Florida Institute of Technology
From SEDSWiki
Florida Institute of Technology SEDS, http://activities.fit.edu/seds/
Contents |
December 2007
General Information
- Leadership positions
- President: Jessi Mikkelson
- Vice President: Zoe Bentler
- Secretary: Ren Henry
- Treasurer: Keri Salvador
- Webmaster: Jessi Mikkelson
- SEDS-USA Representative: Jessi Mikkelson
January 2007
General Information
- Leadership positions
- President: Jenni Kissinger
- Vice President: Rob Wilkos
- Secretary: Mallory Berry
- Treasurer: Don Schumacher
- Webmaster: Jenni Kissinger
- SEDS-USA Representative: Jenni Kissinger
- Contact info
- Chapter mailing address if available: FIT SEDS, Physics/Space Sciences Department, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32901
- Membership information
- Number of members: 21
- Different majors and how many: Physics, Space Sciences, Astronomy/Astrophysics, Engineering, Business
- Count of class levels
- 9 Freshmen
- 4 Sophomores
- 6 Juniors
- 3 Seniors
- 0 Masters
- 0 Ph.D
- Meetings
- How often: Every other Monday at 7pm
- Typical meeting layout: Powerpoint presentation with information on upcoming activities, current events, members' current events, fun activity
- Mailing Lists
- Does your chapter have its own mailing list? Many of our members are in the Physics/Space Sciences department, so we utilize the department mailing list as owns.
- Is it open to members outside of your chapter? Yes, but not to those members outside the department.
- If so, how do others get on to the list?
Projects and Research
- What types of projects or research is your chapter currently working on? EDEP, or the Electrochemical Deposition Project (http://activities.fit.edu/seds/EDEP/main.htm)
- How many members are involved? 7
- When did you start and what kind of time line do you have? The project was actually started in 1997, but current members began working on it in 2003, continuing on with the research that was completed beforehand.
- What is the intent/goal of this project? The goal of the project is to experiment with the fabrication of copper indium diselenide (CIS) polycrystalline thin films on a microgravity environment. The EDEP Project submitted a proposal and has been accepted to fly their experiment on the microgravity plane in Houston, Texas on March 22-31, 2007.
- Funding
- How has your chapter gone about acquiring funds for this project? A proposal was submitted and funds received from an outside source.
- What type of funding does your chapter anticipate needing? All funding for the project was granted.
- Any collaboration with other chapters or companies? Unsure.
- Any future projects that have yet to begin?
- Any other information you would like to share
Conferences
- What conferences does you chapter typically attend or plan on attending? We attended SpaceVision 2006 in Orlando. Members will also be attending the Florida Academy of Sciences in Tampa, the April meeting of the American Physical Society in Jacksonville, and the SPS Zone Six Meeting in Melbourne.
- How do you acquire funding for conferences? Funding for SpaceVision 2006 was acquired by the Primary Funding Committee for Student Activities. Funding for FAS and APS is provided by professors who work with students on the research they are presenting. The SPS Zone Six Meeting is at Florida Tech, and is free.
- Ex. Will your school give you more funding if there is a research/poster session that could help get your university’s name out there? Possibly.
- Does your school help out at all with funding? Yes; one conference is funded per year. The school will only pay registration fees for three students, however, with a minimum of $250 and a maximum of $1000.
Outreach and Expansion
- Is your chapter currently working with any other universities or grade schools as part of an outreach program? Members will participate in Physics Experiment Day. We also have a team in the Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society.
- What is/are the name(s) of the grade school(s) or universities? Palm Bay High School or Westshore High School.
- What type of programs, events, projects, etc is your chapter doing? We will present fun physics experiments to high school students
- How does your chapter work to increase membership?
- Does it attend freshman orientation events? Yes; there is a Student Organization Fair that we attend every week.
- Do you have an engineering week? The school does; we do not participate.
- Do you use publications, newspaper articles, radio, news, mailing lists? We use the Physics/Space Sciences mailing list to recruit, as well as the university mailing list.
Chapter Needs
Other than direct cash/funding, what are the needs of your chapter? Currently we need office space where we can store equipment from current and past projects, as well as important documents and other things. The department head is working on this with us. We are also looking into getting a white board for a common student meeting area.
Additional Info
Our chapter works very closely with the Society for Physics Students chapter, as well as the Physics/Space Sciences department. Other activities include:
- Physics Talent Night-An event where the "geeks" can show off their other skills, from singing and playing instruments to fire-juggling and solving a Rubiks Cube. Donuts, provided free from Krispy Kreme, and coffee are served, and donations are taken to support the Space Cadets, our team in the Relay for Life.
- PSS Department Picnic-With SPS, we coordinate the semester-ly department picnic at the beach, with burgers, hot dogs, and snacks provided through donations from students and faculty.
- Physics Fun Night-A night where we all just go out and have fun. Previous activities were bowling and Laser tag.
- BCC Planetarium trip-A field trip held in the spring semester to the Brevard Community College's Planetarium. Funding is usually provided, so the tickets are reimbursed.
- KSC trip-A field trip held in the fall semester to the Kennedy Space Center. Funding is provided, and tickets are reimbursed.
- Halloween outreach-We participate every year in a Halloween event held by the college in the campus residence hall quad, aimed at elementary school children. We put out various physics experiments and explain them to the children and give them candy.
