Australian Institute of Physics

Tasmanian Branch

(ABN: 81 004 566 509)

Apart from the period around 1996, when we had the task of organizing the AIP Congress, I cannot recall a busier year than this. As will be seen below, we engaged in one activity after another with few breaks, except for October, and 2005 promises to be even busier as it coincides with the International Year of Physics. Of course the committee members have been fully involved in tackling the various tasks; praises later. Dr A G Fenton has undertaken the onerous task of writing a history of Tasmanian Physics, with the support of Council, so we look forward to receiving an advance copy of his publication at this AGM before it goes into full publication.

Lecture Programme

Dr Andrew Klekociuk: 21/04/04, “The Ozone Hole: new studies at Davis, Antarctica”
Dr Martin George: 02/06/04, “Secrets of the Red Planet: observing Mars over the centuries” (McAulay Winter Lecture Series)
Dr Ian Newman: 27/07/04, “Making plants grow in salty soil” (McAulay WLS)
Dr Mahananda Dasgupta: 11/08/04, “Accelerated nuclei: exploring the nucleus and the natural environment” (WiPLS)
Dr Wayne Orchiston: 26/08/04, “Transits, Comets and Controversy: Early Astronomy in Tasmania” (McAulay WLS)
Dr Tas Van Ommen: 15/09/04, “A Climate of Concern: the view from the past” (McAulay WLS)
Prof Jan-Willem van Holten: 29/09/04, “New Windows on the Universe”

Drs Marc Duldig and John Humble have been assiduous in reporting summaries of these talks in the PHYSICIST and I wish particularly to thank them for this. Drs Ian Newman and John Humble have maintained our Tasmanian Branch web page and made sure that the notices are up-to-date so we owe them our gratitude for doing that.

Prizes and Sponsorship

Every year we offer the branch AIP prize to the best third year Physics student; Mr Andrew Meijers and Mr Matthew Woolley shared this prize in 2004. (We also regularly supplement the University second year Physics prize to an acceptable level.) We continue to support the Tasmanian Science Talent Search and our prize was awarded this year to Miss Caitlin Perry (St Michael’s Collegiate, Grade 6) for the best Physics project.

The XXIIth Annual Physics Quiz was held at Hutchins School on 28^th August. In this connection, it is appropriate that I record my gratitude to the sponsors: the Australian Antarctic Division, the Bureau of Meteorology, the QVMAG, COMALCO (Bell Bay), Moonraker Technology and the School of Mathematics and Physics. The 2004 winners were a team from Hobart College, consisting of Joshua Duprez, Vlad Negnevitski and Alex Berry, with a record total score if my memory serves me right. Second and Third Prizes went to two teams from Friends’ School. Mr Stuart Morgan, our student committee member, acted as Master of Ceremonies. Thanks are due to Judy Whelan (AAD) for professional assistance in preparing for the Quiz.

Branch members actively participated in promoting Physics during National Science Week and on University Open Days. We made use of the “Switch on to Physics” kits supplied by Dr Dan O’Keefe, consisting of the Freezer Alarm and Spectroscope experiments to run “minidegree” sessions in conjunction with the Faculty of Science and Engineering; these were greatly appreciated by students from St Michael’s Collegiate and Kingston High School.

I have personally written to the Heads of School and Faculty, as well as to the Vice-Chancellor, alerting them to the upcoming International Year of Physics, and asking for promotional support. They have willingly offered it and Faculty have promised to feature a young Tasmanian Physicist in the leaflet which they produce annually about “Young Tasmanian Scientists”.

Other matters

Our branch membership number currently stands at 46, a smaller figure than the year 2003 because third year students no longer get automatic membership. Hopefully this will improve if AIP Council decides to provide automatic membership for Honours (and Masters?) candidates in Physics, though this matter is still under discussion.

This year we decided to support attendance of teachers to the AIP Congress, up to a figure of about $1500, on the understanding that applicants would present a paper to the Education session and explain how this would affect their personal development. However, to date, no-one has come forward, which is rather disappointing.

Acknowledgements

As Secretary, Dr Chelkowska has kept us on our toes and made sure we overlooked nothing at our regular meetings, so the entire committee owes her a debt of gratitude. I wish to thank our Treasurer too for keeping our accounts and books in ship-shape order. Last year it was my aim to reduce the average age of the committee and increase its size at the same time; I am pleased to report that I have succeeded in so doing. Since it is my last year as Chair I wish the new committee well in their future deliberations: next year promises to be very full, with IYOP activities galore, and they will have much to do.

R Delbourgo, 18/11/04.