September 23, 2009 – News & Views

OWU Society of Physics Students and faculty advisors visited Briggs High School in Columbus last semester to present their award-winning interactive classroom program. Students William Kenny and Rachel Decker (both 2009 graduates) are shown making ice cream from liquid nitrogen.

Photo by Paul Molitor

The Phun Continues…
Ohio Wesleyan Physics Student Chapter Wins National Award for Community Outreach

The national Society of Physics Students (SPS) has selected Ohio Wesleyan University’s SPS chapter to receive the Blake Lilly Prize in recognition of the outreach work by OWU students and faculty to positively influence the attitudes of school children and the general public about physics.

Blake Lilly Prize recipients for 2009 include SPS chapters from Ohio Wesleyan, The College of Wooster, Angelo State University (San Angelo, Texas), Brigham Young University-Idaho (Rexburg, Idaho), and Juniata College (Huntingdon, Pennsylvania).

“Our students created an interactive classroom program called the Ph3 (Physics, Phood, and Phun) Demonstration Day—where we share our ‘phun’ and enthusiasm with the other students through various demonstrations,” says Bob Kaye, SPS chapter advisor and associate professor of physics and astronomy.

OWU students demonstrated a number of fun projects including using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream and using gelatin to create magnifying lenses. Their work was funded completely by two previous Marsh M. White awards from SPS for public outreach.

OWU’s SPS Chapter and its members have made other notable accomplishments. In February, it received the “Outstanding SPS Chapter” award for 2007-2008.

Chapter members on campus also have received national SPS awards for outstanding undergraduate research in 2007 and 2008. Each winner was one of three college students nationwide chosen to represent the United States at the International Conference for Physics Students.

For more information about Ohio Wesleyan’s Society of Physics Students, visit: go.owu.edu/~sps/.

– Linda O’Horo