West Point Physics and Nuclear Engineering

It always fills us with pride and purpose to have the honor to show off department activities to Old Grads! Recently, COL Peter Chapman, Department Head for Physics and Nuclear Engineering (PaNE) and LTC Jill Rahon, Deputy Director for Operations for the Nuclear Science and Engineering Research Center (NSERC), gave LTC(R) Jim Roberts (Class of '67) a tour of the PaNE Department, including the USMA Subcritical Assembly, seen here. The assembly is useful to cadets and faculty for education and research because it allows them to safely induce fission using natural uranium. LTC(R) Roberts was pleased to see the equipment and was familiar with it as he worked at the Naval Reactors Facility at Idaho National Laboratory following his retirement from the Army!

Dean of the Academic Board-West Point | West Point Association of Graduates | Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) | Idaho National Laboratory

On the cusp of graduation, the Department of Physics and Nuclear Engineering would like to congratulate all of the graduating Firsties on successfully completing a rigorous academic program. The past four years of intense dedication and diligence has paid off! Enjoy your Summer as you relax and prepare to embark on a whole new journey; a journey which will be full of challenges. The staff and faculty of the House of PANE have absolute confidence in your ability to overcome these challenges (because you’re smart!) and we cannot wait to see you again down the road.

To all of the cadets who were recently recognized at the 2024 Academic Awards Ceremony: well done! You have set yourselves apart. The Army needs more men and women with your intellect and leadership, so we are thrilled to see you enter the force. We would like to extend a huge thank you to our guest speakers and presenters: LTG(R) Karbler, COL(R) Serchak, and MAJ(R) Groves. Thank you, gentlemen, for your insight and words of wisdom!


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Congratulations to all the cadets who showcased the results of the tremendous work they’ve been putting into their research and capstone design projects over the past year. Your faculty is proud of your dedication to the advancement of physics, nuclear engineering, and space science technologies. Well done!

For the recent eclipse, a group of PANE faculty, cadets, and family members traveled to Plattsburgh International Airport in New York to experience the eclipse in totality. They took some amazing pictures (seen here) and were able to identify some awesome solar features such as a solar prominence and Bailey’s Beads, a ring of irregular beads of light that are caused by the topography of the moon and can be seen just before and just after totality! The group was also able to spot Venus while they were stargazing! Way to go, team, for your enthusiasm for space science! The next total solar eclipse is in 2026 over Iceland…who wants to go on a trip section!?

Last week, 20 cadets and the House of PANE’s own MAJ Kyle Carberry traveled to Penn. State University at Happy Valley to participate in the American Nuclear Society Student Conference. During the conference, these cadets presented 10 research projects across 7 technical areas to both students and professionals from across the nuclear enterprise. Presentation topics ranged from scatterable radiation detectors to nuclear wargaming simulation. While all cadets demonstrated outstanding professionalism and scholarship, we’d like to highlight Cadets Gabrielle Hall, Joseph Rumbaugh, and Marissa Massey for their presentation entitled “Radiation Mapping of a Nuclear Thermal Propulsion System,” which was voted as the best undergraduate presentation in the Space Nuclear Propulsion and Applications technical area. Way to go, team!

Recently, cadets in PH486 (Experimental Physics) assembled a saturated absorption spectroscopy experiment with similar functionality to the work by Siegbahn, Schawlow, and Bloembergen that won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics! The next step for these brilliant cadets is to design and build a magneto trapping experiment with similar functionality to the work by Phillips, Chu, and Cohen-Tannoudji that won the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics! Big shoutout to these cadets and their physics mentors, COL Loucks and Dr. Kashinski!usma

Thank you CPT Bas Yniguez for creating unforgettable moments for future stargazers at West Point Elementary and Highland Falls Intermediate! CPT Yniguez guided a group of 5th and 6th graders, already well-versed in the solar system and the cosmos, through a space science experience that simply cannot be matched by flat media like video or PowerPoint, as they immersed themselves in PANE’s inflatable planetarium! Great job, Bas, and thanks to all the students who participated!usma

Recently, the American Physical Society held its annual March Meeting in Minneapolis, MN. Over 12,000 physicists from around the world congregated with the goal of advancing scientific discovery and discussing novel research. We are so proud of the six West Point cadets and PANE’s Dr. Fekete for their participation, which included chairing a discussion session, presenting five posters, and giving an oral presentation. The topics of these presentations included gravitational time dilation, solid state physics, and astronomy. Well done, team! Go Army Physics!

“On the lanes of friendly strikes are knocked the pins that in other days, on other lanes, will bowl the frames of victory.” - A fictitious quote by Douglas MacArthur had he taken bowling as seriously as he did the Army.
The House of PANE celebrated a number of physics concepts (conservation of momentum, impulse) recently during a fun bowling event filled with pizza, kinship, and competition. Congratulations to Vanessa Koch for taking home the coveted PANE Bowling Trophy! Special shoutouts to CPT Kevin Filip for designing and 3-D printing the trophy and to CPT Richard Calvin for organizing the whole evening!

