Program

Read more about our invited speakers (including an Executive Officer and a Chief Scientist!) on our speakers page while also learning more about our panelists and workshop leaders.

Thursday, January 16
Early Arrivals
9:00 pm Ice Cream with the Organizers
Hotel lobby (near The Common restaurant)

Friday, January 17
9:00 am Registration Opens
Potomac Ballroom Foyer
11:00 am - 5:00 pm Visit to NIST
11:00 am Buses leave for NIST
11:45 am - 12:30 pm Lunch at NIST
with Katharine Gebbie
12:30 pm - 5:00 pm NIST Tours and Talks
Including William Phillips, Nobel Laureate
5:00 pm Buses leave for Inn and Conference Center
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Dinner
Potomac Ballroom
Opening Remarks: Donna Hammer, Director of Physics Education
Introductions: Drew Baden, Physics Department Chair and Professor
Welcome Address: Mary Ann Rankin
Provost, University of Maryland, College Park
and
Willie E. May
NIST Associate Director for Laboratory Programs
Invited Speaker: Ellen Williams
Chief Scientific Officer, BP
Closing Remarks: Sonali Shukla, Assistant Director, Physics Education

Saturday, January 18
8:00 am - 9:00 am Continental Breakfast and Late Registration
Potomac Ballroom Foyer
9:00 am - 10:00 am Conference Welcome
Katharine Gebbie, Donna Hammer, Angela Hight Walker, and Sonali Shukla

Networking Activity
Potomac Ballroom
10:00 am – 12:15 pm Panels
10:00 am - 11:00 am
11:15 am - 12:15 pm 		Session 1
Session 2
Available during both sessions:

  • Graduate School (Room 1105)
    Sarah Eno, Sharon Stephenson, Katie Jameson, Hilary Hurst, and Holly Tinkey
    Moderator: Rachel Lee

  • Research Opportunities (Potomac Salon 1)
    Lynn Carter, Angela Hight Walker, Betsy Beise, and Megan Marshall
    Moderator: Michelle Groce

  • Careers in Physics (Potomac Salon 2)
    Beth Cunningham*, Denise Caldwell, Jessie Rosenberg, and Toni Sauncy
    Moderator: Kristen Burson
    *Unable to attend
12:15 pm- 2:00 pm Introduction: Donna Hammer, Director of Physics Education
Invited Speaker: Kate Kirby, Executive Officer, American Physical Society

View Kate Kirby's talk! (pdf of slides)

Networking Lunch (students, speakers and faculty)
Potomac Ballroom Salon 1
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Keynote Speaker: Debra Fischer, Professor, Yale University Department of Astronomy
Potomac Ballroom Salon 2
3:00 pm - 3:15 pm Break
3:15 pm - 3:30 pm Group Photo
Lawn
3:45 pm – 4:45 pm Workshops:
4:45 pm - 6:30pm Student Poster Session
Locations in Abstract Book
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Conference Dinner
Potomac Ballroom
Introduction: Angela Hight Walker, Senior Scientist, NIST
Banquet Speaker: John C. Mather, Nobel Laureate
9:00 pm Student-led Social Activity (optional)

Sunday, January 19
8:00 am - 9:00 am Continental breakfast
Potomac Ballroom Foyer
9:00 am – 10:00 am Introduction: Sonali Shukla, Assistant Director, Physics Education
Invited Speaker: Michelle Thaller, NASA Goddard
Potomac Ballroom
10:00 am - 12:00 pm Worlds of Physics
Room locations available here
12:30 pm – 2:00 pm Networking Lunch (students, speakers and faculty)
Potomac Ballroom
2:00pm – 2:45 pm Closing Remarks with the Local Organizers
Potomac Ballroom

Delilah Gates, Katharine Gebbie, Hannalore Gerling-Dunsmore, Donna Hammer,
Angela Hight Walker, Lenore Koenig, Rachel Lee, Megan Marshall,
Lora McMurtrie, Kim Moore, Sonali Shukla, and Erin Uhlfelder
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Laboratory Tours at the University of Maryland, College Park
3:00 pm Coffee Provided by Society of Physics Students
Physical Sciences Complex
3:15 pm Split into tour groups:
Classical Physics in the Energy Research Facility
  • Lathrop Lab: Nonlinear Dynamics Lab (3m sodium sphere)
  • Losert Lab: Biophysics Lab
  • Losert Lab: Granular Physics Lab
Quantum Physics in the Computer and Space Sciences Building
  • Monroe Lab: Ultrafast and Ion Photon labs
  • Monroe Lab: Quantum Simulation Lab
  • Orozco Lab: Cavity Lab
  • Rolston, Porto, and Spielman Labs: Mixtures Labs
  • Campbell Lab: Strontium Lab