Physics Department in the News

2007-2006 2005

Recent UB Physics students in the news
The UB Chapter of Physics Students was chosen as an Outstanding SPS Chapter for 2006-2007.
Cathy Bernaciak was awarded an LHC Fellowship.
Yunfen He received the Tascione Travel Award for her abstract to the biophysical society meeting this year.

Prof. Jorge Jose has been named a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS ). 10/23/07, Jorge Jose has been named a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS ) The citation for him reads "Honored for distinguished contributions in theoretical physics, specially in seminal studies of long-range phase coherence in two dimensions, and in education and senior administration." There will be a ceremony in the AAAS Fellows Forum in their Annual Meeting on February 16th , 2008, in Boston, were Jorge will receive a Certificate and a rosette.

Physicist tackles future of life, universe and everything 08/08/07, A UB physicist told an audience yesterday that the fate of life in the far-off future seems to hinge on the nature of mysterious forces that currently are only vaguely understood by the world's scientific community.

William H. Kinney, assistant professor in the Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences, said during a UBThisSummer lecture entitled "The End of the Universe and the Future of Life" that the discovery of "dark energy" nine years ago created a radical shift in the scientific conception of both the beginning and the end of the universe.

"The expansion of the universe is not slowing down—it's speeding up," he said. "This was a big shock...Something is pushing the galaxies apart, rather than pulling them together."

Ride for Roswell raises $1.5 million 06/24/07, About 5,000 bicyclists took to the streets Saturday morning for the 12th annual Ride for Roswell, raising about $1.5 million for the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and eclipsing last year’s record of $1.2 million.

The cyclists, including about 330 corporate teams, started pedaling at Baird Point on the University of Buffalo North Campus in Amherst and navigated routes ranging from 9 to 62.5 miles through nearby suburbs. By noon, they returned to Baird Point for lunch and entertainment. The annual event also enlisted the support of 1,000 volunteers

The Physics Department raised $1397.29 in donations; seven riders went the full 62.5 mile distance, and three rode the 33-mile route. Several of these were personal best distances for the riders!

Prof. Hong Lou Received The Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching 05/03/07, The Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching honors those who consistently demonstrate superb teaching at the undergraduate, graduate or professional level. Recipients are Rajan Batta, professor of industrial and systems engineering and associate dean for graduate studies, SEAS; Hong Luo, professor of physics, CAS; Lewis Mandell, professor of finance and managerial economics, School of Management; and David Schmid, associate professor of English, CAS.

An expert on the physics and applications of magnetic semiconductors and nanostructures in the area of electronics, spintronics and photonics, Hong Luo is director of UB's Laboratory for Spintronics Research in Semiconductors; deputy director of the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics; and associate director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Physics. He was named an Associated Western Universities Faculty Fellow in 1999.

Tackling the mysteries of nanostructures 05/03/07, There's a good explanation for the eight-foot pit in the center of the lab in Fronczak Hall, UB physicist Sambandamurthy Ganapathy tells a visitor from the Reporter.

Slated for installation beneath the floor this summer is a huge, high-tech piece of equipment known as a dilution refrigerator, which, he says, will generate temperatures near absolute zero and magnetic fields 300,000 times more powerful than the Earth's magnetosphere in order to create quantum mechanical phenomena for scientific observation.

Family endows physics professorship Contribution honors the memory and scholarship of the late Moti Lal Rustgi 04/12/07, Brothers Vinod K. Rustgi, and Anil K. Rustgi, along with their mother, Kamla Rustgi, are honoring their father's memory by endowing the Moti Lal Rustgi Professorship in the Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The professorship honors the memory of Moti Lal Rustgi, who was a professor in the UB Department of Physics from 1966-92 and died on Nov. 16, 1992, at the age of 63.

"We are grateful for the generosity of the Rustgis," said Bruce D. McCombe, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and former close colleague of Professor Rustgi. "Professorships are a way to recognize superior performance and also attract quality faculty to UB. We are thankful to the Rustgi family for lending this distinction to the physics department."

Prof. Francis M. Gasparini has been named UB Distinguished Professor. 04/05/07, Francis M. Gasparini, professor and chair of the Department of Physics, College of Arts and Sciences. A fellow of the American Physical Society, Gasparini conducts research in quantum fluids and explored critical behavior and finite-size scaling at the superfluid transition of liquid helium. He leads the low temperature research group in the Department of Physics. Gasparini joined the UB faculty in 1973 after working at AT&T Bell Laboratories and serving as a visiting associate professor in the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics at Cornell University. He is a recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and a Sustained Achievement Award from UB in recognition of his research achievements. A graduate of Villanova University, Gasparini received his doctorate in physics from the University of Minnesota.

