National Society of Black Physicists

NSBP Participates in Sullivan Summit S&T Workshop

noemail@nsbp.org — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:00:00 GMT

Dr. Kennedy Reed, a former president of NSBP, and Dr. Adrian Hightower recently participated in pre-Sullivan Summit Science and Technology Workshop in Arusha, Tanzania. The two-day workshop was held immediately prior to the Leon H. Sullivan Summit VIII and was sponsored by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, with assistance from the U.S. Department of State. The workshop was aimed at promoting cooperation and interaction between African and American scientists, particularly in the physical sciences. The idea was to try to bring a select group of scientists and science policymakers [together] with their African counterparts … to try to discuss ways of activating collaboration, according to Dr. Osama O. Awadelkarim, a professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State University. The outcomes of the workshop were immediately reported to the delegates of the 2008 Leon H. Sullivan Summit. The Sullivan Summits bring together political and business leaders, civil society and...

5-Jul-08 5:00 AM

Bjorken-Mtingwa Theory to be Tested at the Large Hadron Collider

noemail@nsbp.org — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:00:00 GMT

By Nicole Majoras, Communication of Science and Technology Program, Vanderbilt University A theory of intrabeam scattering developed by Sekazi Mtingwa, former president of the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), and his colleague James Bjorken will soon be tested at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The LHC is more than 16 miles in circumference, and will be the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. After nearly a decade of construction, the first LHC beams will be produced next month. In particle accelerator beams, intrabeam scattering causes the physical size of the beam as well as the distribution of particle momentum to increase. Mtingwa and Bjorken developed their theory, which quantifies the spatial and momentum extent of particle beams, in 1983 while they were both at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Fermilab is the home of the Tevatron, for now still the highest energy particle collider in the world. There was...

28-Jun-08 5:00 PM

Reception on Capitol Hill - What Makes a Good Math Teacher?

noemail@nsbp.org — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:00:00 GMT

Save the Date: NSBP to Host Reception for Rep. Bill Foster NSBP, along with NSHP and APS, will co-host a reception for Representative Bill Foster on Wednesday, July 16th.. The event will be in room B369 of the Rayburn House Office Building, 6:00-7:30pm. All are invited. Dr. Bill Foster is a Ph.D. physicist and a former researcher at Fermi National Lab. There he played a leading role in several groundbreaking experiments in elementary particle physics, and managed several multimillion dollar projects. He is an APS Fellow. He recently became a Member of Congress after winning a special election in Illinois to replace former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Congressman Foster represents the district that contains Fermi National Lab. He is 1 of 3 physicists currently serving in the Congress. Update on FY08 Funding for Science The supplemental appropriations bill is still progressing in the House. The current effort to pass a...

18-Jun-08 4:00 AM

Be a Part of the Process: House to take Key Action on Science Funding This Week

noemail@nsbp.org — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:00:00 GMT

This week Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess to consider FY08 supplemental appropriations bills. Most of the money in the supplemental bills is for continued funding of the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Senate version at least also contains provisions for $1.2B appropriations to the various federal science agencies. If enacted into law, this bill would correct the disappointing FY08 appropriations for science that became law back in December 2007. You can be a part of the process by writing to your Senators and Represenative in Congress and encourage them to pass the $1.2B supplemental appropriations for science. Write to your Members of Congress now The President has been threatening a veto of the bill if it contains any domestic spending. The thinking has been to agree on the war funding now, then deal with domestic spending later. That does not seem to be politically possible because despite the Presidents veto threat, on May 15th the full...

6-Jun-08 5:00 PM

Getting involved in Science Policy

noemail@nsbp.org — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:00:00 GMT

If you are interested in getting more involved in science policy I ask you to try this strategy,

- call your Representative or Senators in their local district office,
- ask if they have a science adviser or some kind of science advisory committee.

In most cases the answer will be no.When you get that answer, or even if the answer turns out to be yes,offer to volunteer in their office as an adviser on science and technology matters.

Why the district office? Because through the district office you will avoid the "noise" of Washington, DC. By contacting the district office you will make it clear that you are one of their direct constituents, and that you are interested in science policy issues. Most members of the House and Senate would welcome the expertise of an actual scientist on their staff or volunteer pool, and physicists are especially well-regarded on the Hill. In the Congress, science is at least one topic that is handled in a bi-partisan, or maybe even non-partisan basis. You will be surprised by the impact you will have.

