The SBC Physics and Engineering Department is committed to doing research with undergraduates. Sweet Briar physics and engineering students are given the opportunity to do meaningful research that can potentially be presented at national conferences and published in peer reviewed journals.

Research Fields

Radio Astronomy, Prof. Scott Hyman, shyman@sbc.edu

Optics, Lasers, and Material Science, Prof. Hank Yochum, hyochum@sbc.edu

Student Research

Physics and Engineering Science majors engage in both on-campus and off-campus research.

On campus, students have been involved in radio astronomy research; laser spectroscopy; and image processing and pattern recognition with artificial neural networks

Off-campus, students have recently worked at the Harvard University, Princeton University, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory,University of Virginia, University of Illinois, Purdue University, SETI, Stanford University, and at NASA Kennedy and Goddard Space Flight Centers.

Physics majors have presented results of their research at professional conferences of the American Physical Society, the American Astronomical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the National Undergraduate Research Conference.

SBC Physics and Engineering Resources

• Physics and Astronomy Library Resources
• Engineering Library Resources
• Guide to research for undergraduates (Webguru, from Northeastern University)