Science Alive! is the largest, single, interactive, mobile science exhibition in Australia, which has been running since 2006.

This year, for the first time, the South Australian branch of the AIP (AIP SA) participated in the event, offering ‘Mind-Bending Light’ – a series of hands-on optics demonstrations – amongst the 80 interactive exhibits at the Adelaide Showgrounds from August 4-6.

“The motivation behind the development of these activities is to inspire the next generation of physicists in Australia with fun, hands-on activities,” said Dr Chris Perrella, AIP SA Secretary and co-developer of the activities.

The activities were a hit, with over 750 visitors to the exhibit over the three days, aged from 4 to 18 years old.

The activities included:

• Laser Playpen – where  a series of mirrors, prisms and gratings are used to align a laser onto a receiver and play music via a “Laser Radio”
• Jelly Waveguides – where different shaped jellies and a ‘light dragon’ are used to re-direct laser light onto different detectors, illustrating the principles of total internal reflection and optical fibres.
• Absorbing Light – where different coloured lasers and jellies are used to demonstrate the meaning of colours.

This would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the AIP SA branch members, with 12 volunteers assisting for a total of 75 hours, 27 battery changes, and more than 30 packets of jelly used.

“The SA Branch is already planning a repeat performance for 2024, as Science Alive! represents a fantastic opportunity to engage with and excite the general public about physics,” says AIP SA Branch Chair, Stephen Warren-Smith.

August was a busy month for the AIP SA Outreach team, also running workshops using these activities as part of the 70^th Conference of the Australian Science Teachers Association (CONASTA) and the Flinders University STEM Enrichment Academy in July 2023.

AIP SA thanks SASTA/The Oliphant Science Awards for hosting the Mind-Bending Light station, as well as the OptoFab node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility for providing 3D printing services, The University of Adelaide for assistance developing the Laser Radios, and the Adelaide Optica Student Chapter for providing additional volunteers.

For additional information please contact the AIP SA Branch Treasurer at treasurer@sa.aip.org.au.

AIPSA/Adelaide Optical Student Chapter volunteers Darryl Jones, Sabrina Slimani, Ben Sparkes and Harry Noel Lees excited to welcome their first visitors of the day at Science Alive!

AIPSA Secretary Chris Perrella explaining the Laser Playpen activity to eager participants at Science Alive!

Adelaide Optical Student Chapter President Gabriel Britto Monteiro demonstrating the Jelly Waveguide activity at Science Alive!

The Australian Institute of Physics (SA branch) is proudly hosting the Claire Corani Memorial Public Lecture as part of the Women in Physics national lecture tour:

Nano-magnets: new materials to address biomedical and technological problems.
Presented by: Dr Karen Livesey
Date & Time: Wednesday 6^th of September 2023 at 6.30 to 7.45 pm
Location: Horace Lamb lecture theatre, The University of Adelaide (map here)

Abstract: Tiny magnets that are one thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair are starting to be used in technologies all around us, including cancer treatments, medical imaging and even self-repairing paints. Magnets that are shrunk down to the nanoscale behave very differently to the large ones that you have on your fridge, allowing a whole new set of materials to be designed to answer important technological problems. Come along to hear how a theoretical physicist studies nano-magnets and what exciting problems are currently being solved.

Bio: Dr Karen Livesey was the first in her family to finish high school and studied Physics at the University of Western Australia, completing a PhD in 2010. For almost 10 years she worked at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs reaching the rank of Associate Professor. While the covid-19 pandemic was raging, she moved to Newcastle NSW with her family in 2020. She is currently a Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Newcastle, and an Associate Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low Energy Electronic Technologies. Karen has won teaching awards and research grants in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. In 2023 she is a national Superstar of STEM (Science and Technology Australia) and the AIP Women in Physics lecturer (Australian Institute of Physics).

The Claire Corani Memorial Prize will be presented at the lecture, for high achievement at second year level physics in 2022 at a South Australian University.

On Wednesday 17 May, The Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) South Australia Branch in conjunction with Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) co-hosted the inaugural Physics Jobs Fair 2023.

This event gave university students the opportunity to engage with 10 companies who are seeking to locally employ physicists. Over 50 undergraduate and HDR students heard a short presentation from each of the companies which was followed by a networking event over pizza and drinks.

Thank you to the companies who attended: DST Group, CSIRO, Ellex, Ziltek, Babcock, Shoal Group, QuantX Labs, Fleet Space Technologies, QinetiQ and Norseld.

