Sudha R. Swaminathan (Physical and Earth Sciences) was invited to speak at a national workshop for high-school students interested in nuclear physics at the University of Notre Dame. She gave a talk titled “Physics in Art: A course and a museum tour” on June 24.
During the talk and subsequent question-and-answer session, she described Worcester State University’s Physics in Art course (PY 112) and the Physics at WAM tour of the Worcester Art Museum, which was developed with Frank Lamelas (Physical and Earth Sciences).
During the week-long workshop, Swaminathan assisted the students in performing experiments on x-ray fluorescence and neutron activation analysis using research-grade equipment, and discussed physics careers.
On June 28, Swaminathan presented a poster titled “X-ray Fluorescence Study of 18th and 19th Century Silver Coins.” The work on the silver coins was conducted with Lamelas and WSU business major and physics minor Matthew Fiorentino.
The Physics of Atomic Nuclei (PAN) workshop is sponsored by the Joint Institute of Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA). Swaminathan’s travel was funded by JINA, WSU’s School of Education, Health, and Natural Sciences, and WSU’s Office of Academic Affairs.