Nanoscale photosynthesis, molecule cascades, and the ribosome as a protein-producing nanomachine, were just some of the life sciences-oriented topics presented at the 2003 Industrial Physics Forum and its academic–industrial workshop, held 26–28 October in San Jose, California.
Hosted by the Palo Alto-based Agilent Technologies, the annual meeting was sponsored by the Corporate Associates of the American Institute of Physics, the Industrial Physicist , and the American Physical Society’s Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics. Participants in the preconference workshop focused on the roles of industry, government, and academia in cultivating new scientists through undergraduate research.
The workshop opened with an overview of why some undergraduate physics departments thrive. The discussions, which included case studies from Rutgers University in New Jersey and Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, focused on the importance of involving undergraduates in research. The National Task Force on Undergraduate Physics, which conducted site visits at 21 “thriving” physics...