Rustgi Family Gift Provides Physics Professorship to UB 04/05/07, BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Brothers Vinod K. Rustgi, M.D., and Anil K. Rustgi, M.D., along with their mother, Kamla Rustgi, are honoring their father's memory by endowing the Moti Lal Rustgi Professorship in the Department of Physics in the University at Buffalo's College of Arts and Sciences.

The professorship honors the memory of Moti Lal Rustgi, who was a professor in the UB Department of Physics from 1966-92. He died on Nov. 16, 1992, at the age of 63. He lived in Amherst.

How scientists are trying to find where Einstein went wrong View Photo 01/25/07, FAMILIAR as it may seem, gravity remains a mystery to modern physics. Despite several decades of trying, scientists have failed to fit Einstein's general theory of relativity, which describes how gravity holds big objects together, with the quantum mechanics he pioneered, which describes the tiny fundamental particles of which matter consists and the forces by which they interact. Recent discoveries have highlighted further problems.

In Granular System, Tiniest Grains Absorb Shocks "Like a Sponge" View Photo 12/14/06, A University at Buffalo theoretical physicist who published research in 2001 demonstrating that it someday may be possible to build bridges, buildings and other structures that are nearly blast-proof, now has published results based on computer simulations showing how a shock-absorption system might be constructed to accomplish that goal.

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A "Spin-Voltaic" Effect May Enable Silicon Spintronics 10/17/06, Can conventional semiconductors learn new tricks? Igor Zutic is betting that they can. Zutic, a University at Buffalo theoretical physicist and the recipient of a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award, is finding ways to introduce spintronic properties and a phenomenon called spin injection into silicon.

Toward Terahertz Detectors on a Single, Conventional Chip View Photo 10/05/06, University at Buffalo researchers and their collaborators at other institutions have been awarded a four-year, $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant, under the NSF Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Teams (NIRT) initiative, to develop semiconductor-based terahertz detectors that can be integrated seamlessly with conventional electronics. The grant is one of only 10 that the NSF has funded from more than 400 applications received.

UB Students Inducted Into Phi Beta Kappa 05/22/06, Students at the University at Buffalo recently were inducted into the Omicron Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa honorary society.

28 Honored As Outstanding Seniors in CAS 05/22/06, Twenty-eight students were honored for being the outstanding graduating senior in departments within the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Buffalo's 160th general commencement ceremony held on May 14.

Strange Bedfellows: Exhibition Celebrates Physics, Arts View Photo 05/05/06, In the lobby of a nondescript brick building on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus, a unique marriage of sorts is taking place through a new "Physics and Arts Exhibition."

Newman, Sample to be Honored at UB's 160th Commencement 05/01/06, Reginald B. Newman II, chairman and former president of NOCO Energy Corp., a family-owned petroleum company, and longtime friend and supporter of UB, will receive the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal, UB's highest award, during the university's 160th general commencement ceremony, to be held at 10 a.m. May 14 in Alumni Arena, North (Amherst) Campus.

Dramatic Foucault Pendulum to be Installed at UB 04/13/06, The Physics Department in the University at Buffalo's College of Arts and Sciences will install a dramatic, 25-foot-long Foucault Pendulum extending from the third floor of Fronczak Hall to the lobby level of the building on the UB North (Amherst) Campus at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, April 14.

UB Sets High School Physics and Arts Summer Program 04/10/06, Aspiring physicists who also appreciate the arts are invited to apply for the University at Buffalo's first Physics & Arts Summer Institute for high school students, sponsored by the Department of Physics in the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

McCombe to Serve as Interim Dean of College of Arts and Sciences 04/07/06, Bruce D. McCombe will serve as interim dean of the University at Buffalo's College of Arts and Sciences effective July l and until the university identifies a successor to Uday P. Sukhatme through a national search.

UB Reporter: Junior physics faculty lead the way 03/30/06, Attention to excellence in hiring and teaching has led to an impressive number of nationally recognized new faculty awards in the Department of Physics. The department, which has marked consistent growth in the past few years, boasts a remarkable five current National Science Foundation (NSF) awards, three of which are new for 2006.

Top University to Award Prasad Its Highest Honor View Photo 03/13/06, This fall, Paras N. Prasad, Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry at UB and executive director of its Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics, will travel to China to receive the honorary professorship in a dedication ceremony at Zhejiang University (ZJU), one of China's top research universities.

Free Saturday Lectures Targeted to High School Students 02/17/06, The Cutting Edge Lecture Series, a free series of Saturday-morning seminars in which top University at Buffalo scholars and alumni give presentations aimed at increasing public awareness of the rapid advancements being made in a number of academic and professional fields, will open its 2006 edition on Feb. 25.