News & Events

The future of computing requires ever larger and faster transistors. Traditional silicon-based transistors reduce performance time by decreasing channel size, but the discovery of 2D materials, specifically Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), holds great promise for the future of computing. Raazia Aamir worked on studying the contact of MoS2 within a field effect transistor via VASP software simulation.

This research was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Wolfgang Windl at the Institute for Materials and Manufacturing Research at The Ohio State University as part of the Ohio Sure program through the Five Colleges of Ohio

Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) are some of the most sensitive magnetic field detectors in the world, finding applications in MRI machines and gravity wave detectors. Carson Fox numerically explored the effects of placing one, two, and three SQUIDs in series to determine if this would create a more sensitive and/or accurate device. Current work includes developing a code for an arbitrary number N of SQUIDS.

This research was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Brad Trees as part of the Ohio Wesleyan University Summer Science Research Program.

The term space weather is used to describe the interaction between the sun's solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field. Storms within Earth's magnetic field can affect satellites in orbit, pose a danger to astronauts, and even cause disruption to electronics on Earth if the storm is strong enough. Malcolm Henderson studied this environment with data from NASA's Van Allen Probes mission to link particle drop out events with loss mechanisms.

This research was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Weichao Tu at West Virginia University as part of the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program.

At the Eastern Great Lakes Section of the American Physical Society's fall meeting Musa Rehmatullah presented a poster presentation on his summer research Characterization of a Cell-Adapted Oncolytic Virus. Oncolytic viruses use cancer cells to create copies of themselves, which ends up killing the cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone. In this work, Musa developed a series of ordinary differential equations that modeled the size of colorectal tumors when being treated with oncolytic viruses. The models that Musa developed are utilized to test different treatment regimens and explore if better oncolytic virus adaptations could eventually lead to a cure for colorectal cancer.

This research was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Hana Dobrovolny at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas as part of the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduate Programs.

Humans have been keeping track of astronomical events and mapping the sky for many generations, leaving behind written records of their work. Due to changes in our Indo-Arabic numeral system since the middle ages, many of these records are difficult to interpret making it challenging to utilize within historical datasets. Isabela Rodriguez Ortiz worked on developing a convolutional neural network that could identify 17th century numerals, allowing for original observatory manuscripts to be deciphered more easily.

This research was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Jason Ybarra at West Virginia University as part of the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program.

At the Eastern Great Lakes Section of the American Physical Society's fall meeting Parthey Vasani gave an oral presentation of his summer research Testing Lorentz and CPT Symmetries with Neutrons and was awarded the best oral presentation for graduate student talks. In this research, Parthey explored potential violations of time-reversal (T) and charge-parity (CP) symmetries via the Neutron Electric Dipole Moment (nEDM).

 This research was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Yunhua Ding as part of the Ohio Wesleyan University Summer Science Research Program.

Congratulations to Sophomore Astrophysics Major Ashley Hayward & Sophomore Physics Major Parthey Vasani for being awarded the Muller Award by the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy. The Muller award began in 2000 from a generous donation by Robert and Elizabeth Muller, recognizing a student that shows promise in physics early on in their education.

Ashley and Parthey received the Muller award at the annual Mullr Award Banquet where the department also welcomed a presentation by Dr. Glenn Starkman, Distinguished University Professor of Physics at Case Western Reserve University.

Congratulations to Mack Fincham, Carson Fox, Ashley Hayward, & Ron Netawat for becoming a member of Sigma Pi Sigma! 

Sigma Pi Sigma is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and exists to honor outstanding scholarship in physics and astronomy. More information on Sigma Pi Sigma can be found on their webpage.

Niladri Deb pursued research this summer at The Ohio State University in Dr. Roland Kawakami's lab under the supervision of PhD candidate Matthew Swann. The team explored utilizing Tungsten Diselenide (WSe2) for the next generation of Metal Oxide Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) in order to keep up with the increasing demands placed on technology. Utilizing Molecular Beam Epitaxy, the team was successful in growing WSe2 and was able to characterize the contact resistance of this material. Current work involves improving the material's performance and utilizing the WSe2 to produce a MOSFET device.

Nick Church and Malcom Henderson joined the OWU Summer Science Research Program working on with Dr. Robert Harmon studying starspots on the star LO Pegasi. This star exhibits changes in its overall brightness due to large dark patches moving across the stellar surface, called starspots, as the star rotates. By studying the starspots, it is possible to gain insights into the star's magnetic field. The team utilized the 0.35m-aperture telescope at Perkins Observatory and collected seven nights of data between May and July 2023 with a scientific CCD camera, and then applied the technique of Lightcurve-Inversion (LI), developed by Dr. Harmon, to model the appearance of the starspots on LO Pegasi's surface. Results were then compared to those of previous students extending back to 2014.

