The Sky's the Limit: USU Physics Event at Amusement Park Opens Career Pathways

If you can dream it, you can become it.

“That’s the message we’re trying to convey to thousands of teens from Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona and Nevada who’ll join us for our 37th annual USU Physics Day at Lagoon,” says Utah State University physicist J.R. Dennison. “With our USU faculty and students, along with government and industry sponsors, we’re introducing young people to bright career futures in STEM fields. And what better laboratory to entice teens to learn about physics and engineering than an amusement park?”

The Department of Physics in USU’s College of Arts and Sciences, along with Idaho National Laboratory, will welcome some 8,000 high school and middle school scholars to Farmington, Utah’s überplayground for a day of rides, STEM exhibits, demonstrations, academic competition and fun on May 15.

USU alum Brad Christensen ’94, principal software engineer with Ophir-Spiricon Products – MKS Instruments, Inc. in North Logan, Utah and a longtime Physics Day volunteer, is among event sponsors looking forward to the daylong event.

“This will be the 12th year my company has participated in Physics Day,” he says. “I personally find a lot of joy in meeting with teens who are excited about science and eager to learn more.”

Christensen says each year it’s not unusual for him to speak with as many as 200 students and teachers.

“My years of outreach experience have taught me how to engage with teens,” he says. “If I tell them I’m a software engineer, it doesn’t spark much excitement. But if I show them a hands-on demonstration related to the kinds of work our company does — uses of light and laser profiling — it really piques their interest. It’s especially gratifying when students go and bring their friends back to our booth to take a look.”

In addition to demonstrations, Physics Day scholars will participate in the day’s popular Sky Ride Egg Drop Contest, in which the teens drop raw eggs in protective containers of their own design to a ground target. They’ll also measure G-forces on Lagoon’s popular Wicked vertical launch roller coaster, which reaches speeds up to 55 miles-per-hour.

New to Physics Day participants this year is Lagoon’s recently added Nutcracker high-speed pendulum ride.

“Nutcracker opens up new learning about gravity, torque and rotation, along with the physics of a pendulum,” says Dennison, professor in USU’s Department of Physics, a Physics Day founder and a longtime coordinator of the event. “You can learn these things in a classroom, but not with the kind of super-crazy adrenaline surge Nutcracker delivers.”

Along with amusement park fun, Physics Day participants will bring their own ride designs to Lagoon to compete for prizes and vie for scholarship awards during the day’s academic Physics Bowl.

“It’s a busy day made possible by many volunteers, Lagoon and our generous sponsors,” Dennison says. “Physics Day connects teens with industry professionals in a fun environment and shows them how learning about science, technology, engineering and math can propel them toward exciting careers and futures.”