cannot imagine a better prospect as a science teacher."
Shaun Piazza is a member of the class of Fall 2009 at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Reflecting on his very positive personal experience at Upland Hills Middle School in Michigan, Shaun says, "I have a commitment to teach physics/science in an 'at need' school district. This commitment comes from involvement in the STEM program and NOYCE fellowship. I plan to fully give myself to teaching and to employ the methods used at Upland Hills."
William McGinley, Associate Professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder's School of Education said, "I am most impressed not only by Shaun's knowledge of science and physics, but by his commitment to helping all students through the use of innovative and thoughtful approaches to teaching. Throughout his experience in my classroom, Shaun held himself and his peers to the highest of standards with a combination of inventive playfulness and more serious academic inquiry."
Honorable Mention went to Rebekah Myler, Lipscomb University Class of 2010.
Previous Scholarship Winners
A list of previous winners can be found on the AAPT website at: http://aapt.org/Grants/lotze.cfm.
WASHINGTON, March 20--The Optical Society (OSA) Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the society has elevated 61 members to the rank of fellow. These members will be recognized individually at meetings throughout 2009. A listing of all 61 fellows appears below.
Dr. Karen Williams, professor of physics at East Central University, Ada, OK, has been awarded The Worth Seagondollar Service Award in recognition of her extraordinary level of service and commitment to the Society of Physics Students (SPS) and Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society. Williams received the award at the 2008 Sigma Pi Sigma Quadrennial Congress, held at Fermilab in Batavia, IL. The award recognizes her "service as a chapter adviser, zone councilor and president of the SPS, overseeing a great expansion of the role of president and the precedent-setting 2004 Sigma Pi Sigma Congress."
On March 4, Friedrich Wagner, president of the European Physical Society (EPS) and distinguished researcher at Germany's Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics, was awarded the highest honor by the German Physical Society (DPG)—the Stern-Gerlach Medal 2009.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, March 12, 2009
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) today announced the top 200 students chosen to advance to the Semifinal round of U.S. Physics Team selection. Nearly 4,000 students participated in the Fnet=ma Exam in January. The top 400 students took the follow up exam during February. Qualifying semifinalists have been posted by AAPT at www.aapt.org/physicsteam/semifinalists.cfm.
About the Olympiad: The U.S. Physics Olympiad Program is a joint initiative of AAPT and the American Institute for Physics (AIP). AAPT began the program in 1986 to promote and demonstrate academic excellence. The International Olympiad is a nine-day competition among pre-university students from more than 80 nations. This year's Olympiad, the 40th, will be held in Mérida Yucatán, México, July 11th to 19th, 2009.
U.S. Physics Team Selection: AAPT is responsible for recruiting, selecting and training teams each year to compete in the International Physics Olympiad Competition. This selection process begins in early January when high schools register their students to participate in the Fnet=ma exam. Each year approximately 400 top scorers on this first test advance to the semifinal round of competition.
A third exam, student transcripts, and letters of recommendation are used as the basis for selection of the 24 members of the U.S. Physics Team. In May these students travel from schools all over the United States, to the University of Maryland-College Park to the Physics Team Training Camp. There they engage in nine days of intense studying, mystery lab, daily exams and problem solving.
At the end of that training camp, five students and an alternate will be selected as the "Traveling Team" to represent the United States at the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO). In July, the Traveling Team will attend a three day Mini Camp of intense laboratory work. At the end of the Mini Camp the five member Traveling Team and two coaches will go on to the IPhO.
Support the U.S. Physics Olympics Team: Funding for the U.S. Physics Olympics team is supported through donations from concerned individuals and organizations. Contributions are entirely used to support the selection, training, and travel of the team. Donations to the U.S. Physics Olympics team are accepted at www.aapt.org/physicsteam/donate.cfm.
About AAPT: AAPT (www.aapt.org) is the leading organization for physics educators--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Our mission is to advance the greater good through physics teaching. We provide our members with many opportunities for professional development, communication, and student enrichment. We serve the larger community through a variety of programs and publications. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax)
ARGONNE, Ill. (March 11, 2009) - Eric D. Isaacs, a prominent University of Chicago physicist and senior administrator at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, has been selected to become the next director of Argonne. The appointment will be effective May 1, 2009.
