UTSA, SwRI® host the Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics

(Jan. 13, 2016) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI®) will host the Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) on January 15-17, 2016. The event will feature laboratory tours, workshops and panels to show female undergraduate students in physics the many opportunities that exist in their fields and to provide them with the opportunity to obtain advice from other women in physics.

“This is a showcase of career opportunities for young women who are about to get started in physics,” said Kelly Nash, assistant professor of physics at UTSA and lead organizer of the conference. “It’s also a great chance for them to see other women who have navigated all the hurdles in a career in the sciences.”

“We are very excited and honored to have the opportunity to share our work and experiences with the next generation of physics graduates,” said Kathleen Mandt, a senior research scientist in the SwRI Space Science and Engineering Division, adjoint professor at UTSA and co-organizer of the conference. “This conference also allows us to showcase the value of industry and university partnerships like the one between SwRI and UTSA.”

CUWiP is a multi-city event that occurs simultaneously across the U.S. to support and mentor young female physicists. UTSA will host the keynote speaker, NASA’s Ginger Kerrick, its first female Hispanic flight director, whose remarks will be carried live across the nation on Saturday.

The conference will kick off on Friday afternoon at the UTSA Main Campus with laboratory tours highlighting biophysics, astronomy and computational physics. George Perry, Semmes Foundation Endowed Chair in Neurobiology and dean of the UTSA College of Sciences and one of the nation’s top Alzheimer’s researchers, will deliver opening remarks that evening, welcoming more than 100 female undergraduate physics students from all over the U.S., alongside Miguel Yacaman, Lutcher Brown Distinguished Chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

On Saturday, the participants will attend workshops and panels on topics such as gender issues in science, how to pursue non-academic careers in physics and the opportunities offered by graduate schools. UTSA undergraduate physics student Marilyn Moore will conduct a digital Q&A session, taking questions from students across the country.

Speakers including Hope Beier, biomedical engineer at the Air Force Research Lab at Ft. Sam Houston, Lisa Firmin, UTSA associate provost for diversity and recruitment, and Toni Sauncy, chair of the Texas Lutheran University Department of Physics, will discuss their experiences as female physicists before Kerrick takes the stage to give her keynote address.

On the final day of the conference, SwRI President Adam L. Hamilton, will welcome participants to SwRI’s 1,200-acre San Antonio headquarters. There they’ll participate in a workshop led by renowned physicist and UTSA adjoint professor Dave McComas, whose pioneering work at SwRI on NASA missions such as IBEX gave new understanding to how the solar wind affects the solar system. Students will hear from NASA Headquarters Program Manager Christina Richey, participate in workshops led by physicists Fran Bagenal of the University of Colorado-Boulder and Patricia Reiff of Rice University, and tour selected laboratories and facilities.

By Joanna Carver
Public Affairs Specialist

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Learn more about the Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics.

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