NOVA students with interest in physics, engineering, or other physical sciences attended the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics organized by the George Washington University and sponsored by the American Physical Society. The conference took place from January 12th to 14th, 2018, at GW’s downtown Washington DC campus. Student had opportunity to visit NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on Friday, and attend plenary talks, workshops, and poster sessions on Saturday and Sunday.
Students from the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia attended. More than 10 NOVA female science students attended most of them having taking their classes at the Alexandria and Loudoun campuses.
The plenary speakers included Kawtar Hafidi from Argonne National Laboratory, Patricia Burchat from Stanford University, Nancy Jo Nicholas from Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Luz Martinez-Miranda from University of Maryland. Students could choose among concurrent workshops on transfer from 2-yr to 4-yr institutions, how to succeed in non-academic science-related job, and how to find support for under-represented minorities in physics. The expenses of attendances including meals and accommodation were covered by the organizers for all our NOVA students who were able to enjoy this unique opportunity completely free of charge.