Southampton physicist scoops prize at SEPnet Students’ Expo

University of Southampton physics student Madalina Mironiuc was commended for a productive industry placement exploring holography at the South East Physics Network (SEPnet) Students’ Expo 2017. Madalina, an MPhys Physics with Nanotechnology student, was one of six poster prize winners at the annual expo as she showcased her summer’s work with Colour Holographic in London. Toyah Overton, a student at Royal Holloway, was also recognised for a summer placement at the University of Southampton.

Over 160 employers, academics and students attended the consortium’s Students’ Expo last week which included placement presentations, poster sessions and a keynote from Caffè Nero co-founder Paul Ettinger. His address, titled ‘The Physics of Coffee and Music’, covered his diverse and entrepreneurial achievements since completing a physics degree at the University of Southampton.

“This has been a stimulating and inspiring event,” he said. “The range of projects I saw on the posters was extraordinary and of a very high quality. My message to the students is that a physics degree gives them a firm foundation to move into a diverse range of careers including entrepreneurial activities.”

Other speakers at the expo included SEPnet Chair Professor Sir William Wakeham and Ultra Electronics’ Charlotte Lister, whose career has launched since a SEPnet summer placement.

SEPnet is a consortium of physics departments from nine universities in the south east, working together to introduce innovative approaches to collaboration, teaching and research. As part of its activities, employers interested in recruiting physics graduates offer 8-12 week summer placements in areas including data analysis, mathematical modelling, product design and testing or science communication.

Southampton celebrated further success later that same day at the third SEPnet Public Engagement Awards. The awards, which share best practice from projects and practitioners in the consortium, were presented in six categories voted upon by experts from outside the region.

University of Southampton mathematics postgraduate research student Emma Osborne received a Newcomer Award, while the Optical Engineering and Quantum Photonics research group was Highly Commended in the Research Group Award for outreach activities.

Find out more about SEPnet and its activities, including summer placements and public engagement, at: http://www.sepnet.ac.uk/