Welcome to Physics Department
Why Physics?
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“SU physics
prepared me for my career in electronics by providing hands-on instruction in a
fun atmosphere. the professors are down to earth people with top-notch expertise
in their fields.”
—
Jessica (Thompson) McCarthy, NASA Electrical Engineer
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The
pursuit of physics is to understand and explain how nature works, from the
unimaginably small world of atomic particles to the fantastically vast realm of
galaxy clusters. Physicists observe nature and try to categorize and understand
the phenomena they observe. Physics is a basic science that is the foundation of
many other scientific disciplines and therefore has an important impact
on
almost all the problems facing modern society. Many people think that physics is
something new—but it started before recorded history when people first
discovered recurring relationships in the environment. Through careful
observation of these relationships and because of nature’s dependability, they
found they could make reliable predictions that would seem to
give
them some control over their surroundings. Physicists solve problems and make
discoveries
directly through research and indirectly by teaching and inspiring
others to look for explanations for the events happening in the physical
universe.
The Physics Program
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“The knowledge
and skills I received from SU physics opened unbounded possibilities, landing me
a world traveling position at NASA and preparing me for a master's degree.”
—
Sebastian Stewart, NASA Instrument Engineer |
The Physics Department offers a multi-track program of study, giving students
the flexibility to pursue a challenging curriculum of inspiring courses best
suited to their individual dreams and chosen career. A major in physics prepares
students for careers in a variety of high-technology fields, teaching
and further graduate studies in physics, engineering, medicine and other fields.
Students can complete the physics major in one of four ways: general physics
track, microelectronics track, secondary education track or 3-2 dual-degree
engineering program.
Physics Research
Taking classes is not the only experience available in physics. We provide
undergraduate research opportunities because they are important to the
advancement of student understanding, allowing the student to apply the
techniques that an active hands-on environment promotes. With close faculty
mentoring during the research experience, the students gain skills necessary to
organize and
communicate
scientific results and become successful science professionals. Virtually all
physics majors become involved in scientific research related to current topics
under active investigation within the scientific community and industry.
Students have conducted research on a variety of topics including extragalactic
elemental abundances, stellar evolution and supernovae, robotics building and
design, alternative energies such as wind and solar, computational surface
physics, biomedical physics, quantum mechanics, remote sensing, high-altitude
balloon electronics, and a plethora of other scientific topics.
Our Mission
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“SU physics
provided me with all the necessary skills to enter into and contribute to a
successful career treatment group.”
—
Douglas Vile, Medical Research Assistant |
The faculty’s mission is to prepare students to work confidently and effectively
in physics or a related field, to develop the power to think critically, judge
soundly and communicate effectively. With the assistance of physics faculty
advisors, each student selects a program of theoretical and experimental
courses.
Students gain an understanding of the broad range of principles which
characterize the discipline of physics. Additionally, students acquire the
ability to apply theoretical and experimental techniques to explore
a wide
variety of ideas. Faculty have a personal interest in the success of students
and mentor students as they progress to a degree.
We want to have our majors complete the physics curriculum with an appreciation
of physics as a unified field of study rather than a collection of unrelated
courses. The classroom environment is intended to be an intellectually safe yet
challenging learning space for both the faculty and
student
that should facilitate student learning and properly engage the student. The
role of the instructor is to help a student become an independent life-long
learner and to facilitate a thorough
exploration of physics.
A Diverse Field
 Diversity among faculty and students is not only respected but encouraged
because physics is an interdisciplinary field that relies on a diverse spectrum
of individuals and ideas. The Physics Department values global, societal and
individual differences and has
a commitment to equal opportunity.
A Perfect Fit
The department is relatively small, and upper-level major courses rarely have
more than 15 students. We support an environment that encourages student
involvement, faculty-student interaction and close student-student collaboration
with a central idea that physics courses should include hands-on activities
integrated with discussions and lecture. In such integrated courses, the
traditional notions of lecture, laboratory, computer simulation and other
classroom activities are fully blended in practice and conception and are not
individual separate entities.
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