The OWU Summer Science Research Program is a unique 10-week program that offers the opportunity for students to carry out cutting-edge research side by side with faculty mentors. Students in the program learn immediately how scientific research is different from what they experience in their classroom labs. At the conclusion of the program, students will share their results at the Patricia Belt Conrades Summer Science Research Symposium and at meetings of prestigious scientific associations.

Over the summer Hannah Green pursued research through the US CMS Undergraduate internship program. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is set to complete its current round of data collection soon, after which upgrades will be performed that will transform the facility into the High-Luminosity LHC. It is projected that the HL-LHC will produce ten times more data than its predecessor, forcing scientists to consider new ways to analyze these large volumes of data. Scientists are looking at Services for Optimized Network Inference on Coprocessors (SONICs) to meet this challenge. SONICs offer the ability to outsource neural network inferences to dedicated co-processors, such as GPUs, FPGAs, an ASICs. Hannah's work focused on characterizing the performance of SONIC configurations in a traditional Linux cluster compared to utilizing Docker containers via Kubernetes deployment.

The US CMS Undergraduate Internship Program seeks to address the under-representation of women and other minoritized students in physics and related STEM fields by offering the opportunity to complete a 10-week paid internship at one of more than 50 US institutions, while working with scientists affiliated with the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN). For more information on this program, visit the Fermilab internship webpage.

Congratulations to Kaito Iwasaki for being awarded the 2023 Phillip C. Stanger Prize in Astronomy. Kaito (left) is pictured receiving his award from Dr. Brad Trees (right), Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

The Phillip C. Stanger Prize in Astronomy is awarded by the Department of Physics and Astronomy to a senior student who has shown excellence throughout their career at Ohio Wesleyan University in the field of astronomy and astrophysics. The prize was created through a generous donation by the Stanger family, leaving a lasting legacy for longtime Professor of Astronomy, Phillip C. Stanger.

Congratulations to Nilu Debb for becoming a member of Sigma Pi Sigma! Nilu (left) is pictured with Dr. Yunhua Ding (right), Sigma Pi Sigma Advisor.

Sigma Pi Sigma is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and exists to honor outstanding scholarship in physics and astronomy. More information on Sigma Pi Sigma can be found on their webpage.

Congratulations to Malcolm Henderson for becoming a member of Sigma Pi Sigma! Malcolm (left) is pictured with Dr. Yunhua Ding (right), Sigma Pi Sigma Advisor.

Sigma Pi Sigma is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and exists to honor outstanding scholarship in physics and astronomy. More information on Sigma Pi Sigma can be found on their webpage.

Junior Astrophysics Major Hannah Green has been accepted into the US CMS Undergraduate Internship Program at Fermilab for summer 2023! This summer Hannah will learn about computational tools and data-science methods to analyze data obtained from the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Hannah will start her internship by spending two weeks at Fermilab before then moving to Purdue University for the remainder of the program. The P.I. for this resesearch is Dr. Miaoyuan Liu, Purdue University

The US CMS Undergraduate Internship Program seeks to address the under-representation of women and other minoritized students in physics and related STEM fields by offering the opportunity to complete a 10-week paid internship at one of more than 50 US institutions, while working with scientists affiliated with the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN). For more information on this program visit the Fermilab internship webpage.

Sophomore Physics and Pre-Engineering Major Madison Cofer has been awarded a small grant via the OWU Small Grant Program for their project: seaMATE Underwater Robotics Build! Utilizing the knowledge and skills that Madison has acquired from analog and digital electronics (PHYS 375), they will build a seaMATE pufferfish underwater robotic kit from scratch.

The OWU Small Grant Program seeks to fund student signature projects that complement their academic studies. For more information on this program visit the small grant program guidelines page

Congratulations to Sophomore Astrophysics Major Malcolm Henderson for being awarded the Muller Award by the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy. The Muller award began in 2000 from a generous donation by Robert and Elizabeth Muller, recognizing a student that shows promise in physics early on in their education.

Malcolm received the Muller award at the annual Muller Award Banquet where the department also welcomed a virtual presentation by Dr. Rowan Thomson, Professor of Physics and Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Carleton University titled Actions to Advance Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Science.