The South Dakota Mines chapter of the Society of
Physics Students (SPS) has won an Outstanding Chapter Award from the SPS
National Office. This is the sixth year in a row the chapter has been
recognized for its excellence as a top-tier student-led physical sciences
organization, a designation given to fewer than 10 percent of all SPS chapters
at colleges and universities in the United States and internationally.
“We are proud of our Society of Physics Students and
especially their leadership, their strong sense of community and the positive
impact they have on everyone interested in physics. They perform outstanding
education, outreach and community service activities. It is no surprise that
they have been consistently earning the highest national honors,” says Richard
Schnee, Ph.D., the head of the department of physics at South Dakota Mines.
The SPS chapter at South Dakota Mines is advised by
Michael Dowding, who was also a finalist for the 2019 National Outstanding
Chapter Advisor, and is led by student officers including president Serenity
Engel, vice president Samuel Schleich, secretary Alex Heindel and treasurer
Trevor Krason.
The letter notifying the physics department of this
achievement gives Dowding high praise for his work: “when an SPS chapter is
thriving and integrated into the department environment, it is often a sign of
an advisor who is committed and actively engaged with their students.” The
letter also states that the SPS Outstanding Chapter Award is a “testament to faculty
leadership.”
Many members of SPS at Mines work on research
associated with the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead. The
deepest underground laboratory in the United States, SURF houses multiple
experiments in areas such as dark matter, neutrino physics, biology, geology
and engineering. Mines students have a unique opportunity to engage in
world-class science at SURF while completing their degrees.
The Society of Physics Students is a professional
association designed for students, and membership is open to anyone interested
in physics and related fields. SPS operates within the American Institute of
Physics (AIP), an umbrella organization for professional physical science
societies.
SPS chapters are evaluated on their level of
interaction with the campus community, the professional physics community, the
public and with SPS national programs. The Outstanding Chapter Award recognizes
high levels of outreach as well as unique approaches to fulfilling the mission
of SPS to “help students transform themselves into contributing members of the
professional community.”
Each year Mines’ SPS chapter takes part in a list of
community outreach and charity activities: Punkin Chunkin, Festival of Lights
Parade, Parade of Trees, Neutrino Day activities at SURF, Dark Matter Day,
Rocker Night at Main Street Square, Go to Mines, MLK Food Drive, Trick or Treat
for canned goods, Engineering Week, Conference for Undergraduate Women in
Physics, Women in Science & Engineering Conference, Mines Day at the Capitol
and Charity Pig Wrestling.