Undergrad | Department of Physics | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Sigma Pi Sigma inductees 2017 — UConn physics majors inducted into local chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma during ceremony in April, 2017

Spring 2017 the UConn chapter of the Sigma Pi Sigma Honor Society inducted 11 new members: Filip Bergabo, Vincent Flynn, Kevin Grassie, Daniel Kovner, Jack Lichtman, Paul Molinaro, Connor Occhialini, Brian Roy, Andrew Sampino, Theodore Sauyet, and Hope Whitelock. The academic scholarship of this group is truly outstanding, and probably unprecedented in the chapter’s history. Congratulations to all! In addition Bergabo and Whitelock are both doing REU’s this summer, Occhialini and Flynn are double Physics and Math majors, and both Roy and Sauyet were the 2015 recipients of the department’s Mark Miller award for undergraduate research while Vincent Flynn is the 2016 recipient of the department’s Mark Miller award for undergraduate research. The induction ceremony and banquet again took place in the Morosko Student Lounge of the Pharmacy Building. Barry Wells, the new SPS club advisor, masterfully mastered the ceremonies. Micki Bellamy (newly appointed Undergrad Physics Major Advisor!) worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make the days’

Sahan Handunkanada, holds a crystal sample on Sept. 22, 2015. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

October 6, 2015 – Kim Krieger – UConn Communications

Jason Hancock, Assistant Professor in Physics, with graduate students, Erin Curry and Sahan Handunkanda, have been investigating a substance that shrinks when it warms.

Most materials swell when they warm, and shrink when they cool. But UConn physicist Jason Hancock has been investigating a substance that responds in reverse: it shrinks when it warms.

Although thermal expansion, and the cracking and warping that often result, are an everyday occurrence – in buildings, bridges, electronics, and almost anything else exposed to wide temperature swings – physicists have trouble explaining why solids behave that way.

Research by Hancock and his colleagues into scandium trifluoride, a material that has negative thermal expansion, recently published in Physical Review B, may lead to a better understanding of why materials change volume with temperature at all, with potential applications such as more durable electronics. For the complete article in UConn Today that explains their findings, see “Caution: Shrinks When Warm” .