And special thanks to the small group of volunteers who made it all happen!

“A Brief History of Entanglement (and Photons)”

 Horace Lamb Lecture Theatre

The University of Adelaide (North Terrace campus)

A/Prof Jacqui Romero

Reader and Westpac Research Fellow,
University of Queensland

I will tell the story of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics. I will talk about entanglement: its importance and implications. I will talk about photons and their instrumental role in the important experiments that established the reality (aha!) of entanglement.

Bio: Dr Jacqui Romero is an expert in experimental quantum information. Her research is focused on using higher-dimensional systems for exploring curious quantum physics phenomena and developing future quantum technologies. She is the group leader of the research team Qudits@UQ. Jacqui was born and bred in Manila, Philippines. Hearing her high school physics teacher complain about quantum physics, she became curious and googled "quantum physics"—she has been hooked ever since. She holds BS Applied Physics magna cum laude and MS Physics degrees from the University of the Philippines. She finished her PhD at the University of Glasgow (in sunny Scotland!) where she was a researcher for seven years. In 2015, she moved to Brisbane to join the Quantum Technology group at the University of Queensland. In 2016 she took up an ARC DECRA fellowship with the same group. In 2019, she took up a Westpac Research Fellowship and formed her own team, Qudits@UQ. Jacqui is recognised for moving the shape of photons to mainstream quantum information. She is currently an associate professor and Westpac Research Fellow. She is also a chief investigator at the Centre of Excellence For Engineered Quantum Systems (EQUS).

The Bronze Bragg medals and merit certificates will be presented at the lecture.

The medals are awarded for highest achievement in Physics in 2022 in the SACE Stage 2 assessments and IB Higher Level Physics, with certificates being for students who achieved a merit or a grade of 7.

For additional information please contact the SA AIP Branch Secretary:
aip_branchsecretary_sa@aip.org.au                   +61 8 8313 2323 (W)

To be held on Wednesday Nov. 30th in the Public Schools Club, 207 East Terrace, Adelaide:

6:00 pm   Pre-meeting drinks

6:30 pm   Annual General Meeting

7:30 pm   Annual Dinner

Menu: 3 courses, alternate drop of one of each. (See menu below).

We need to give seven days' notice for vegans, vegetarians and or any other dietary considerations (lactose free, peanut allergy, gluten-free).

Bookings for the dinner are essential and should be made with Dr Laurence Stamatescu by Wednesday November 23rd, by email to lstamatescu@gmail.com

The cost of the 3-course dinner (to be paid on the night) is:

AIP members and guests: $75 per person

AIP student members: $40 per person

The mid-dinner speaker will be Professor Glen Solomon, 

Hicks Chair of Quantum Materials, The University of Adelaide

        MENU
SANDFORD HOUSE DINING 

        ENTREÉ

Pan Fried Halloumi

Salt and Pepper Squids

         MAIN 

Sirloin Char Grilled, Mash Potato – Greens – Red Wine Jus

Barramundi, Broccoli & Cauliflower Gratin – Citrus Sauce

        DESSERT

Chocolate Paradise, White Chocolate Ice Cream – Whipped Cream & Choc Sauce

Mini Fruit Pavlovas, Whipped Vanilla Cream

Radiation protection is critical for the future human exploration of Mars. Learn about the health hazards and current research in Australia.

Attend In-Person: Click here for Tickets. Theatre tickets are only required if you wish to attend this meeting in-person. Tickets are FREE and can be obtained online via Eventbrite. Ticket numbers may be limited to ensure compliance with SA Govt indoor seating restrictions. Please cancel your tickets if you are unable to attend in-person.

About this event

Members of the general public are most welcome to attend this joint meeting of the Astronomical Society of South Australia (ASSA) and the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP).

Speaker: A/Prof Susanna Guatelli, Centre for Medical Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong

Abstract: Human missions to Mars have been identified as a main goal of human exploration by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group in 2013. The roadmap to the human exploration of Mars started with the International Space Station mission about twenty years ago and is envisaged to continue with a human outpost on the Moon and finally with a mission to Mars within the next twenty years. A human mission to Mars would expose astronauts to serious health hazards, including acute and late risks caused by exposure to cosmic radiation, eventually leading to cancer and death. The design of shielding solutions and of powerful and accurate radiation monitoring systems are subjects of research to facilitate the human exploration of the Solar System. However, the testing of proposed novel technologies is limited on Earth as there are no accelerator facilities capable to reproduce the complex cosmic radiation field the astronauts would encounter in space. In the past fifteen years, Monte Carlo simulations, capable to describe cosmic radiation interactions in space mission habitats and in astronauts, demonstrated to be an extremely useful tool for radiation protection studies of astronauts. This seminar will begin with a description of the health hazards in astronauts caused by cosmic radiation and of Monte Carlo simulations for space exploration. The speaker will then illustrate her research in this field aimed to develop simulation tools to improve the prediction of health hazards in astronauts.

