July 8, 2000

Today, the Team will drive to the University of Leicester to meet all the other countries' team and get ready for several days of testing, both theory and experimental exams, and participate in some relaxing tours. For more information about the week-long schedule at Leicester, click here.

July 5, 2000

Today, the U.S. Physics Team and coaches will fly to London in anticipation for the International Competition. They will spend several days touring the city and getting acclimated to the new time zone.

July 4, 2000

The University of Maryland will celebrate the 4th of July with a concert biginning at 7pm and fireworks at 9pm. The physics team will be taken to view these activities and enjoy a picnic. this little bit of relaxation is due these kids after studying so many long hours.

July 2, 2000

Today, the 5 members plus one alternate of the United States Physics Traveling Team came back to the Physics Department at the University of Maryland to participate in a three-day mini-camp. The camp will deal mainly with labs, labs and more labs. Dr. Mary Mogge and Dr. Leaf Turner will work with them for the three days.

Friday, May 26th

Friday is turning out to be an exciting day for Team USA. The morning started with a Washington D.C. TV station interviewing a local student, Abigail Shafroth, from Alexandria Va. The station showed footage, taken earlier in the week, of the entire team. At lunch, Metrologic, Blackwood, NJ, will give six team members, who placed in the PhysicsBowl competition, their scholarship checks. The team members are Michael Vrable ($1,000), Joseph Yu ($1,000), Brian Beck ($300), Charvak Karpe ($300), Abigail Shafeoth ($300) and Owen Baker ($100).

After lunch the Team must take a grueling five-hour practice exam. In strained silence, the 24 students will work on three problems. The exam is designed to simulate the rigorous testing that the traveling Team will endure in international competition. Past Team members have indicated that they find this to be a very valuable exercise.

After the exam, the students will relax with a hearty meal at their hotel. During this time, team members traditionally have engaged in a set of frenzied discussions about the test.

Thursday, May 25th

Wednesday's tour of Washington offered the U.S. Physics Team the rare opportunity to give national science and education leaders insight into the U.S. educational system. Neil Lane, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Director of the Office of Science and Technology, took the time to speak personally with individual students, as did many members of Congress.

National Science Foundation staff members queried the Team about the origin of their interest in science, and discovered that most team members developed their interest during their middle school years or later. Many of the students were encouraged by their parents or by teachers who used innovative teaching methods and allowed hands-on work.

Today, the team settles down to studying and listening to guest lectures. Charles Bennett, an IBM Fellow, who specializes in quantum computing, will be the first speaker of the day. Quantum information science is a new field of scientific inquiry and technology, which aims to recast and enlarge our notions of information in the light of the laws of quantum physics, and put these enlarged notions to practical use. Dick Berg, of the University of Maryland, will be the evening speaker and will administer a "Physics IQ Test" to the team.

Wednesday, May 24th

The 24 members of the U.S. Physics Team were off to an early start Wednesday, May 24. They left their hotel in the early morning hours to beat the D.C. Metro area traffic and arrive on Capital Hill in time for an 8:00 a.m. breakfast. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.) and Rush Holt (D-N.J.), both Ph.D. physicists, hosted the breakfast which was attended by several members of Congress.

After the breakfast, the students are scheduled to meeting with Richard Riley, Secretary of Education; Arthur Bienenstock, Assistant to the President for Science; and Duncan Moore, Assistant to the President for Technology.

The team will then visit the Einstein Memorial and pose for a group picture. From there they will travel to the National Science Foundation, where they will meet with various staff members.

Michael Vrable receives $1000 Scholarship check and
T-shirt from Mark Phillips of Metrologic

Joseph Yu receives $1000 Scholarship check and
T-shirt from Mark Phillips of Metrologic

Brian Beck receives $300 Scholarship check and
T-shirt from Mark Phillips of Metrologic

Charvak Karpe receives $300 Scholarship check and
T-shirt from Mark Phillips of Metrologic

Abigail Shafeoth receives $300 Scholarship check and
T-shirt from Mark Phillips of Metrologic

Owen Baker receives $100 Scholarship check and
T-shirt from Mark Phillips of Metrologic