APPLIED PHYSICS –
STUDENT FACULTY
CONFERENCE 2014-2015
Committee chair: Jonathan Liu (UG ‘15)
Committee members:
Paul Bellan (faculty)
Oskar Painter (faculty)
Sandra Troian (faculty)
Kerry Vahala (faculty)
Anjali Premkumar (UG ‘17)
Jenny Sheng (UG ‘17)
Charles Tschirhart (UG ‘15)
Overview
• Status of major requirements
• Future of APh 17
• Freshman pizza course
• Minor revisions
Current Major Requirements
• 1. E 10 and E 11. E 11 can be satisfied by three units of additional
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work associated with the senior thesis (APh 78 or 79), or by taking
Ph70, En 84 or Bi24.
2. Any three of the following: APh/EE 9 b, APh 24, Ph 3, Ph 5, Ph 6,
or Ph 7.
3. Ph 12 abc, APh 17 ab or APh 105 ab, Ph 106 abc, and Ph 125
ab or Ch 125 ab.
4. Ma 2, Ma 3, and ACM 95 abc.
5. Either APh 78 abc, or one term of APh 77 and one term of any of
the following: APh 77, Ph 77, EE 91, Ch 6, Ae/APh 104 bc, and MS
90. Any substitutions or additions require prior approval of the option
representative.
6. One additional advanced sequence of APh courses numbered
over 100, such as: APh 101 abc, APh/MS 105 abc, 114 abc, APh/Ph
115 and APh/Ph/Ae 116, APh/EE 130, 131, and 132, APh 156 abc, or
BE/APh 161 and 162. Note that APh 100 and APh 200 do not satisfy
this requirement. Any substitutions or additions require prior approval
of the option representative.
Current Major Requirements
• Most requirements stable
Future of APh 17
• Currently a sophomore level thermodynamics/statistical
mechanics requirement
• Two terms required (APh 17ab), can be substituted with
graduate course APh 105ab
• This course has not been offered in three years
• Lack of faculty available to teach
Future of APh 17
• Committee agreed that thermodynamics/stat. mech.
requirement was necessary
• Current sophomore recommended schedule includes Ma
2/3, Ph 12, ACM 95, and lab
• Including a HSS requirement, that’s 5 classes
• Requiring APh 17 -> too much to handle
Future of APh 17
• Move APh 17 to junior year, elevate the difficulty
• Ph 12c = first pass at material
• Make new course APh 127
• Teach at level similar to Ph 106, Ph 125
• Treatment of modern statistical mechanics that focuses on different
topics than Ph 127 (e.g. random processes, Boltzmann Equation,
etc?)
• Two terms probably sufficient
• Optional third term for advanced topics, similar in
philosophy to Ph 125c
• Will not count as 100+ level elective requirement
Future of APh 17
• Hopefully offer this class for 2016-17 academic year, if not
2015-16
• Until then, keep temporary APh 105ab requirement
• Allow Ph 127ab as substitution
• Eventually, we hope that this course will solidify itself as a
popular junior year elective for APh/Ph/Ay students
• Potential inclusion in Physics option requirements, at least
as an elective?
Freshman Pizza Course
• Currently, only offer APh 110
• Lunch pizza course for upperclassmen and grad students
• Enthusiasm for new freshman APh 1 course
• Emphasize chalkboard, stay away from premade
powerpoint slides aimed at grad students
• Open-ended discussion, get freshmen interested in
applied physics, possible SURF connections
• Possible collaboration with Materials Science department
Some Minor Revisions
• Currently, APh requirements allow for great flexibility in
courses beyond that of required courses
• Catalog should include a list of relevant/recommended
courses
• E.g. recommend Ph 127, 135/136, ACM 11, other useful courses
• Could split by interest (stat. mech, biophysics, applied math, etc)
• Try to get upper-level APh courses cross-listed with
physics to increase visibility/enrollment
• E.g. APh/Ph 156 (plasma physics), APh/Ph 190 (quantum
electronics), etc
Questions?