High Point University Department of Physics

Who needs Netflix when you have a 50-foot screen and the entire Universe at your fingertips?! HPU students have the unique opportunity to learn how to use our or our pop-up mobile planetarium. This past semester, numerous students designed and presented shows about constellations ✨ in the night sky, alien life 👽, and even the afterglow of the Big Bang 🔭!

The future is bright! 🌟 As the Sun sets on another school year, we welcome in the newly elected officers of HPU's Society of Physics Students (SPS).

Note: Galileo is not an active member of SPS. He wouldn't move for the picture.

We are so proud of all of our talented physics students who presented their research at the High-PURCS research symposium this week! They presented on their work harnessing the power of sound waves to combat cancer, crafting surfaces that thwart bacterial growth, simulating nuclear reactions, hunting down phantom frequencies in musical instruments, and much more! Great job physics fam. 👏🎉

We had a great time sharing our love of science with kids at the Nido & Mariana Qubein Children's Museum today during our first-ever SuRPS SciQuest Spectacular! Over 600 kids and their family members explored 13 different science stations, ranging from Exploding Gummy Bears to Liquid Nitrogen Shows to Mobile Planetarium Shows.

Congratulations to Dr. Briana Fiser, who was recently promoted to Interim Dean of the Wanek School of Natural Sciences!

In this new role, she will lead High Point University's thriving community of scientist scholars, fostering hands-on experiential learning in state-of-the-art facilities to ensure students gain the skills and confidence needed for success in the natural sciences.

We have a new cleanroom!

Our Research and Scientific Writing in Physics courses (PHY 2001/2002) are a vital part of our physics curriculum, providing students hands-on opportunities to conduct research as early as their first year of college. Today, students in PHY 2002 presented posters on the results of their research projects as part of their final exam. This year's projects focused on superconductors, wind turbines, and the fabric of spacetime.

Physics majors Alexander Bobb and Bennett Kirby presented the results of their PHY 4000 research projects last week. Alexander discussed his work with Dr. Brooks to help make artificial cilia, and Bennett presented on his work with Dr. Barlow to study an interesting pulsating star called BPM 36430. We applaud both students for giving excellent talks!

Congratulations to our 2024 graduating physics majors and minors: Kyle Boan, Sadie Flagg, Steven Gast, & Jazzmyn Holden. They received their official HPU physics graduation cords (alligator clips!) earlier today. We are proud of each of them and can't wait to see what they accomplish next!

Congratulations to Dr. Emily Boudreaux on the successful defense of their PhD thesis "Models of Low Mass Stars as Physical Laboratories" earlier today at Dartmouth College! Emily was a computational physics major and mathematics minor at HPU from 2015-2019 and worked with Dr. Barlow on several different astrophysics research projects. We're excited for them and what's next in their career! Congrats, Emily!