Physics

Physicist honoured with Queen’s Jubilee medal

Recognition earned by William McConkey is a source of pride for the Department of Physics, the Faculty of Science, and the University of Windsor, says dean of science Marlys Koschinsky.

Dr. McConkey, University Professor emeritus in physics, received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal on Monday, June 18, at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall in the presence of the Governor General of Canada and the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

“This is wonderful news,” Dr. Koschinsky said. “Bill’s accomplishments are truly a great sources of pride for us.”

Physics department announces appointment of new head

Physics professor Chitra Rangan began a five-year term heading up the department effective May 1.

A member of the UWindsor faculty since 2004, Dr. Rangan holds the rank of associate professor. Her research interests include nanotechnology, quantum information and biomedical physics. Her current area of investigation is the interaction between light and matter at the nanoscale (atoms, molecules and nanostructures), the control of this interaction, and its applications to early cancer detection.

Wednesday discussion to broach the final frontier

Many of the lessons learned from humans living in outer space are relevant to our lives back on earth, say members of a panel discussing “Living in Space: Reaching the Final Frontier,” on Wednesday at Canada South Science City.

UWindsor professors Bill Baylis of physics and Phil McCausland of earth and environmental sciences will join Windsor astronomer Randy Groundwater in a free public presentation at 7:30 p.m. November 16 as part of the Science Café series, sponsored by the University’s Faculty of Science.

Lecture to explore use of lasers to detect and identify bacteria

The last 10 years have seen a marked rise in the number of serious public-health incidents related to infections caused by bacterial pathogens, ranging from contaminated drinking water and foods to antibiotic-resistant infections – even threats related to bio-terrorism.

In this context, the inability to quickly detect and identify bacteria is a troubling gap in the modern suite of medical diagnostics. Most modern bacterial testing can take days.