Ho ho ho! Happy Holidays from the House of PANE Family! This year, Santa was mightily busy stuffing coal into midshipmen stockings, but he has finally delivered the winning memes from this Fall Term’s Meme Competition. Please enjoy the top three finishers for each of our four categories. First place finishers earned a PANE coin, a PANE tab, and had their memes printed out and placed in hallways of Bartlett Hall!

Our 2nd place finishers! The cadets who submitted these earned the coveted PANE tab and unlimited high fives.

Our third place memes. The cadets who submitted these earned the coveted PANE tab!

Recently, the PANE Department held a Civilian Holiday Luncheon at Leo’s, one of our favorite restaurants, to recognize the amazing administrative and laboratory staff who keep the PANE train running. We feel so fortunate to count these talented and dedicated folks among our ranks!

Congratulations to our Army Team! Clearly, our West Point Cadets have a superior mastery of physics. The offense displayed a deep understanding of Newton’s Laws to maximize the force of their run plays. The defense relied on their knowledge of kinematics and projectile motion to result in two game-changing turnovers. In the end, it was a triumph of strategic calculus, classical kinetics, and a touch of quantum unpredictability, and a very entertaining game overall. Go Army, Beat Navy!

Congratulations to the Army Football Team with their 17-11 victory over Navy! And a very special shoutout to current Physics 1 students Kalib Fortner and Max Didomenico for making some incredible defensive plays! GO ARMY, BEAT NAVY!

Today is a unique and inspiring day in the House of PANE. This morning, the United States Senate confirmed the nominations for promotion for many incredible military leaders, including three former PANE faculty members: BG(P) John Weidner, BG(P) Richard Zellmann, and COL(P) David Zinn. We are excited to follow their bright careers as they serve as proponents for physics, nuclear engineering, and space science!

We'd also like to congratulate BG Lori Robinson, current Commandant of Cadets and former Commandant of Cadets, BG Mark Quander, on their selection for promotion to MG!!

The 2023 PANE Winter Formal Banquet was an absolute blast! Great food, fun trivia, and amazing company! Congrats to Team Wrong Thread for winning the trivia competition! Huge shoutout to CPT Jenna Vercollone for leading the planning effort!

Last Friday, the PANE Department volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in support of the construction of four new homes in Newburgh, NY. A HUGE shoutout to the faculty, staff, and cadets who volunteered to make a difference in the community!

Recently, House of PANE instructor MAJ Nate Jones presented at the 2023 Hackaday Superconference in Pasadena, CA. His talk was titled "Inside the Voja4" and covered the computer architecture of a 4-bit computer that doubled as the badge for the 2022 Hackaday Superconference.

We applaud MAJ Jones for representing the House of PANE and USMA at this event and for broadening his intellectual curiosity to areas outside of traditional PANE subjects!

Last Friday, PANE had a group of staff, faculty, and Cadets volunteer with Habitat for Humanity! The PANE team helped prepare materials for construction on four homes in the Newburgh, NY area. A huge thanks goes out to those who volunteered their time on a day off and the staff at Habitat for Humanity in Newburgh for their support to the community and efforts in organizing events like these. Stay tuned for more volunteer opportunities sponsored by PANE!

Hey Physics Fans, stay tuned; tonight at 7:40 PM (EST), we will be live-streaming a special lecture with (NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Astronaut MAJ Kathleen Rubins. This lecture is part of a series of semi-annual astronaut lectures that the PANE Department coordinates with NASA for our physics and space science cadets! It’s an honor to have this relationship and we all hope you watch the livestream!

Today we honor all who serve or who have served in defense of our nation and the ideals established in The Constitution of the United States. We hope everyone has the opportunity to reflect and celebrate the service of veterans today; Happy Veterans Day!

We'd like to give a big, warm shoutout to NFL offensive tackle and House of PaNE member (Physics, '18) Brett Toth for honorably representing the United States Military Academy and the Army on the big stage!

The Military Man: Lineman Brett Toth’s road to the Carolina Panthers Toth started as an Eagle but now is a proud Panther. He's learned his employer can change but one thing that can't is his allegiance to the flag.

Last Friday, the PaNE Department had the pleasure of witnessing the promotion of Nick Deschenes to the rank of Major. Nick is a phenomenal officer and has been instrumental in shaping the Space Physics course within the Department’s Space Science program. Congratulations, MAJ Deschenes! Well deserved!

Yesterday, ARES successfully completed their subscale launch! They were also accompanied by the Stony Brook University team who were also conducting their own subscale launch. GO ARES!

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The House of PaNE was delighted to showcase physics, nuclear engineering, and space science concepts to cadets and their Family members during this year's Family Day!

It’s that time of year again- it’s time to choose your own adventure and become a member of the