SPS Zone 3 & 7 Conference

Plasmas: THE FOURTH STATE THAT MATTERS!!!!!

Registration:

To register, please send an email to djacome@spc.edu with the following information:

• Your full name and email address
• Your college/University affiliation and SPS chapter
• Your class standing (sophomore, junior, senior?)
• For Poster & Student Talks: The title of poster, & sent abstract information (deadline below)
• If you wish to request free housing** (first-come basis) on campus at Saint Peter's College
• Please mention any special needs (allergies, handicapped parking, etc.)

Deadlines:

Registration Deadline: DEADLINE HAS PASSED
Abstract Deadline: DEADLINE HAS PASSED
Campus Housing Deadline: DEADLINE HAS PASSED

Hotel Information:

**Campus housing is available on first come basis, must contact djacome@spc.edu. Those that receive campus housing will be given directions on arrival to the college. DEADLINE HAS PASSED

Hotel: Ramada Inn of Jersey City
Address: 65 Tonnele Avenue; Jersey City, NJ 07306; (201) 432-6100
Directions from Saint Peter's College to Ramada Inn:
THERE WILL BE A COLLEGE VAN TO PICK UP MEMBERS AND DROP OFF MEMBERS AT SELECTED HOTELS, THOSE THAT PREFER TO DRIVE WILL BE EMAILED DIRECTIONS TO HOTEL OR CAN CHOSE TO CONTACT THE HOTEL

Hotel: Doubletree Hotel Jersey City
Address: 455 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07310; (201) 499-2400
Directions from Saint Peter's College to Doubletree:
THERE WILL BE A COLLEGE VAN TO PICK UP MEMBERS AND DROP OFF MEMBERS AT SELECTED HOTELS, THOSE THAT PREFER TO DRIVE WILL BE EMAILED DIRECTIONS TO HOTEL OR CAN CHOSE TO CONTACT THE HOTEL

Hotel: The Westin Jersey City Newport
Address: 479 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07310; (201) 626-2900
Directions from Saint Peter's College to The Westin Jersey City Newport:THERE WILL BE A COLLEGE VAN TO PICK UP MEMBERS AND DROP OFF MEMBERS AT SELECTED HOTELS, THOSE THAT PREFER TO DRIVE WILL BE EMAILED DIRECTIONS TO HOTEL OR CAN CHOSE TO CONTACT THE HOTEL

Parking Information:

This information will be sent via email.
(Once parking has been reserved for those registered, this information should be updated here)

General Parking Open to All Guests: Parking will be available at the Yantellie Garage, next to the REC center. Armory Parking Lot (SPC Lot #1): Montgomery Street between Tuers and Jordan (next to the Armory Building); SPC Lot #6: Glenwood Avenue between Kennedy Boulevard and West Side Avenue across the street from the O'Toole Library; Court Parking: Summit and Academy Avenues

Special Arrangements: If your group is coming in a bus or van please notify for special parking accomadations.

Directions to Saint Peter's College:

For more information, please refer to Directions

From NJ Turnpike Exit 14C/Columbus Drive/Jersey City: Proceed through the light at the foot of the exit ramp (crossing Montgomery street).  At the fork bear left and get into the far right lane to turn right onto Montgomery street at the light.  You will soon come upon the Armory parking lot (on your right).  Please refer to the Campus Map to determine the appropriate parking lot.

From Jersey Shore/South Jersey:  Garden State Parkway North to NJ Turnpike North to Exit 14C/Columbus Drive/Jersey City. See From NJ Turnpike Exit 14C/Columbus Drive/Jersey City above.

From George Washington Bridge:  Follow Route 95 South to NJ Turnpike South to Exit 14C/Columbus Drive / Jersey City. See From NJ Turnpike Exit 14C above.

From Lincoln Tunnel: Exit tunnel and follow Route 495 to Route 1-9 South/Jersey City. See From 1-9 South above.

From North Jersey/Route 3: Route 3 East to 1-9 South/Jersey City. See From 1-9 South above.

