Twenty Students Present Results at 2008 Rochester Symposium for Undergraduate Physics Students (RSPS)

April 5, 2008

April 4, 2008 marked the day of the twenty-seventh Annual Rochester Symposium for Undergraduate Physics Students (RSPS), where twenty Physics, Astronomy, and Optics majors presented their research findings. The northeast regional RSPS conference is typically held each year during the Spring semester. This year's participants represented the University of Rochester, Houghton College, Rochester Institute of Technology, Colgate College, West Point Military Academy, Binghamton University, Siena College, and SUNY at Oswego.

Three University of Rochester undergraduates gave 15-minute presentations:

  • Elizabeth Pollock, "Cosmic Ray Muon Imaging and Decay and Capture Process Detection," Advisor: Udo Schröder 
  • Zhengqing Qi, "Hadronic Jets and Clustering Algorithms in CMS," Advisor: Professor Regina Demina
  • Jordan Webster, "Analysis of Momentum Resolution in VLE Beamlines," Advisor: Professor Regina Demina

The first twenty-four RSPS conferences were hosted from 1981 through 2005 by the University of Rochester. In 2006, the twenty-fifth RSPS conference was held at Houghton College, New York. In 2007 and 2008, the conference returned to Rochester, and in 2009, it will be hosted by the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

To see abstracts of this year's presentations, please click this link.

Special Note to Undergraduates: We encourage you to apply to the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program here at the University of Rochester. Examples of recent accomplishments and awards won by Rochester REU students include:

  • Stephen Thorndike, who worked with Professor Alice Quillen in the summer of 2002 and discovered a new planet
  • Govind S. Krishnaswami, who won the 1999 APS Apker Award for the best undergraduate research in the USA in Physics, for his work with Professor Sarada Rajeev in theoretical particle physics
  • Grant Tremblay, Matthew Barczys, and Kevin Flaherty, who each won the Astronomical Society of New York (ANSY) Undergraduate Student Prize for a distinguished research paper in Astronomy in 2000, 2005, and 2006, respectively
  • Albert Torr-Jong Wang, who worked in condensed matter physics with Professor Steve Teitel and was one of three Apker Award Finalists in 2001

If you are involved in Physics, Astronomy, or Optics research projects, we strongly encourage you to present your findings at the next RSPS conference. We also urge you to follow up on your research with the goal of giving a presentation at a regular APS meeting (which has a special session for undergraduate research). In addition, you should aim to publish your findings in a regular journal or in the APS Journal of Undergraduate Research. (lhg)