AAPT Announces the 2010 U.S. Physics Team Selection

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Park, MD, May 3, 2010--With all the bad press that the US education system has received, it is good news that the U.S. is competitive in physics at the highest level. Over the past ten years, every U.S. Physics Team member traveling to the International Physics Olympiad has returned with a medal.

This year twenty students from across the U.S. have emerged through a rigorous exam process that began last January with approximately 3,300 students who participated in the Fnet=ma exam to become the 2010 U.S. Physics Team. These students will continue to train for the mentally grueling exams and lab tests they’ll face at the 41st International Physics Olympiad to be held from July 17 — 25, 2010 in Zagreb, Croatia, where more than 400 student scholars from 90 nations will test their knowledge in physics, competing with the best in the world.

“Each student who participated in the 2010 U.S. Physics Team selection process is deserving of recognition. They are the future of physics and physics education in the United States. It is AAPT’s honor to recognize the exceptional scholars who qualified for the team and to support their further participation in the International Physics Olympiad,” said Dr. Warren Hein, Executive Officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers in College Park, MD, which selects the students and organizes their training.

An integral part of the U.S. Physics Team experience is the training camp. Most of the students invited to the camp are the top science student in their high school. For many, it is their first chance to meet other students who are truly their peers. The training camp is a crash course in the first two years of university physics. Students learn at a very fast pace. They have an opportunity to hear about cutting edge research from some of the community’s leading physicists. At the end of the training camp, five students will be selected to travel to Croatia for the international competition.

The coaches for the 2010 U.S. Physics team are: Paul Stanley, Academic Director/Senior Coach, Warren Turner, Senior Coach/Lab Coach, Andrew Lin, Jia Jia Dong, Qui Zi Li, and David Fallest are all coaches.

The U.S. Physics Olympiad Program was started in 1986 by AAPT to promote and demonstrate academic excellence. This year’s event is organized by the Croatian Physical Society and the University of Zagreb as the co-organizer, under the financial support of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia and the City of Zagreb.

The US Physics Team is sponsored by the generous support of private donors and the member societies of the American Institute for Physics:

Acoustical Society of America American Association of Physicists in Medicine American Association of Physics Teachers American Astronomical Society American Crystallographic Association American Geophysical Union American Physical Society AVS: Science & Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processing Optical Society of America The Society of Rheology

LIST OF EVENTS May 22-31 -- Students visit University of Maryland for their intensive training camp. May 31 -- Five students will be chosen to represent the US at the international competition. July 17 -- Students arrive in Zagreb for the international competition. July 25 -- The International Competition Closing Ceremony .

MORE ON THE WEB Main website of the U.S. Physics Team: http://www.aapt.org/physicsteam/2010 History of the physics team, including past winners: http://www.aapt.org/Contests/olympiad.cfm

The official website of the 2010 International Physics Olympiad: http://ipho2010.hfd.hr/

About AAPT

AAPT is an international organization for physics educators, physicists, and industrial scientists--with more than 10,000 members worldwide. Dedicated to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of physics through teaching, AAPT provides awards, publications, and programs that encourage teaching practical application of physics principles, support continuing professional development, and reward excellence in physics education. AAPT was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland.

For more information: Contact Marilyn Gardner, Director of Communications, mgardner@aapt.org, (301) 209-3306, (301) 209-0845 (Fax), www.aapt.org.

This year twenty students from across the U.S. have emerged through a rigorous exam process that began last January with approximately 3,300 students who participated in the Fnet=ma exam to become the 2010 U.S. Physics Team. These students will continue to train for the mentally grueling exams and lab tests they’ll face at the 41st International Physics Olympiad to be held from July 17 — 25, 2010 in Zagreb, Croatia, where more than 400 student scholars from 90 nations will test their knowledge in physics, competing with the best in the world.