From Central New Jersey:  GS Parkway North to Exit 142/Route 78 East. Take 78 East to Exit 58B/Route 1-9 North. Continue approximately 5 miles to Broadway (left hand exit ramp). Proceed down ramp to light. Make right onto1-9 Truck Route. Make first left onto Sip Avenue. At second light, make right on West Side Avenue. Continue to first light and make left onto Montgomery Street. Continue on Montgomery Street to the College parking lots described below.

From Holland Tunnel:  Exit tunnel and stay right following signs for Kennedy Boulevard/Jersey City. Turn left onto Kennedy Boulevard and continue to Journal Square. Bear right at the traffic light at Journal Square, remaining on Kennedy Boulevard. You will come upon Montgomery Street where you can proceed to the appropriate parking lot as designated on the Campus Map  (Armory lot is to the left; Recreational Life Center Lot is to the right).

Bus or Train: Greyhound bus station to NJ Transit & Amtrak Trains to Newark Penn Station (Please check fare pricing at the website). Then Connect to Path train from Newark to Journal Square Station (fare cost: $1.75). From Journal Square, Saint Peter's College is in walking distance (five blocks on Kennedy which is about a 10 minutes walk).

Those flying to Newark Int. Airport: Connecting Airtrain from Newark Liberty International Airport to Newark Penn Station. Then follow the directions at above.

Featured Speakers:

Dr. Scott Tremaine

Scott Duncan Tremaine (born 1950) is a Canadian-born astrophysicist. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Canada and the National Academy of Sciences. Tremaine is widely regarded as one of the world's leading astrophysicists for his contributions to the theory of solar system and galactic dynamics. Tremaine is the namesake of asteroid 3806 Tremaine. He is credited with coining the name "Kuiper belt". He obtained a bachelor's degree at McMaster University in 1971, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1975. He further received an honorary Ph.D. from McMaster University in 1996. He became the first director of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto in 1986, a position held until 1996. He gained the rare distinction of "University Professor" at the University of Toronto in 1995. In 1997, he left CITA and took up a position as a professor at Princeton University. Scott Tremaine is currently a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and chair of the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University, a position he has held since 1998. He has been married to Prof. Marilyn Mantei Tremaine for more than a decade, an expert in human-computer interaction who is emeritus head of the SIGCHI section of the Association of Computing Machinery.

His talk will be on "The astronomical evidence for black holes in the center of galaxies".

Dr. Juan Maldacena

Juan Martin Maldacena (born September 10, 1968) is a theoretical physicist born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Among his many discoveries, the most famous one is the most reliable realization of the holographic principle- namely the AdS/CFT correspondence, the successfully tested conjecture about the equivalence of quantum gravity in negatively curved spacetimes, and a conformal field theory defined on its boundary. Maldacena obtained his bachelor's degree in 1991 at the Instituto Balseiro from the Universdad Nacional de Cuyo, Bariloche, Argetina, under the supervisor of G. Aldazabal. He then obtained his Ph.D. at Princeton University under the supervision of Curtis Callan in 1996 and went on to a post-doctoral position at Rugters University. In 1997, he joined Harvard University as associate professor, being quickly promoted to Professor of Physics in 1999. Since 2001, he has been professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

His talk will be on "Black holes and the structure of space-time"

Dr. D.J. Michels

Don Michels is an instrumental physicist who expertise lies in the invention, design, and development of spaceborne optical instrumentation for observation of the Sun's active atmosphere, particularly its extension into the corona and solar wind. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree (Physics) at Saint Peter's College in 1954. Just a year later he began his long relationship with the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC where, as a summer intern, he encountered the just-emerging space age. Graduate studies were at Fordham University (MS, 1956) and the Catholic Univeristy of America (PhD, 1970). Starting in the 1970s, Michels initiated and led a number of spaceborne solar experiments and international scientific collaborations. As Co-Investigator on NASA's Orbiting Solar Observatory-7, he was one of the team that first recorded Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), massive blasts of plasma from the solar atmosphere. Previously thought to be rare, or non existent, Michels' analysis convinced that DoD that CMEs were frequent, and important drivers of disturbances in near-Earth space that have strong, sometimes catastrophic impacts on both military and civilian systems operating in space. To better understand these violent outbursts, Michels proposed NRL's SOLWIND coronagraph, flown aboard the US Air Force P78-1 satellite which, in six and one-half years recorded, cataloged, and analyzed more than two thousand CME's. The significance of these findings led to ready acceptance of the LASCO triple Coronagraph which he proposed for flight on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint mission of the European Space Agency, ESA, and NASA. He was also the chief American scientist for SOHO's solar disk imager, the French EIT Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. Retired from federal service in 1998, he has continued as a consultant to the NRL Solar Physics group. He is active in NASA Public Education and Outreach for SOHO and NASA's STEREO double-spacecraft solar mission. As a Research Professor at the Catholic University, he started an experimental program using solar observations for teaching elementary physics to our nation's K-8 school teachers.