The policy pages at the NSBP website have background information on some of the current issues in science policy. There are several other information sources available including products from the American Institute of Physics, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and our other sister societies.

Please feel free to contact the NSBP Office for more information and support, and please let me know how this works out for you.

Peter J. Delfyett, Ph.D.
President, National Society of Black Physicists

6-Jun-08 5:00 PM

NSBP Creates Student Council

noemail@nsbp.org — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:15:00 GMT

The NSBP board of directors recently approved the creation of the NSBP Student Council. The council will be part of the new Committee on Chapters and consist of representatives of NSBP college chapters and 2-4 “at-large” slots appointed by the NSBP President.

“We are very interested in establishing strong college chapters as a mechanism for increasing student participation in NSBP, and in turn their greater participation in the entire global physics enterprise,” says Peter Delfyett, the incoming president of NSBP.

Starting an NSBP college chapter takes a group of at least 5 individual members and the support of the physics department chair. The forms for starting an NSBP chapter are available at the NSBP website, or from contacting NSBP headquarters. Any student group applying to establish an NSBP chapter, should also consider being an SPS, MRS, OSA and SPIE chapter as well.

"Amongst these professional societies our goal is to create at team to recruit and retain more African American students in physics and astronomy, and to continue to support them in their careers after graduation. Professional societies are great at providing career information and resources, all students should get as much information and resources as they possibly can," says Delfyett.

The Committee on Chapters will support college chapters by providing management and activity advice. In addition to 2-4 members appointed by the NSBP President, the committee will also include the members of the NSBP Student Council.

There will be a session on student chapter development at the upcoming NSBP/NSHP conference in Washington on Friday, February 22nd. In the meantime for more information on NSBP chapters please contact NSBP Headquarters.

20-Dec-07 2:15 PM

Obituary: Professor Charles S. Brown

noemail@nsbp.org — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:00:00 GMT

Dr. Charles Stevenson Brown, prominent physicist and professor, departed this world on the morning of September 29, 2007. Dr. Brown was born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 5, 1947 and was the third of four children of his parents, the late M/Sgt. (Ret.) Robert Brown and the late Corrie Lee Brown. Although Dr. Brown struggled with education in his early years because of chronic asthma which resulted in his failure to pass the fourth grade, the determination he gained as a result of this and other experiences ultimately led Dr. Brown to college and graduate school. Dr. Brown earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics from Morehouse College in 1973. That same year, Dr. Brown received a DuPont Graduate Fellowship to pursue graduate studies at Emory University. In 1975, Dr. Brown earned the Masters of Science Degree in Physics from Emory University. While at Emory, he won the Sigma Xi Award for the best Masters Thesis. In 1976, he received a National...

12-Dec-07 6:00 AM

ACOUSTICS COURSES AT THE UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL: HOW CAN WE ATTRACT MORE STUDENTS?

noemail@nsbp.org — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:00:00 GMT

Download PDF

Ilene Busch-Vishniac and Jim West discuss creating more undergraduate courses in acoustics as a means to attract more students to the field.
ACOUSTICS COURSES AT THE UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL

(c) 2007 Acoustical Society of America. Acoustics Today 3, 28-36 (April 2007).
Posted with the permission of the Acoustical Society of America.

14-Aug-07 1:00 PM

Opportunity to Earn an MS Degree in South Africa

noemail@nsbp.org — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 02:00:00 GMT

NSBP has received a major grant from the Kellogg foundation to fund American students, who would like to study in South Africas National Astrophysics and Space Sciences Program (NASSP) South Africa occupies a unique geographical position relative to locations of most of the telescopes in the world. Recognizing this strategic advantage the South African government has decided to invest heavily in astronomy/astrophysics. The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is located in South Africa. It is the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. South Africa is bidding to host the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which will operate in the radiowave region. In preparation South Africa is planning to construct a powerful SKA Pathfinder telescope. In addition to these facilities other countries (most notably Japan, Korea, Germany and France) are putting telescopes in South Africa. These and other projects will allow astronomers based in South Africa to make significant...

31-Jul-07 10:00 PM