Once dubbed the "Queen of Carbon Science" as one of the nation's foremost experts in the multifaceted field of carbon science, longtime Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Institute Professor Mildred Dresselhaus has been named the National Science Board's 2009 Vannevar Bush Awardee.
Interactive Science Publishing Gives Researchers a Closer Look at a New Way
to Spot Leaky Blood Vessels in the Eyes
WASHINGTON, Mar. 11-- A group of scientists in California is trying to develop a cheaper, less invasive way to spot the early stages of retinal damage from diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in American adults, before it leads to blindness. As described in the special Interactive Science Publishing (ISP) issue of Optics Express, the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal, the scientists are using beams of light to measure blood flow in the back of the eye.
"The more severe the retinopathy, the lower the blood flow to the retina," says David Huang of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. This observation may lead to better ways to diagnose the condition early.
Diabetic retinopathy is caused by damage to blood vessels in the eye's retina. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5.5 million people over the age of 40 suffered from this condition in 2005, and this number is expected to triple by 2050 as the number of people with diabetes continues to increase. But there's hope; vision loss is preventable if retinal damage is detected early enough.
Affecting everyone who has type 1 diabetes and most people with type 2, diabetic retinopathy progresses in two stages. It begins when the small vessels that carry blood to and from the eye swell and leak, which can lead to slow vision loss as the health of the retina degenerates. In 20 percent of patients, the disease then progresses to advanced "proliferative" retinopathy. The oxygen-starved retina calls out to the circulatory system for help, which responds by forming new, abnormal blood vessels. These fragile vessels have thin walls that tend to scar and hemorrhage, causing sudden vision loss.
Huang and colleagues have adapted a spectroscopic technology called optical coherence tomography (OCT) -- normally used take cross-sectional pictures of the retina -- to directly detect the amount of blood flowing through retinal blood vessels. A diode on the OCT instrument beams infrared light into the blood vessel of interest. The frequency of light that bounces back is shifted slightly by the fast-moving blood, a Doppler effect similar to the pitch shift in the sound of a train as it rushes by.
Using this technique, the team estimated the total amount of blood flow in the retinal veins of two people with diabetes, to within 10 percent. They detected less blood flowing in the person who had advanced proliferative retinopathy. Further unpublished results in six more patients support this finding, but the next step, according to Huang, will be a larger clinical trial to verify this observation with statistical significance.
The most common method currently used by ophthalmologists to detect retinopathy is a fluorescein angiography, an injection of dye into retinal veins used to spot leaks. This moderately invasive technique can cause nausea and vomiting and, in rare cases, severe allergic reactions.
OCT may provide a more quantitative, less invasive way to diagnose the condition, says Huang. It may also cut costs by circumventing the expensive equipment required for flourescein angiography. "It just requires special scanning software that could easily be put on the OCT machines that most retinal specialists have," he says. He hopes that this combination of factors will give ophthalmologists an easy way to check for problems early and often.
Detecting leaky blood vessels early helps patients choose between different treatment options. "People with poor blood flow don't respond well to some of the laser treatments used for retinopathy, and they are at a higher risk for proliferative retinopathy," says Huang.
Huang's research takes advantage of ISP, an initiative undertaken by OSA in partnership with the National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, and with the support of the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research. This initiative allows scientists to expand upon traditional research results by providing software for interactively viewing underlying source data and to objectively compare the performance of different technologies. This data may be related to medical images, such as those taken with X-rays, MRIs, CT scans and ultrasounds, or it may be created in research involving oil and gas exploration, climatology, pollution monitoring and many other fields. Specifically in this instance, researchers are able to look at the actual OCT scans from the study patients as they read the paper. The software was developed in conjunction with Kitware, Inc. For more information on ISP, visit http://www.opticsinfobase.org/isp.cfm.
Paper: "Retinal blood flow detection in diabetic patients by Doppler Fourier domain optical coherence tomography," Yimin Wang et al., Optics Express, Vol. 17, Issue 5, Mar. 2, 2009.
To set up interviews or for a copy of the paper, please contact Colleen Morrison, 202.416.1437, cmorri@osa.org.
