From January 24 to 26, Stevens had the honor of hosting the American Physical Society (APS) Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP). It supplied an opportunity for students to be surrounded by aspiring physicists and to learn from a variety of unique panelists.
The purpose of the conference was to allow students to find mentors and network with peers, as well as provide them with an opportunity to explore career pathways by providing information about graduate school and professions for physics. The event also gave them the chance to share their experiences, advice, and ideas. APS specifically encouraged women, gender minorities, Black/African American, Latino, Indigenous, community college, and first-generation college students to attend.
This year marks the first time CU*iP was held at Stevens. The conference was also hosted by 15 other universities and was attended by about 100 students from nearby universities and colleges. Dr. Ting Lu, who spearheaded the organization of CU*iP, described how it started with a proposal to APS with Stevens as a host site. The planning process started over a year ago and was a cross-office collaboration between the Physics Department, the President’s Office, and the Office of the Provost. The process began with an at-large committee that later split into subcommittees. Some planning components included arranging hotel accommodations, figuring out shuttle services, designing conference items of merchandise, and inviting speakers and panelists with a wide array of expertise in both academia and industry. Michel Inman, a PhD candidate who led the swag subcommittee, commented on how she met with undergrad students every week to design buttons and other items. After a preliminary approval, the merchandise was sent off to marketing for brand approval.
CU*iP kicked off with afternoon tours and welcoming remarks. Each day of the event featured activities such as workshops and panel discussions covering topics from the quantum industry to physics pride. For example, a series of panels dubbed Plenary Talk explored life as an astronomer, careers in medical physics, and journeys as a scientist. Moreover, there was another panel discussing summer research and grad school. One of the panelists, Stevens student Erin McGee, commented on how rewarding it was to talk with other students about their similar experiences applying for grad school and physics internships. Another noteworthy occurrence was 2025’s Millie Dresselhaus Keynote Speaker Dr. Meghan Anzelc, an executive leader in data and analytics project development and an Advisory Board member to APS’s Advancing Graduate Leadership initiative.
Lu noted that the conference was well received, commenting that many of the attendees said that they knocked it out of the park. She notes how networking at conferences is intimidating for students. The conference looked for a fun activity to help alleviate the stress of a conference. Each attendee was given a set of 10 buttons with the same design and a card with a set of 10 different designs. Thus, the attendees were encouraged to trade with each other to collect the full set. This activity helped break the ice and encouraged students to interact with each other.
“The most valuable aspect is that being in the same room with so many like-minded people and role models, they no longer feel isolated in their home institute,” Lu states. “It gave them a sense of community, a strong and supportive community.”
