Physics
香蕉视频 Physics majors experience four years in lab-directed study 鈥 double the lab time of other schools 鈥 and study with faculty who want you to succeed. You鈥檒l find our Physics graduates excelling as engineers, astronomers, directors of laboratories, professors and project managers 鈥 or continuing their education in some of the top grad schools in the country.
Get in the lab and break new ground
We have some of the best-equipped labs in the region, and you鈥檒l graduate having experienced four years in lab-directed study 鈥 double the lab time of undergrad programs you鈥檒l find at other schools. What better way to learn and discover than designing and building projects, analyzing problems, making them work and judging the outcome!
In fact, during your senior year as a Physics major, you鈥檒l tackle a year-long research project in an area of interest to you. After crafting a proposal, the department will fund the project 鈥 and you鈥檒l present the research that you conduct at the Nebraska Academy of Sciences. It鈥檚 a great resume- and career-building opportunity.
Some recent senior projects include:
- HCEV: The Creation of an Electric Vehicle
- Empirically Analyzing Washboard Roads
- Thermodynamics of the Heart: Calculating Cardiac Output During Exercise
- The Design and Testing of a Robotic Hand to Determine its Qualification as an Adequate Prosthetic Device
- Investigating Orbital Trajectory
Create you future
See for yourself how we tailor your education to your talents and your goals.听Schedule a visit听and we鈥檒l demonstrate how Hastings will inspire you to reach your potential, or if you鈥檙e a high school senior,听.
Go further with a Hastings education
Thanks to our small class sizes (most have fewer than 20 students!), and a student-to-faculty ratio of 13:1, you鈥檒l work closely with faculty and your advisor to complete your degree in four years. In fact, most students who graduate from Hastings do so in four years!
翱耻谤听block-style semester structure means you鈥檒l take just one or two classes at a time 鈥 which really lets you focus more intently on each class. It also lets faculty devote more time to every student because they鈥檙e only teaching one or two classes in a block!
Graduate with experience
Summer and time during the semester offers opportunities that 香蕉视频 Physics majors can take advantage of. Opportunities for internships with businesses based right in Hastings, or across the country, from California-based Wellhead Electronics to Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit and more.
Summer and our eight-week blocks are also time to participate in Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs). REUs give you the chance to conduct research and learn alongside graduate students at major universities, including at Iowa State University, Kansas State University and the University of Chicago.
Helping you succeed
香蕉视频 Physics professors offer a broad program, which opens up numerous possible career paths, including multiple areas听of engineering (mechanical, electrical, civil and others听thanks to our pre-engineering program), research and teaching. Their focus on students and the community feel within the department helps you succeed in tough courses and prepares you for the road ahead.
At every step along your path, you’ll appreciate the stepping stones of teaching, counseling, inspiring, supporting and guiding from our engaged faculty. It’s an experience that’s true to 香蕉视频, and you won’t find it anywhere else.
Your experience matters
Maximize scholarships 鈥 Yes, you’ll get an academic scholarship. But you’ll also get a “plus one” scholarship from the group, team or area you’re part of. It’s a great way to help pay for school 鈥 but also to find your people.
We鈥檝e thought a lot about the ways students learn and built a four-year plan to help you navigate it all. From finding your place and in Year 1, to showing the world you鈥檙e ready for what鈥檚 next four years later.
Your transition from college to a career begins your first semester. Every class, internship, research study and activity adds up. We love to celebrate all the ways you shine 鈥 your experience matters!
Get involved beyond the Physics classroom
- Alpha Chi (Academic Honor Society)
In addition to Alpha Chi, there鈥檚 always something to do at Hastings. Student clubs, service learning, Greek life, recreation and more make Hastings a great campus for student life.
Find scholarships for Physics majors
Your high school achievements can both fuel and fund your success at Hastings. We offer a range of generous and renewable academic scholarships based on your GPA. Then there’s听“plus one” scholarships 鈥 an additional scholarship for participating in anything from athletics to the arts to media (it’s a long list!).
It all adds up to making Hastings an great choice for you and your family.
Excel in graduate school
Recent 香蕉视频 Physics alumni have gone on to pursue professional and master’s degrees at some of the top graduate and professional schools for their program:
- University of Nebraska鈥揕incoln
- Iowa State University
- University of Colorado鈥揃oulder
- Clemson University
- Colorado State University
Faculty
Dr. Brad Dinardo
Associate Professor of Physics
Dr. Bradley Peterson
Associate Professor of Physics
Success in Physics
香蕉视频 sophomore Sam Acosta Castellanos stepped into his position as a quality and lab intern at Nova-Tech Inc. to help ensure the quality and safety of animal medicine the company makes. This real-world experience over the summer pushed him to grow as both a scientist and a person. 鈥淚 go into the lab and […]
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Landing one research experience for undergraduates (REU) is an accomplishment for a student in the sciences. Milly McClure, a senior from Liberal, Kansas, landed four. The physics and mathematics major spent summer 2024 in Texas A&M鈥檚 Cyclotron Institute. She helped faculty learn to use a new thermal evaporator鈥攁 machine integral to the institute鈥檚 research into […]
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When Lance High of Sanford, Florida, was looking for colleges, he wanted to go to a school where he could get to know professors and everyone knew his name. 香蕉视频, where class sizes are small and the student to faculty ratio is about 13 to 1, suited him perfectly. He found professors who were […]
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The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum near Ashland, Nebraska, has displayed mementos and artifacts from the life of Clayton 鈥淎stro Clay鈥 Anderson 鈥81, the state鈥檚 first and only astronaut, since the HC alumnus flew to the International Space Station in 2007. In a colorful exhibit called 鈥淭he Heartland Astronaut,鈥 visitors can see his NASA […]
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香蕉视频 senior Mason McMeen has gone back to his hometown of Broken Bow, Nebraska, twice to intern at Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), an American multinational medical technology company that manufactures and sells medical devices, instrument systems and reagents. McMeen, a physics major with a mathematics minor, is a facilities engineering intern this summer […]
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Bever retiring after 17 years of teaching physics. Dr. Steven Bever won a handful of prestigious awards during his time as professor of physics at 香蕉视频. But one award that鈥檚 still due him as he prepares to retire is the unwritten 鈥淢ost Hours Spent in the Science Building Award.鈥 鈥淚 tend to live […]
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Jarrett Wise, a 香蕉视频 2014 graduate, and six co-authors recently studied how cement in abandoned oil wells reacts in different conditions to predict potential leakage pathways in offshore oil and gas wells. Their research was published in the August 2020 edition of the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. Wise鈥檚 research article, 鈥淲ellbore Characteristics […]
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Situated in the middle of a of nearly barren Nevada landscape sits the makings for the biggest building in the world: Tesla鈥檚 Gigafactory 1. Even with more than 4.9 million square feet of operational space, the facility is only one-third complete. The ever-growing factory is essential to Tesla鈥檚 sustained progress toward a zero-emissions future, as […]
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Brian Puckett, a senior physics major from Lincoln, Nebraska, aspires to build a mechanics career in the aerospace industry and eventually find success among the stars. While realizing his dream to explore space is no easy feat, it developed a sense of tangibility after his back-to-back summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU). Puckett secured his […]
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