Undergraduate students from four different universities visited the UAB Physics Department on Friday, March 7th. Physics students from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Southeastern Louisiana University, Western Kentucky University and Birmingham Southern College came to learn more about the Physics Graduate Program and the research accomplishments of our faculty. The eighteen students started their day with a welcome by Dr. David Shealy, Professor and Chair, and then had coffee with some of the faculty. Dr. Mary Ellen Zvanut, Professor & Associate Chair, gave an overview of the graduate program and our Teaching Assistantship benefits and responsibilities. Dr. Todd Devore, Physics Undergraduate Lab Coordinator, gave them a much deeper understanding of the TA program and a tour of some of our teaching labs. Lunch and time to talk with current Grad Students Kyle Bentley, Nick Nolan and Sam Moore allowed them to get the student’s view. 


Then came the fun part – touring the labs! The group first toured the Optics Laser Lab of Dr. Sergey Mirov, University Professor and Co-Director, Center for Optical Sensors and Spectroscopies. Dr. Mirov specializes in experimental quantum electronics, solid-state lasers, physics of color centers and laser spectroscopy.

On to the Nanomaterials Laboratory at the Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering (CBSE) with Dr. Aaron Catledge, Assistant Professor. His special interests are the synthesis and properties of nanostructured super-hard materials, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of diamond films and novel nanostructured coatings for biomedical implants, composite scaffolds for tissue engineering and mechanical properties. Our visitors got to see diamonds being created! 

Dr. David Hilton, Associate Professor, showed off his Terahertz Spectroscopy Laboratory. He works with ultrafast spectroscopy and ultrashort pulse generations, ultrafast terahertz spectroscopy, correlated electron materials, superconductivity, high­ magnetic field spectroscopy, magnetic semiconductors, complex functional nanomaterials and materials in extreme environments. He is working to create an ultrafast, ultratiny on-off switch out of vanadium dioxide, a material that could be the future of high-tech.


The day wrapped up with Dr. Zvanut discussing other research topics and opportunities available in our department that couldn’t be covered in just one day. Two of the visiting students committed to the UAB Graduate Program and look forward to continuing their education and earning their PhD’s.