Fall 2019 Newsletter

After more than 20 years of planning and fundraising, and 19 months of construction, we're excited to welcome you to the new Physics, Astronomy, and Interdisciplinary Science building. Find out more about the new 137,000 square foot space and how to put your name on the PAÍS donor wall. Contact our development officer, Yolanda R. Domínguez at (505) 277-3194.

Message from the Chair
Welcome to the first electronic newsletter from your old home: the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico. We feel it is important to keep our alumni updated on exciting goings on in the department, whether it be research results, outreach activities, or student accomplishments. So we started this newsletter which we plan to send out twice a year. 

The year 2019 has been a particularly exciting one for us because we have (finally) moved into our incredible new building, Physics & Astronomy and Interdisciplinary Science (PAÍS)! Its state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities enable us to stay on the forefront of science, particularly through higher quality experiments. You can read more about PAÍS below. 

Our faculty is growing and our students are achieving great things. We hope you enjoy reading about our recent accomplishments. We still have many needs, and there are many ways you can help. Should you decide to donate to one of our funds, we would be extremely grateful!  

-- Richard J. Rand, Department Chair
UNM and the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced new findings about the plasmonic properties of daguerreotypes.
Raquel Fraga-Encinas '01 is part of an international team that produced the first-ever image of a supermassive black hole.
UNM is being recognized as a worldwide leader in Quantum Information Science.
Pumpkins abounded at the student-run Physics Demo Show.
Professor Arash Mafi and Associate Professor Rouzbeh Allahverdi recently received an award of more than $580,000 from the Army Research Office.
Lauren Zundel won a Goldwater Scholarship last year and a Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Award this year
Winners at the Four Corners Section of the American Physical Society at Embry Riddle include, L-R, Paul Gieri, Ryan Gibbons, Ivey Davis, Amy Soudachanh, and Lauren Zundel.

Alumni Spotlight

We want to highlight great things you've been doing in this Alumni Spotlight section. Tell us if you changed jobs, or had any breakthroughs, accomplishments or recognition you'd like everyone to hear about. Or just tell us what you're working on.

This time, you can read Nick Menicucci's (BS Physics with Departmental Honors, 2002; now a Senior Research Fellow, Department of Physics, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) reminiscences about his time in the department.

Nicolas Menicucci, BS Physics with Departmental Honors, 2002
Senior Research Fellow, Department of Physics, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

I have fond memories of my undergraduate days at UNM Physics and Astronomy. The department was an extended family, with familiar faces and open office doors. The Society of Physics Students (SPS) supported us in our education with conferences and socialising.

What I valued most, though, was the rigor and breadth of the education I received. I spent many long nights working through tough problems in classical and quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, relativity, and mathematical physics.
The ample chalk, ink, and pencil lead expended on those assignments became a solid foundation in modern theoretical physics.

Departmental Honors allowed me to spend a year doing cutting-edge research in quantum information theory, leading to my first publication and a host of options for graduate school.

Without a doubt, my bachelors education in Physics from UNM was instrumental in launching my eventual career as an academic in theoretical physics.

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