It’s been about five months since the 2018 SPS interns packed up our stuff, said our goodbyes (for some of us through tears), and headed back to our corners of the country. When I returned to North Carolina, I felt . . . different. Initially, I attributed the feeling to making the transition back home, back to the same old places and routines after spending 10 adventurous weeks in Washington, DC.

Project Lead: Adam Kline

Chapter Advisor: Rafael Lang

Project Abstract: A number of papers have been published since 2000 that attempt to model pedestrian crowd flow dynamics using basic equations of motion. Here we undertake a study to collect research-grade pedestrian data on campus using an off-the-shelf aerial drone and then test pedestrian dynamics models with those data.

Project Lead: Emily Atkinson

Project Advisor: Timothy Ohno

Project Summary: The Colorado School of Mines Sigma Pi Sigma chapter hosted a lecture series on advanced physics topics aimed at nonacademics. Most university lectures are given at a very advanced level, so the goal of these lectures was to get high schoolers and community members more excited about physics. Through the efforts of this chapter, two community lectures were held, reaching over 80 people in the community.

Project Lead: Riley Troyer

Project Advisor: David Newman

Project Summary: One of the main foci of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) physics department is space physics. While this subject is a fascinating and important one, getting the general public interested in it can be challenging. To help engage the public with the research being conducted at UAF and space physics in general, the UAF Society of Physics Students held a public solar viewing event.