With support from NASA, USM will hold its annual High School Physics Competition in April. Invitations will be sent out to all MS schools including schools in LA and AL.   In this competition, a challenging physics problem is proposed and 3 person HS student teams submit a solution, which USM faculty evaluate the day of the competition.  Student teams visit the campus, tour USM physics labs, receive T-shirts, certificates, lunch, and team & individual awards.  Contact Dr. Chris at Christopher.Sirola@usm.edu for more information.

At the recent MAS meeting in Olive Branch there were several very good papers presented by students from physics departments in our state. These papers and the student presenters were:

From JSU

1. Methodology in the concentration and temperature dependent separation of complementary and non-complementary DNA to enable liquid crystal observation and extraction, by Taiquitha Robins

2. A Hils system for UAV attitude data synchronization, by Joshua C. Etchison

From MSU

1. Vortices in the optical near field of an electric dipole, by Jie Shu

2. Light propagation near a mirror, by Xin Li

From UM

1. Gas transport capabilities of vortex rings, by Barnabas Kipapa

2. Measuring accelerations of horizontally launched small spherical objects with a high-speed camera, by William Lancaster.

From USM

1. Solving the Schrodinger equation in position, momentum, and mixed spaced representation, by Mallika Dhar.

MAP congratulates these students for their work and presentations as well as their respective faculty advisors and coauthors for the student support.