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West High School & L&N STEM Academy

The West High School & L&N STEM Physics Academy program is dedicated to create communication between UT Physics faculty and high school teachers and students. As part of the program, interested UT physics faculty members will present lectures in school classrooms. This will create a great opportunity for high school students to interact with physicists and to learn more about their research, and STEM fields in general. We hope that this program will motivate enough interest in students to join the UT undergraduate physics program.

Spring 2024 Schedule
West High School

Year 2 IB:

  • March 22: Tony Mezzacappa—Gravity is not a Force!
  • April 5: Wonhee Ko—How to See and Touch Individual Atoms

Year 1 IB:

  • March 25: Tony Mezzacappa—Shattering our Everday Notions of Time
L&N STEM Academy

Planetary Science

  • March 22: Sean Lindsay—Understanding the Origins of Our Solar System Through Studies of Comets and Asteroids

AP Physics I

  • March 26: Ruixing Zhang—To See the Universe in a Grain of Sand

AP Physics C

  • April 5: Yuri Kamyshkov—Dark Matter

Honors Physics (Section 1)

  • April 11: Tova Holmes—Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons: Understanding the Building Blocks of the Universe

Honors Physics (Section 2)

  • April 18: Larry Lee—Unsolved Mysteries (of Elementary Particles)

Astronomy (Section 1)

Astronomy (Section 2)



Speakers & Topics
Speaker Title
Cristian Batista The Strange World of Quantum Physics: the Dual Particle and Wave Nature of Matter
Tova Holmes Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons: Understanding the Building Blocks of the Universe
Kate Jones The Periodic Table's Cosmic Origin
Yuri Kamyshkov Dark Matter
Wonhee Ko How to See and Touch Individual Atoms
Larry Lee Unsolved Mysteries (of Elementary Particles)
Sean Lindsay Understanding the Origins of Our Solar System Through Studies of Comets and Asteroids
Anthony Mezzacappa Gravity is not a Force!
Shattering our Everday Notions of Time
Research on the Origin of the Elements, in Your Own Back Yard
Thomas Papenbrock Quantum Physics in our Everyday Life
Lucas Platter The Physics of the Sun
Soren Sorensen (Professor Emeritus) What is Everything Made of?
Ruixing Zhang To See the Universe in a Grain of Sand

Previous Lectures

Spring 2023

  • January 18: Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time
  • January 23: Kate Jones—The Periodic Table's Cosmic Origin
  • January 30: Cristian Batista—The Strange World of Quantum Physics: The Dual Particle and Wave Nature of Matter
  • February 21: Lucas Platter—The Physics of the Sun
  • February 27: Max Lavrentovich—The Second Law of Thermodynamics
  • March 6: Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Theory of Gravity
  • March 27: Larry Lee—Unsolved Mysteries (of Elementary Particles)
  • April 11: Tova Holmes—Quarks, Leptons, and Bosons: Understanding the Building Blocks of the Universe
  • April 19: Sean Lindsay—Our Place in the Universe: The Enormity of Space
  • April 20: Sean Lindsay—Our Place in the Universe: The Enormity of Space

Fall 2022

  • December 13: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time

Fall 2021

  • November 30: Professor Soren Sorensen—What is Everything Made of?
  • November 24: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Research on the Origin of the Elements, in Your Own Back Yard
  • November 22: Assistant Professor Max Lavrentovich—The Second Law of Thermodynamics
  • November 22: Professor Yuri Kamyshkov—Dark Matter
  • November 17: Professor Thomas Papenbrock—Quantum Physics in our Everyday Life
  • November 15: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time
  • November 10: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Research on the Origin of the Elements, in your own Back Yard
  • November 10: Professor Soren Sorensen—What is Everything Made of?
  • November 5: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time
  • November 1: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein's Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time

Spring 2021

  • April 8: Professor Soren Sorensen—What is Everything Made of?
  • April 16: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Einstein’s Relativity: Shattering our Everyday Notions of Time
  • April 22: Professor Kate Grzywacz-Jones—The Periodic Table’s Cosmic Origin Story

Spring 2019

  • February 5: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Special Relativity
  • February 6: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—General Relativity
  • February 26: Assistant Professor Maxim Lavrentovich

Spring 2018

  • February 1: Kranti Gunthoti—Static Electricity

Fall 2017

  • October 5: Assistant Professor Sowjanya Gollapinni—Particle Physics
  • October 5: Kranti Gunthoti—Electromagnetism
  • November 16: Professor Yuri Kamyshkov—Matter/Antimatter
  • November 17: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa —Special Relativity

Spring 2017

  • May 11: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa—Special Relativity

Fall 2016

  • November 2: Professor Anthony Mezzacappa, Assistant Professor Sowjanya Gollapinni, and Kranti Gunthoti—Physics and Society.
  • December 12: Assistant Professor Sowjanya Gollapinni—Neutrinos

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