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CUE 2004

UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Engineering Physics: Academic Program Grows Amid Research Discoveries

Student enrollment in the Engineering Physics Program reached a five-year high of 76 students in fall 2003, and continues to grow amid the excitement of new developments in research, education, and national recognition.

Research highlights include the funding of two major research centers by the National Science Foundation—the Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center and the Engineering Research Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Science and Technology. The latter represents a joint collaboration with researchers at Colorado State University and the University of California at Berkeley, focusing on the use of short wavelength light in the extreme ultraviolet range as an enabling technology.

In addition, Debbie Jin, JILA researcher and adjoint professor of physics, announced in January 2004 the discovery of a new superfluid phase of matter in dilute Fermi gases. Professor Jin received the 2003 MacArthur Award for her outstanding contributions to research on ultra-cold Fermi gases, work that extends the Nobel Prize-winning research of CU Distinguished Professor Carl Wieman and JILA researcher (and physics adjoint professor) Eric Cornell.

Educational achievements include the development of several new graduate tracks in materials science, nanotechnology, geophysics, and optics. Students will soon be able to enroll in these tracks for either a five-year dual bachelor/master's degree or a terminal master's degree.

www.colorado.edu/physics