Ximena Cid is more than an accomplished physicist, she’s also a self-described “vocal advocate for women and black, indigenous, and people of color” participating in physics, space, and other hard sciences. The California State University, Dominguez Hills physics professor is considered a trailblazer in the field, a status that was confirmed with her recent selection as a delegate to the International Conference on Women in Physics. Cid is one of just 20 female scientists nationwide selected for the conference, which is sponsored by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) and will take place in Melbourne, Australia this July. It’s a great honor, and one that extends ... Read More
Physics
2019 Economic Forecast Shows Slowing yet Stable Economy in the South Bay
After years of solid economic growth, the South Bay’s local economy will experience some slowing in 2020, but will remain stable due in part to the federal government’s high level of defense spending in the region. Such was one of the many economic projections presented in the 2019 South Bay Economic Forecast and Industry Outlook, which California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) released on Oct. 29 as part of the fifth annual South Bay Economic Forecast conference hosted on campus. Approximately 200 guests representing cities and businesses throughout the region attended. CSUDH developed the report and the conference to provide a focused look at the current state of the ... Read More
John Price Receives Fifth DOE Grant to Continue Proton Research
John Price, professor of physics and interim dean of graduate studies and research at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), conducts original research in nuclear physics with his students, and their success has kept the funding coming in. Price recently received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to expand “Nuclear Physics with Short-Lived Beams,” his ongoing experimental nuclear physics program in proton research. This is the fifth grant the DOE has awarded Price for the program since 2007. The funding covers research costs for Price and his students, including travel to the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in ... Read More
Science and Innovation Building on Schedule for Fall 2020 Opening
With numerous complex stages of implementation, construction on a building as technically advanced and educationally accommodating as California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) Science and Innovation Building takes time, as well as the patience of those eager to teach and learn in it. Fortunately for all, construction on the $82 million, 91,000-square-foot instructional and research center is on schedule to be completed in October 2019. Faculty move-ins and tours for prospective freshmen will begin as early as spring 2020, with the building’s official opening planned for fall 2020. The Science and Innovation Building is in an “exciting new phase,” according to Philip LaPolt, ... Read More
Gender Matters
Evidence shows that patterns of inequity in physics drive talented women out of the field. Here’s what physicists can do to overcome them. In a seminar for teaching assistants, one male and one female TA stand up; the professor in charge tells the room that the male TA will get more respect from students. A woman talks to her undergraduate adviser about her desire for a PhD in physics; he replies, “You know physics is hard. Are you sure you want to try to do that?” A physics major asks a senior male professor for advice on getting into a good doctoral program; he suggests that she flirt more at conferences. In his letters of recommendation for students applying to graduate school, a ... Read More
