Conference honors Black History Month, World Year of Physics

ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 7, 2005) — In honor of both Black History Month and the World Year of Physics, Argonne is hosting the National Society of Black Physics Students Conference February 3 through 5.

This is the first time that the conference will be held at a Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory. The national laboratories employ hundreds of physicists.

The 300 undergraduate and graduate students attending will learn about the national laboratory system and research programs available to them. The University of Chicago is co-hosting the event.

Speakers include:

• Leon Lederman, the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics,
• Ray Orbach, director of DOE's Office of Science,
• Walter Massey, president of Morehouse College and a former director of Argonne and the National Science Foundation,
• Bill Magwood, head of DOE's nuclear energy program, and
• Hermann Grunder, Argonne laboratory director

“We are glad to be hosting this conference,” said Division of Educational Program Director Harold Myron, “because it is our mission to train the next generation of scientists.”

In addition to holding special conferences such as the Black Physics Students meeting, Argonne develops and hosts a variety of programs annually. Argonne 's Division of Educational Programs (DEP) program is the largest in the DOE system and ranges from traditional internships to teacher training. It serves students and faculty from kindergarten through post-doctoral research. Each year, DEP hosts more than 3,000 kindergarten through high school students to perform hands-on experiments.

More than 5,000 students perform experiments in their classrooms with Argonne 's Instructional Van. The van is a traveling laboratory with advanced scientific instruments not available in most classrooms. Argonne trains teachers to use the equipment and teach with it.

DEP brings about 350 college students to the laboratory each year to work in laboratories with researchers. Science and engineering students from community colleges and four-year universities work in the lab for a semester or over the summer.

Laura Skubal, an Argonne environmental engineer who began work at the lab as an intern said of her experience, “I became involved in and performed research that most students do not encounter until they are college seniors or in the workplace. Well known scientists were my mentors.”

A recent study by the Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University acknowledges the effectiveness of an undergraduate internship at Argonne. The center's final report stated that “overwhelming evidence from interns and mentors indicates that the program provides an experience for undergraduate students that is both unique and beneficial. Each intern has a professional and often personal experience that is found no place else in the usual university program.”

The report adds that interns “learn to appreciate practical experiences in laboratories where they are pursuing real problems and interacting with professionals engaged in meaningful work.” The deadline to apply for a summer 2005 internship is February 1.

DEP also provides specialized training for graduate students. The X-ray and Neutron Scattering School each summer is held at Argonne because it is the only laboratory with both an X-ray synchrotron, the Advanced Photon Source, and a spallation source, the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source. Programs in nanotechnology and exotic beam research were also developed and presented here.

Argonne also gears programs to high school students to stimulate their interest in science and encourage them to pursue a science or technical education. The laboratory hosts an annual Science Careers in Search of Women conference and a Rube Goldberg machine-building contest. Argonne 's 10th Annual Rube Goldberg Contest will be held February 18 at the Chicago Children's Museum on Navy Pier.

For teachers and students of all ages, DEP provides an online “Ask a Scientist” program that receives millions of visits each year. New questions are answered by scientists, and added to a searchable database of previously answered questions.

Additional DEP programs:

• Enhance skills of middle and high school science teachers,
• Train representatives of foreign nations in effective energy programs and policies,
• Provide professional development for kindergarten through community college science and math teachers, and
• Bring college students and their professors to Argonne for research.

— Evelyn Brown