His talk will be on "Solar Storms"

Dr. Bob Barker

Dr. Barker is AFOSR's program manager for plasma physics in the Directorate of Physics and Electronics. He received a bachelor's degree from Stevens Institute of Technology (1971) and a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1978) He is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of plasma physics, microwave generation, and computational physics. His stature led Dr. Robert Trew, the Department of Defense's Director of Research, to publicly state "Bob Barker is the champion for plasma physics within the DOD." Dr. Barker's technical expertise has benefited numerous Air Force and Navy Research and Development programs on such topics as low observables, high power microwave (HPM) generation, chemical/biological decontamination, particle beam physics, explosive power generation, vacuum electronics, hypersonic drag reduction, and advanced wargaming. The Air Force Research Laboratory Fellows Program recognizes the top scientists and engineers within AFRL. AFRL Fellows are judged to have exceptional scientific credentials, demonstrated leadership in managing Air Force research programs, and are active participants in Department of Defense research programs. Dr. Barker was one of the six individuals selected as an AFRL Fellow in 1998, the first year of the program. Dr. Barker is the author of more than 35 scientific papers and is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He is an elected member of the Executive Committee of IEEE's Plasma Science & Applications group. He was chosen to serve as Co-Chair of the 2001 IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science & Pulsed Power. Also, Dr. Barker serves as colonel in the Air Force Reserves assigned as HPM Special Projects Manager at AFRL's Directed Energy Weapons Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. Recently, he was awarded the 2009 Plasma Science and Applications Award. This award is given for outstanding contributions to the field of plasma science in research or new applications. Dr. Barker will accept the award at the next Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers conference on plasma science which is scheduled to take place in June 2009 in San Diego.  To read more about this recent accomplishment visit:
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123125855

His talk will be on "Cold Plasmas"

Dr. Andrew Zwicker

Andrew Zwicker is a plasma physicist and the Head of the Sciene Education Program at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. His current research interest are in dusty plasmas, plasma processing, and plasma education. He received a bachelor's degree from Bard College (1986) and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University (1992) developing spectroscopic diagnostics for fusion energy experiments. After performing experiments on magnetic confinement devices around the world, he joined the Science Education Program at PPPL in 1997 and began his current position in 2004. In 2006, the American Association of Physics Teachers included him in their list of 75 leading contributors to physics education while The Department of Energy named him as "Outstanding Undergraduate Mentor" in 2003. His Energy named him as "Outstanding Undergraduate Mentor" in 2003. His interests also include the intersection of science and society. In 2008, he became the Chair of the American Physical Society's Forum on Physics and Society and he teaches a writing seminar at Princeton University on "The Ethics of Human Experimentation." He and a collaborator won the 2006 Art of Science competition at Princeton University for a photograph entitled "Plasma Table".

