Reinventing the Physicist: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education for the 21st Century

June 5 - 6, 2014
American Center for Physics
One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD

We live in an era of immense opportunity for physics graduates: their scientific training helps to make them key members of industry teams developing new technologies, or translating cutting-edge research into viable products. The future of the physics discipline depends on implementing new approaches which provide training for success in what is increasingly the largest employment base for physicists: the private sector.

This conference will focus on strategies for implementing physics innovation and entrepreneurship (PIE) education into undergraduate classrooms, and will be targeted toward physics department leaders. Sessions will feature existing programs which have successfully implemented PIE components (such as the Scienceworks program at Carthage College, and the Case Western Physics Entrepreneurship Program), as well the "success stories" of students who have graduated from these programs and started companies or found successful employment in companies as a result of these programs.

The conference will also include targeted implementation workshops, and resources for educators who are interested in developing PIE curricula or in promoting entrepreneurship among their students and faculty, such as the National Collegiate Innovators and Inventors Alliance (NCIIA), which offer funding, guidance, and access to a community of practitioners.

Conference Steering Committee

• Douglas Arion, Carthage College 
• Crystal Bailey, American Physical Society 
• Mark Bernius, Morgan Crucible PLC 
• Bahram Roughani, Loyola University Maryland
• Randall Tagg, University of Colorado Denver

2014 Physics Department Chairs Conference
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) is hosted the annual Physics Department Chairs conference in conjunction with this workshop. For more information please visit the department chairs' conference homepage.
AAPT Physics Department Chairs Conference