Union hosted the fall joint meeting of New York State Section of American Physical Society and Astronomical Society of New York.
More than 242 participants attended the meeting, 119 of those being graduate and undergraduate students.
The theme of our meeting was Gravitational Waves. Jennifer Fredricks, Dean of Academic Departments and Programs, gave opening remarks and officially opened the meeting. The event included over a dozen talks and 55 student poster presentations.
Rainer Weiss, the 2017 Nobel Prize winner in Physics and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, delivered a keynote speech on “The Remarkable Gamble the National Science Foundation took with LIGO.”
Union College has a long-standing history in supporting ASNY and NYSSAPS. Faculty have played crucial roles in establishing or maintaining them. A. G. Davis Philip, former visiting research professor at the College, was a founder of ASNY and served as secretary and treasurer for more than 30 years. Rebecca Koopman ’89, chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department, has served as secretary for ASNY over the last 16 years. Samuel Amanuel, associate professor of physics and astronomy, has served on NYSSAPS’ executive committee since 2015.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy would like to acknowledge financial support from Dean of Academic Departments and Programs and Dean of Faculty; also, non-financial support from Society of Physics students, Chemistry, Biology, ITS, College Relations, Athletics, Facilities and Dining Services.