Mission Statement

We are a group of physics majors focused on community, public outreach, and academic excellence. We strive towards these initiatives by hosting weekly meetings often including talks from professors on various fields of physics, sponsoring social events throughout the year to promote fellowship among the UVA physics community, and by engaging in several outreach programs beyond grounds including but not limited to working with students from local K-12 schools such as Charlottesville High School.

Executive Board 2024-2025

Name: Shrinidhi Nadgouda
SPS Position: President
Major(s) / Minor(s): Electrical Engineering and Physics
Research Interests or Area of Physics you find the coolest: Optics and Instrumentation
Your favorite Class that you’ve taken at UVA and why: Electronics (ECE), I really enjoyed getting to experiment with different devices (op-amps, transistors, etc) and see how they worked, as well as their applications.

Name: Christian Guinto-Brody
SPS Position: Vice President
Major(s)/Minor(s): Physics B.S. with a Philosophy Minor
Research: Currently doing experimental high-energy physics, interested in how we can improve particle detection techniques with more precise timing and better calorimetry.
Favorite Class: My favorite physics class I’ve taken at UVA is “Quantum Physics II” because it applied everything I learned in Quantum Physics I and Modern Physics to very neat phenomena in the quantum realm. Though I’ve taken some great non-physics classes like “The Meaning of Life” in the philosophy department and “Intro to Composition” in the music department, both of which prompted me to think in more artistic ways and create original works.

Name: Laura Carnevale SPS Position: President of Sigma Pi Sigma
Major(s): BS Astronomy/Physics & BA Philosophy
Research Interests: I’m currently doing research about the relation between mass, star formation rate, and metallicity of galaxies across different simulations of the universe & I’m interested in the evolution of stars and galaxies in general :)
Favorite Class: Greek Mythology because I’ve always been interested in it so learning about it more in depth was super fun + Intro Astrophysics 2 because Craig Sarazin »»

Name: Anran Zhao
SPS Position: Sigma Pi Sigma Vice President
Majors: Physics and Computer Science, Minor: Data Science
Research Interests: My main research interest is Medical Imaging and Radiology, but I’ve been in High Energy Physics and Quantum Physics Labs.
Favorite Class: Medical Imaging Modalities (BME 4783)

Name: Carter Patten
SPS Position: SPS Treasurer
Majors: BS Physics, BA Chemistry
Research Interests: High energy physics
Favorite Class: PHYS 2720: Problem Solving, since the professor did a great job of keeping the physics relevant to actual things while still introducing really interesting concepts (bonus points for bringing in a Tesla coil).

Name: Brian Meiser
SPS Position: Secretary
Majors: Math and Physics
Research Interest: Mathematical Physics
Favorite Class Taken at UVA: Independent Study (Math 4993) under the Directed Reading Program; This independent study allowed me to get a personalized introduction to mathematical physics, which I was able to discover, due to this program, to be my research interest.

Name: Chance Woodson
SPS Position: Webmaster
Major: Physics and CS Minor
Research Interests: Quantum Computing, Computational Physics, and Condensed Matter
Favorite Class: My favorite class thus far has been Calculus III because of its applications to areas of physics such as electricity and magnetism, which first sparked my interest in physics.

Name: Quentin Simmons
SPS Position: Social Chair
Major: Physics, Minor: Material Science and Spanish
Research Interests: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
Favorite Class: My favorite class has been American History From Below in the Spanish department, because South/North American history is wild and it’s nice to have a break from Physics.

Name: Gavin Prestholdt
SPS Position: Co-Outreach Chair
Major: Physics Major
Research Interests: Quantum Computing, Quantum Information Science and Medical Physics
Favorite Class: E&M 1 – I really enjoyed the rigorous application of math to very visualizable physical phenomena. It helped me see the world in a much more logical and mathematical way. Not to mention the subject itself is downright fascinating!

Name: Jackson Glass
SPS Position: Outreach Cochair
Major/Minor: Physics Major & Data Science Minor
Research Area: Condensed Matter
Favorite Class at UVA & Why: Astrophysics I, it was my first physics class at UVA, and persuaded me to pick physics as my major.

Name: Erum Vohra
SPS Position: DEI Chair
Major(s): Astronomy-Physics & Math
Research Interests: Radio Astronomy, Gravity
Favorite Class: PDEs, because the professor was really good and the people were really nice.