Written by Associate Professor Karen Livesey.
The 2024 Women in Physics tour by Professor Susan Coppersmith wrapped up on Thursday 17 October with a public lecture in Sydney.
Professor Coppersmith chose her home institution, UNSW Sydney, for the tour’s finale.
The lecture was held in the Council Chambers and was attended by people of all ages from across the Sydney metro area.
She posed the question: What do theoretical physicists do?
Professor Coppersmith showed that they push human knowledge into new and interesting directions. This was presented through the lens of quantum mechanics.
She took the audience on a journey starting in the 1800s with a humble lightbulb, to quantum technologies that have changed our lives. She mentioned how to steal all the money in the world by breaking quantum algorithms.
This year’s tour consisted of eight public lectures, 23 school visits, and numerous radio interviews. Professor Coppersmith visited all Australian states and the ACT. She said: “The tour was so meaningful, and I am incredibly inspired by the dedicated educators and enthusiastic students that I met.”
The Dean of the Faculty of Science at UNSW and past president of the AIP, Professor Sven Rogge, introduced the public lecture. Astrophysicist Professor Sarah Brough, incoming chair of the UNSW School of Physics, ran the question time after the public lecture.
The event concluded with the awarding of the Women in Physics medal to Professor Coppersmith by the AIP’s representative, Associate Professor Karen Livesey of the University of Newcastle.
The audience congratulated Professor Coppersmith on the award in recognition of her work enabling a new understanding of complex systems ranging from biomineralised structures and granular materials to glasses, quantum magnets, and quantum computers.
She was also thanked by the AIP for her work to promote physics to Australians from all walks of life, especially school children.
The AIP’s Women in Physics lecture tour has run nationally since 1997. It is aimed at promoting the excellent research performed by women.
Find out more about the 2024 Women in Physics Lecture Tour.
Applications close 15 Nov 2024 for the 2025 Women in Physics Lecturer.
Photos (credit to Cassandra Hannagan):
- Prof. Coppersmith talking to the audience
- Prof. Coppersmith mid-lecture
- Prof. Rogge, Prof. Brough, Prof. Coppersmith with her certificate and medal, and A/Prof. Livesey
Cognates
