Physics Undergraduates Win Silver Medal in International University Physics Competition

A team of three Wake Forest University physics students: Claire McLellan ('12), Wes Matthews ('11), and Soham Banerjee ('12) won a Silver Medal in the first-ever University Physics Competition, an international physics competition for undergraduates sponsored by the American Physical Society and the American Astronomical Society. This competition involved solving one of two problems posed by a committee of professional physicists. Our team chose the problem entitled "Aerobraking a Space Probe at Neptune". Each participating team had 48 hours to develop a solution to their selected problem, and submit a report explaining their solution. Altogether 58 teams submitted solutions in the 2010 University Physics Competition. Of these, 2 teams (3%) were ranked as Gold Medal Winners, 8 teams (14%) were ranked as Silver Medal Winners, 16 teams (28%) were ranked as Bronze Medal Winners, and 32 teams (55%) were ranked as Accomplished Competitors. Congratulations to Claire, Wes, and Soham for their success in representing Wake Forest University in this international competition! For further information about the contest see http://www.uphysicsc.com/home.html.