Siena College Physics

Welcome to the Department of Physics

Undergraduate Computational Challenge

Sigma Pi Sigma
The National Physics Honor Society

Congratulations to: Michael Hickey, Matt Farrelly, Ryan Decker, Jason Soohoo, Timothy Miller, Trevor Quirk, Nicholas Connelly

The Department of Physics aims to develop in its students a comprehensive grasp of the principles of physics. The program emphasizes the concepts and techniques that have led to our present state of understanding of the physical universe.

The department offers a flexible and comprehensive program. Placed in the context of a liberal arts environment, the generality and applicability of Physics grant the major three broad options upon graduation. He or she is well prepared to pursue graduate study in Physics or an allied field, to embark immediately upon a professional career in science, or to enter one of the numerous careers which require or are enhanced by a broad knowledge of science in today�s technological society.

Who's Hiring Physics Bachelors - Take a look!

A curriculum is offered for those interested in teaching, and the Department also offers a 3/2 program in affiliation with several institutions including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Binghamton University, leading to the B.S. in Physics and a B.E. in electrical, mechanical, civil, biomedical, aeronautical, nuclear, or materials engineering.

Other News & Events

Siena College keeps looking up! NASA awards Prof. Rose Finn observing time on the Spitzer Space Telescope to study star-formation rates of intermediate-redshift galaxy clusters. The Spitzer Space Telescope is a space-borne infrared observatory capable of studying objects ranging from our Solar System to the distant reaches of the Universe. Spitzer is the largest infrared telescope ever launched into space. Its highly sensitive instruments give one a unique view of the Universe and allow researches such as Prof. Finn to peer into regions of space which are hidden from optical telescopes. Spitzer pictures and some text courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech.
MMT Observatory: Prof. Rose Finn was awarded three nights on the 6.5m MMT to conduct near- infrared imaging of galaxy clusters that will also be observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope.
FFT Series Completed: Prof. Denis Donnelly completes his 6th and final article on The Fast Fourier Transform for Experimentalists in the journal Computing in Science and Engineering. Prof. Donnelly was also the colloquium speaker at Clark University on March 30, 2006. The title of his talk was "The Hilbert-Huang and fast Fourier transforms: A Comparison.
South Pole Geophysical Research: Congressman Sherwood Boehlert and Prof. Al Weatherwax at the South Pole. Congressman Boehlert was at the Station during a joint Congressional oversight mission to the continent. Prof. Weatherwax conducts space physics research at the station under an NSF grant to the College.

April 19, 2006: Sigma Pi Sigma Induction Ceremony - Congratulations to Joanna Dalland and Justin LaRocque.

April 19, 2006: Dr. John Van Derlofske, Head of Transportation Lighting RPI�s Lighting Research Center, presents "The Future of Roadway Lighting."

March 30, 2006: Prof. Denis Donnelly was the colloquium speaker at Clark University on March 30, 2006. The title of his talk was "The Hilbert-Huang and fast Fourier transforms: A Comparison.

January 8, 2006: Prof. Al Weatherwax presents "Space Weather" at the South Pole Station science seminar during a field trip to the station to install a new Dartmouth-Siena Auroral MF Imager.

November 18, 2005: "Albert Einstein: Rebel-Genius of the Century" by Walter Cicha, Ph.D., 4pm, RB202. Sponsored by the Siena College Department of Physics.

November 7, 2005: Prof. Al Weatherwax presents, "The Sun-Earth Connection" at the Binghamton University Physics Department seminar.

Sept 22, 2005: Prof. Rose Finn presents "Star-Formation Properties of Distant Cluster Galaxies" at the RPI astronomy seminar.

Fall 2005: Siena College, together with RPI, was Awarded a National Science Foundation, Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Grant to upgrade Astronomy Labs.

Fall 2005: Prof. Rose Finn is awarded time on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

Spring 2005 Graduates in Physics: Sean Gill; Justin Waterman; Mike Wickham; DJ McKeon; Nick Skinner; Vanessa Mauro

2005 Sigma Pi Sigma Inductees: Steven Cowen - Justin C. DeWillers - Stephanie H. Fazio - Kaitlin C. McGann - Daniel J. McKeon - Brian D. Pendergast - Corey J. Snitchler - Joseph A. Tessitore

May 22-25, 2005: Prof. Denis Donnelly will be chairing three sessions on High Performance Computing in Academia, at the upcoming Internal Conference on Computational Science to be held
May 22-25, 2005 at Emory University.

April 9, 2005: Physics majors Sean Gill, Justin Waterman and Mike Wickham present papers at the Rochester Symposium for Physics Students.

Fall 2005: Dr. Rose Finn (M.S., Dartmouth; Ph.D., Arizona) will join the Department of Physics next Fall. She is experienced in star-formation rates of high-redshift galaxy clusters; large-scale environments of quasars; and near- infrared instrumentation.

Feb. 12-15, 2005: Prof. Ulrich Ruede of the University of Erlangen and Prof. Denis Donnelly of Siena College will co-chair a session at the meeting, Siam Conference on Computational Science and Engineering, entitled Computational Science and Engineering Education.

Fall 2004: Prof. Denis Donnelly named Associate Editor-in-Chief for the journal Computing in Science and Engineering.

October 2004: Brian Liberty and Nick Skinner, both seniors at RPI in Mechanical Engineering, will discuss, Engineering at RPI and the Siena 3/2 Engineering Program. Nick and Brian attended Siena for three years, majoring in Physics. Brian received his Siena B.S. degree in May, 2004. The talk is at 4:00 pm with refreshments at 3:45 pm.

October 2004: Professor Brian Stewart of Wesleyan University will be here Monday, October 25 to give a talk titled, "Three-body dynamics in collisions of atoms with diatomic molecules", in RB238 at 3 pm.

August 2004: Siena physics professor to direct an NSF grant focused on developing a new and comprehensive upper atmosphere geophysical measurement program based upon distributed instruments operating in extreme polar environments. This is a collaborative proposal together with institutions including Augsburg, Berkeley, Dartmouth, Maryland, Michigan, NJIT, and Stanford. Science and Engineering Overview

August 2004: Astronomy Seminar, 2:30 pm, Roger Bacon 250, Star-formation in Distant Galaxy Clusters, Dr. Rose Finn, Dept. of Astronomy (U. of Mass)

August 2004: "Modeling the Motion of a Bowling Ball" May 2004 Siena physics graduate Nolan Samboy presented a paper at the recent American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) meeting on the physics of bowling ball construction.

August 2004: Physics Professor J. Diamond discusses "Quantum Dots in the Undergraduate Physics Curriculum" at the recent AAPT meeting.

July 2004: NSF grant awarded to study Earth's ionosphere and magnetosphere. Siena College Press Release

June 2004: A workshop at the International Conference on Computational Science held in Krakow was co-organized by Siena College Physics Professor Denis Donnelly. The workshop was titled "Computing in Science and Engineering Academic Programs." The ten speakers in the two sessions for this workshop came from Australia, England, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.

School of Science - Department of Physics
Please contact Prof. Al Weatherwax for questions regarding this page.
Last Modified: 04/28/2007
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