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Welcome & Overview:
The Physics Department consists of three physics faculty and offers an A.S. in Physics. There are several mainland engineering institutions with which UVI has a coordinated 3/2 Engineering transfer program. Students in those programs typically obtain their A.S. in Physics before tranferring. In addition, they may receive a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from UVI upon completion of their engineering degree.
The associate of science program in physics is intended to develop an acute awareness of our physical environment on a conceptual level through rigorous mathematical manipulation of the fundamental laws of physics and through utilization of the techniques of the modern physical scientist. It is also designed to serve as an intermediate step towards acquiring the baccalaureate degree in engineering, physics, or similar science. Depending upon previous educational background, this associate degree can be completed in two to three years.
Highlights:
Dr. David J Smith is the principle investigator of the VI-EPSCoR-sponsored Virgin Islands Microscale Weather Modeling (VIMWM) incubator project - a project that seeks to establish viable local weather forecasts for the US Virgin Islands and eventually for neighboring islands as well. Using UVI's Beowulf 38-node computing cluster, this project runs microscale (~1.0 km) forecasts using detailed regional topographical maps.
A closely related project, VI-EPSCoR-sponsored Measuring Near-Shore Bulk Sea Temperatures, has recently completed a nearly two-year run of collecting near-shore bulk sea temperatures around St. Thomas. This data, along with far-shore bulk temperatures derived from concurrent satellite images, will be utilized to produce an algorithm which will allow the near-shore bulk sea surface temperatures to be determined more accurately from the real-time satellite data. The improved near-shore temperatures will be incorporated into the local forecast model to improve calculation of evaporation rates, which are critical to accurate forecasting.
Dr. Cynthia Gomez-Martin joins the UVI physics faculty as Director of Etelman Observatory. Etelman houses a 0.5 meter robotic telescope. The telescope is used for research by several institutions belonging to the NASA South Carolina Space Grant program. In addition to pursuing research, Dr. Martin will set up a community outreach program to provide access to Etelman and astronomy activities.
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