| 2003 |
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YEAR BOOK |
The Institute of Physics in Ireland
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The Institute of Physics in Ireland
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Shaping the Future with Physics
The Institute of Physics in Ireland supports a range of activities that address the key issues affecting physics and physicists. Demonstration exhibits at the Esat BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (YSTE), an annual lecture programme, submissions to science policy groups, workshops and exhibitions at teachers' conferences, sponsorship of science events, competitions and awards, are annual activities of the Institute.
This year, the European initiative 'Physics on Stage 2' was one of the main events sponsored by the Institute through professional support. A group of teachers attended a physics teachers' conference at the European Space Agency's research facility in The Netherlands. Subsequently the national committee published 'Demonstrations and Teaching Ideas', a booklet of simple and inexpensive, yet powerful, classroom demonstrations selected from the conference. This booklet was given to all physics teachers in Ireland and is available for download at www.pos2.ie.
At Institute of Physics (IOP) headquarters, a new teachers' resource is under development - 'Supporting Physics Teaching 11-14'. The aim of this project is to support non-specialists in teaching physics to students aged 11-14. The programme will be presented through professional development programmes supported by a CD-ROM based resource.
Lecture programme includes Nobel Physicist
Dr Bill Phillips, who shared the 1997 physics Nobel prize, presented a public lecture on laser cooling and trapping of atoms to a very warm welcome from audiences at UCC, DCU and QUB. Bill Phillips is Group Leader of the Laser Cooling and Trapping Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA.
Professor David King, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government, gave a highly informative report on the recognition being given to science by the UK Government. The degree of cross-departmental integration and collaboration on scientific issues that Prof. King has achieved illustrated the significance of science for most areas of government policy.
The physicist, chemist, science writer and consultant editor of Nature, Philip Ball, presented a lecture 'Pattern formation in nature'. The presentation made clear the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach for an understanding of these phenomena. Other lectures included research areas such as mobile phones and health, climate change, medical physics, quantum physics in IT, and fusion research.
Awards
This year's physics teacher's award was presented to Michael Mulcaire, St Michael's College, Listowel, Co. Kerry, for his exceptional ability to convey complex and abstract concepts through a combination of enthusiastic teaching and novel experiments. The Esat BT YSTE special prize for physics was presented to Sonia Buckley for her project 'The Physics of Dancing Pendulums' (see page 151). The branch final of Paperclip Physics, the demonstration competition for school students, was won by Omagh Academy in Northern Ireland and Sandford Park School in the Republic. The Leaving Certificate Award was shared by Brian Applebe of Ashton Comprehensive School in Cork and Kyle Parfrey of Blackrock College in Blackrock, Co. Dublin; and the A-Level Award was won by Kathryn Agnew of Ballyclare High School in Ballyclare, Co. Antrim.
| The Institute of Physics (IOP) is an international learned society and professional body for the advancement and dissemination of physics and the promotion of physics education. The IOP has over 37,000 members world-wide. More than 1400 are members of the Institute of Physics in Ireland (North and South) which is one of 13 regional branches of the IOP. Membership is open to all - from professional physicists to those who have an interest in physics and wish to support the Institute's objectives. Suitably qualified candidates may apply for the status of Chartered Physicist (CPhys) and/or Chartered Engineer (CEng). Membership includes benefits such as monthly issues of Physics World, free access to three IOP electronic journals, members only website, portable email address, and reduced rate books. Schools can also be members of the IOP with benefits by availing of the Schools' Affiliation Scheme. |
Contact: Alison Hackett, Institute of Physics in Ireland, Institute of Art, Design & Technology,
Kill Avenue, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin;
Tel: 01-2144750; Fax: 01-2144726; E-mail: [email protected] ; Web: http://www.tcd.ie/IOP