Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Joint Fall 2013 Meeting of the Texas Sections of the APS, AAPT, and Zone 13 of the SPS
Volume 58, Number 10
Thursday–Saturday, October 10–12, 2013; Brownsville, Texas
Session F1: Plenary Session II |
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Chair: Karen Martirosyan, University of Texas at Brownsville Room: Gran Salon |
Saturday, October 12, 2013 9:00AM - 9:35AM |
F1.00001: Biosensors as Analytical Tools for 21st Century Invited Speaker: Alex Simonian In recent decades, biosensors have shown great promise in many applications ranging from environmental testing and biowarfare agent detection to clinical testing and cell analysis. The importance of biosensors is driven by several factors including chronic diseases and environmental health-related dilemmas, such as: diabetes and obesity, heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, tuberculosis, etc. Significant problems with environmental monitoring, serious challenges in security and military applications and agriculture/food safety are also common driving motivations for biosensor development. In fact, biosensors are highly sensitive and selective to target analytes and provided near-real time response data while being cost effective and capable of resolving multiple analytical problems. The expanding role of biosensing in society and a real-world environment has led to an exponential growth of the R\&D efforts around the world. The world market for biosensor devices is expected to reach \$12 billion by 2015. Clearly, biosensors have become one of main analytical tools in 21st century and this presentation will discuss biosensing principles and applications in a variety of disciplines. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 12, 2013 9:35AM - 10:10AM |
F1.00002: Opening a New Window to the Universe with Gravitational Waves Invited Speaker: Gabriela Gonzalez Gravitational waves are ``ripples in space time'' produced by violent astrophysical events such as core-collapse supernova and collisions of neutron stars and black holes, as well as by other continuous phenomena as rotating stars and the early Universe. These waves have never been directly detected on Earth yet, but a network of LIGO and Virgo ground-based interferometric detectors is expected to do this very soon. These detectors have operated with record sensitivity in the recent past, and they are being upgraded to begin operating with good prospects of observations, to start operations in a few years. I will present a brief introduction to the nature and detection of gravitational waves, and present the current status of the international network of detectors, which will include new detectors in India and Japan. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 12, 2013 10:10AM - 10:45AM |
F1.00003: Plenary Talk 5 Invited Speaker: Frederick Jenet . [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 12, 2013 10:45AM - 11:20AM |
F1.00004: Career Pathways for Physics Undergraduates--Effective practices among departments that work (and put students to work) Invited Speaker: Toni Sauncy What if a student expresses a desire to enter the workforce upon completion of the bachelor's degree? With an average 40\% of all physics baccalaureate degree recipients opting not to enter graduate school, it is a question worth considering for departments aiming to build robust programs that prepare students for a broad range of career paths. Undergraduate physics programs, with effective recruitment, retention and appropriate preparation of students, have the potential to add to the numbers of excellent members of the STEM workforce. However, the default focus of many departments is on preparing students for entry into advanced physics degree programs. Based on this apparent gap, the American Institute of Physics has undertaken an NSF-funded research effort to understand, compile and disseminate effective practices for preparing undergraduate physics students to enter the STEM workforce upon graduation. The project entailed site visits to eight schools with strong records of students entering STEM fields, in order to discern effective practices in recruitment and preparation of students for those opportunities. While each school was somewhat unique, we have identified a set of common features. Moreover, the information clearly indicates that there are three distinct groups that must be engaged: the students themselves, the faculty advisors, mentors and career professionals who have direct contact with the students, and the administrative ``decision-makers.'' Each of these groups requires targeted information that addresses their particular roles in the collaborative process that will lead to not only an increase in the numbers of students who enter the STEM workforce, but in the quality preparation of those students. The tools for each of these groups will be discussed, with special emphasis on a set of career tools for students and their mentors.\\[4pt] In collaboration with Kendra Redmond and Roman Czujko, American Institute of Physics, College Park, MD. [Preview Abstract] |
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