About OSA
Uniting more than 70,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
About Kitware
Kitware, Inc. (http://www.kitware.com) is a leader in the creation and support of open-source software and state of art technology across five business areas: visualization, computer vision, medical imaging, data publishing and quality software process. By employing open source business and development models the company fosters extended, collaborative communities and provides flexible, low-cost technical solutions to medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, government researchers, the oil & gas industry, computer aided design & manufacturing, aerospace, engineering, and educational institutions worldwide.
Founded in 1998, Kitware has grown to include customers in over 43 countries and in 41 of the 50 US states. Kitware's team is widely recognized for their major contributions to a variety of open source software systems including the cross-platform build system CMake, the Visualization Toolkit (VTK), the Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit (ITK), and the Parallel Visualization System (ParaView).
The Society of Physics Students (SPS) and Sigma Pi Sigma are joining organizations around the country and the world in celebration of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009) and the Year of Science (YoS 2009). The SPS National Council chose A Universe of Wonder as the theme for 2009 in honor of these celebrations.
IYA 2009 commemorates the 400 years since Galileo first turned a telescope to the skies and all that we have learned in that time. To spread the sense of wonder and surprise that Galileo must have felt at seeing craters on the Moon and satellites orbiting Jupiter, SPS joins other IYA 2009 participants in their cornerstone project to help one million students build a telescope similar to Galileo's and look out to the same objects that inspired him. Dubbed "Galileoscopes," these working scientific instruments will be an integral part of the 2009 SPS SOCKs (Science Outreach Catalyst Kits).
How do we know what we know? From astronomy to zoology, YoS 2009 aims to increase public understanding of the process and nature of science. SPS has collaborated with the APS and other organizations in the COPUS network (Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science) to produce experiments, stories, physicist profiles, games, videos and other content for March's "Physics & Technology" thematic hub on the YoS 2009 website. As part of this effort, SPS is spearheading an experiment on the science of rolling objects. Anyone can contribute data by doing a few rolling experiments and submitting the results on the YoS 2009 website.
March 10, 2009 - The Kavli Foundation has announced the appointment of Dr. Robert W. Conn as its new president - only the second president since the Foundation was established in 2000. Dr. Conn begins serving as the Foundation's President in late April of this year.
A Professor and former Chair of Biostatistics at the prestigious Harvard University in Boston, USA, Dr Louise Ryan, has been appointed Chief of CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences.
An Australian who left for the US 29 years ago to do her PhD, Dr Ryan has a distinguished career in biostatistics - a field which develops new statistical methods for health and medicine, biology and environmental sciences. She is no stranger to CSIRO, having visited many times over the years, including most recently on a Fellowship from the Harvard Club Foundation of Australia.
Read more at: http://www.csiro.au/news/New-Chief-for-CMIS.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Park, Maryland, United States, February 16, 2009
The American Association of Physics Teachers announced that Marina Milner-Bolotin has assumed the role of Vice Chair, Section Representatives.
Marina Milner-Bolotin has been a physics teacher for 17 years. She has taught in middle schools, high schools and universities in four different countries: Ukraine, Israel, U.S. (TX and NJ) and Canada (BC and ON). Currently she teaches physics at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.
Her involvement with the AAPT started almost ten years ago when, as a graduate student at the University of TX, Austin, she was invited to attend a Fall Meeting of the TX section. For the past eight years she has been an active AAPT member and a Section Representative of the BCAPT (2005-2007) and OAPT (2007-current) sections. Dr. Milner-Bolotin has also served on a number of the AAPT Committees, attending and helping to organize National and Section meetings.
Recognizing AAPT as a very important component her professional life, Dr. Milner-Bolotin says, " Physics teaching gives me the opportunity to bring the excitement of science into my students' lives; to teach them not be afraid to ask "obvious" questions and together try new ideas. I feel very fortunate that I can do for a living what I am passionate about. It is great to see how AAPT transcends the high school-university boundary by providing a forum for all physics teachers to share ideas and figure out solutions together."
About AAPT: AAPT is the leading organization for physics educators--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Our mission is to advance the greater good through physics teaching. We provide our members with many opportunities for professional development, communication, and student enrichment. We serve the larger community through a variety of programs and publications. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.
For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301)209-3306, (301)209-0845 (Fax)