Bio: A/Prof Guatelli trained as a nuclear physicist at the University of Genova, Italy. In 2003 she had the opportunity to undertake a PhD in physics, based at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Her enthusiasm for medical physics drove her to study possible radiation protection solutions for human mission to Mars (a project led by the European Space Agency) as her PhD research topic. In 2007 she moved to Australia and since 2009 she has been an academic at the School of Physics, University of Wollongong where she is the academic director of the Medical Radiation Physics Bachelor Degree. She is an internationally recognised expert of Monte Carlo simulations for medical applications, including radiation protection of astronauts. In 2021 she was awarded with the prestigious Women in Physics Award of the Australian Institute of Physics, which celebrates female physicists that have made a significant contribution to research in physics. In 2022 she became a member of the ARC (Australian Research Council) Panel of experts. Susanna has been chair/co-chair of several international workshops and conference sessions dedicated to Monte Carlo codes applied to medical physics. She is Associate Editor of Physica Medica and of Applied Radiation and Isotopes.

More Info: https://scholars.uow.edu.au/display/susanna_guatelli

Presented by Associate Professor Katarina Miljkovic,
Space Centre & Technology Centre, School of Earth and Planetary Science, Curtin University

6:30-7:45 PM Tuesday 6th September

in The Braggs lecture theatre, The Braggs building
The University of Adelaide (North Terrace Campus)

Please register at:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/impacts-rocks-from-space-colliding-with-planets-tickets-407387315427

The SA Branch of the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) and the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) invite you to the 2022 AIP/IPAS Physics Industry Night!

Curious about Science and Physics? Wondering what careers can come from studying Physics? Not sure if you should choose to study Physics in year 11, year 12 or University?

Hear from six local organisations and companies who hire Physics graduates. Listen to the experiences of experts in their field who have used their physics education to leap into exciting and rewarding careers.

Stay around after the lecture for free pizza and a chance to meet our speakers from:

• DST Group
• Fleet Space
• Inovor Technologies
• Minelab
• QuantX Labs
• Life Whisperer

Date: Thursday 11 August 2022

Lecture: 6:00PM - 7:00PM, The Braggs Lecture Theatre, The University of Adelaide

Pizza and networking: 7:00PM - 8:30PM, Mezzanine, Hub Central, The University of Adelaide

We ask that all attendees please register individually with an Eventbrite ticket, including students, parents, and presenters to assist us with catering.

The SA Branch of the Australian Institute of Physics will be holding its mid-year dinner and awards night at The Bombay Bicycle Club on Thursday 28th July. Come along for an informal evening with your fellow physicists including students, academics and researchers. Drinks will be from 6:30 pm with the dinner commencing at 7.00 pm.

We will be presenting the Excellence in Physics Teaching award which is presented to a Physics teacher who has had a positive impact on teaching Physics to students at the high-school level.

We will also be presenting the Silver Bragg Awards to the top final-year students who have completed a Bachelor of Science degree in 2021 with a major in Physics from the University of Adelaide and Flinders University.

Please book before July 26th via Eventbrite at:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/aip-mid-year-dinner-and-awards-presentations-tickets-382403859237

6:30 pm, Wednesday February 23^rd 2021

 The Braggs lecture theatre, Braggs building,

University of Adelaide (North Terrace campus)

 “The climate has always changed - so why are we concerned now?”

Katrin Meissner
Director of the Climate Change Research Centre,

 University of New South Wales

I am interested in abrupt climate change events as well as thresholds and feedbacks in the climate system. I use Climate Models together with past climate records to improve our understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying climate variability and climate change.

The Bronze Bragg medals and merit certificates will be presented at the lecture.

 

The medals are awarded for highest achievement in Physics in 2021 in the SACE Stage 2 assessments and IB Higher Level Physics, with certificates being for students who achieved a merit or a grade of 7.

 

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, seats are limited and bookings are essential through this Eventbrite link.