His talk will be on "creating a star on earth - the promise of fusion energy"

Dr. William Gutsch

Dr. William Gutsch received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics with a concentration in Physics from Saint Peter's College and his Masters in Astronomy (Astrophysics) and Ph.D. in Science Education (with specialization in Astrophysics, Behavioral Psychology, and Statistical Methods) from the University of Virginia. In 1995, he was also awarded a Ph.D. in Humane Letters from St. Peter's College in recognition of his life long achievements in science education and communication. For many years, Dr. Gutsch served as Chairman of the American Museum-Hayden Planetarium in New York as well as a Syndicated Columnist for the Gannett newspapers, Science Editor for WABC-TV in New York, and Science Correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America and World News This Morning. He also has written, produced, and/or appeared in programs for PBS, NBC, CNN, The Learning Channel, and NASA-TV and was nominated for an Emmy in 1986. For various projects, Dr. Gutsch has written for and directed numerous Hollywood legends including Gregory Peck, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rita Moreno, and Charlton Heston as well as many of the Star Trek cast members. He has written, produced, and directed projects in conjunction with such well known production companies as Paramount, Lucasfilm Ltd., and The Children's Television Workshop. Since 1995, Dr. Gutsch has run Great Ideas which has provided consulting and/or writing and production services for NASA as well as educational television, local and national governments, major universities, and science centers across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Dr. Gutsch also recently served as President & CEO of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education which serves over 400,000 students and teachers annually through a network of over 50 Learning Centers on three continents. In 2009, Dr. Gutsch will assume new duties as "Distinguished Full Professor of Arts & Sciences" at Saint Peter's College. Dr. Gutsch is the author of several books and numerous scripts for television, and large format and domed theaters. He has led and lectured on excursions and expeditions to South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Antarctica, given speeches and papers at conferences from Moscow to Tokyo and Buenos Aires to Berlin, and delivered invited lectures at leading institutions of higher learning including Harvard, Oxford, and the California Institute of Technology.

His talk will be on "Our evolving Universe of the mind"

Dr. Jose L. Lopez

Jose L. Lopez received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Saint Peter's College in 2000 and a Masters in Science with a concentration in optical, atomic and molecular physics and Ph.D. degrees in physics with a focus on plasma physics from the Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, in 2002 and 2005, respectively. Since 2005, Dr. Lopez has been an Assistant Professor of Physics in the Department of Applied Science and Technology (Physics Program) at Saint Peter's College. His scientific research interests include a number of areas in low - and high - pressure plasmas including extensive work with microplasmas. Some of the scientific work with microplasmas has assisted the large multinational Degremont Technologies-Ozonia with the optimization of their ozone generators used for commercial and industrial applications ranging from sterilization of medical instruments in hospitals to big municipal drinking water purification plants throughout the world. Professor Lopez is the founder of the Center for Microplasma Science and Technology (CMST) at Saint Peter's College. Established in 2009, the CMST is the National Center of Research and Educational Excellence in microplasmas and is funded by a grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. Aside from being an active scientific researcher, Prof. Lopez is a very active promoter and advocate of science education and outreach. His science educational efforts, recently lead to the establishment at Saint Peter's College of the PARSE Institute, an experimential educational institute for New Jersey grammer and high school science educators.

Dr. Wei-Dong Zhu

Prof. WeiDong Zhu is an Assistant Professor of Physics in the Department of Applied Science and Technology - Physics Division at Saint Peter's College since 2007. Prior to SPC, Prof. Zhu held a position as a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA and at the Department of Physics and Engineering Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. During his postdoctoral position, Prof. Zhu worked on novel microhallow cathode discharges (MHCD) under the guidance of Prof. Karl H. Scheonbach and Prof. Kurt H. Becker. Previously, Prof. Zhu did his doctoral dissertion under the guidance of Prof. Kurt H. Becker and Abraham Belkind in pulsed DC magnetron plasma sputtering. Among other activities, Prof. Zhu was an assistant to the organizers of the 2nd International Workshop on Microplasmas (IWM 2004) held in Hoboken, New Jersey in October, 2004. Most recently, Prof. Zhu is one of the local organizers of the "Complex Plasma Summer Institute", a summer school on plasma science held from July 30th to August 8th, 2008 at Stevens Institute of Technology. Prof. Zhu's current research interest spans from basic research on atmospheric pressure non-equilibrium plasmas, plasma sources, plasma diagnose to environmental, biological, and biomedical application of microplasmas. Prof. Zhu is a member of American Physical Society (APS) and a member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

His talk will be on "MircoPlasma Research at Saint Peter's College"

chapters registered:

Student talks: 

Brad dinardo & amy frantz

David Jacome

Luan to