Undergraduates
I know that matter can be converted into energy. Is it not possible, then, that energy can be converted into matter? If so, how?
For exactly 100 years the Department of Physics maintained a library that served as a source of books, journals, and intellectual activity for our faculty, staff, and students. On June 12, 2009, the Physics and Astronomy Library was officially closed and all of the materials were moved into the Grainger Engineering Library. The action was part of a coherent campus plan to consolidate services and resources to provide better and more cost-effective library services.
For the most part, this move will enhance the library services provided to our students and researchers, by enabling more sophisticated access to web-based scientific journals and books, and by providing an environment in which the books will be well preserved. Grainger is open 24 hours 5 day a week during the academic year, allowing more library access for our students. However, what has been lost in Loomis is the environment of interaction and intellectual activity that the library provided within our department. In Physics, it is through informal discussions and chance meetings that many of the most significant ideas emerge.
To provide that environment, we are planning to convert the former Physics Library space into a modern interaction area. We hope that this space will develop as a hub of intellectual energy and interactions where faculty, post-docs, graduate students, and upper-level undergraduate Physics majors can meet to study and discuss Physics.
It will feature state-of-the-art computer connectivity, a reading area with current journals and papers, interaction areas for discussions and collaborations, group study rooms, and a videoconferencing room to provide communication with collaborators worldwide. We will also have the capability to configure the space for department meetings, receptions, and workshops.
We have received a significant contribution from the campus toward the cost of this project. To date, $150,000 has been committed and we have set our goal at $50,000 to finish the project.
We are asking you, our loyal University of Illinois alumni and friends, to help us raise the rest of the funds. To enable this, we have
established the "The Physics Interaction Room Fund".
This fund will be targeted to establishing and sustaining this interaction center. If you remember the Physics Library in Loomis Laboratory, and believe it had a positive impact on your educational experience here, please consider making a contribution to this fund. We hope soon to be able to invite you back to our department to join us for the dedication of this space and the celebration of excellence in physics at Illinois. On behalf of the faculty and students, thank you for supporting Physics Illinois!
