Event Recap: UW-Platteville

audience members near detector model

Professor James Madsen, UW-River Falls, answers audience questions in front of the large-scale IceCube detector model. Credit: Andy McNeill

With nearly 200 participants at the campus event on the evening of Tuesday, January 29th, the night was a huge success. The doors officially opened at 6:30pm, but people started showing up just after 6:00pm.

Like all Bringing the Universe to Wisconsin events, this one had a special twist. Six UW-Platteville Alumni who worked with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole attended the event and shared their experiences with the crowd.

kids in front of south pole backdrop

Students trying on cold weather gear and posing in front of the South Pole backdrop. Credit: Andy McNeill

Before the start of the formal program at 7:00pm, participants were encouraged to try some of the hands-on activities such as an LED light programming activity, hot water drilling, investigating a cloud chamber, trying on Antarctic cold-weather gear, or learning about the eight-foot tall IceCube model.

Participants were mainly families, UW-Platteville engineering students, and alumni. Several people reported that they traveled quite a distance to be at the event, including on student from Janesville!

Dean Throop accepts Platteville DOM photo

Elizabeth Throop (L), Dean of the School of Language Arts and Education receives a photo of a Digital Optical Module (DOM) named after the university. Credit: Andy McNeill

Starting just after 7:00pm, Elizabeth Throop, Dean of the School of Language Arts and Education at UW-Platteville gave a welcome speech to the crowd and introduced the first speaker, Professor James Madsen from UW-River Falls. Professor Madsen gave an overview of IceCube science and talked a little bit about construction.

Following his talk, alumni Jerry Marty, Mike Kleist, Jeanne Edwards, Tim Murray, and Darrell Hamilton showed pictures of their work at the South Pole and talked about how classes and experience at UW-Platteville helped prepare them.

Open question and answer time followed the presentations, which generated lots of questions about work at the South Pole, the nature of neutrinos, and future research projects that engineering students might work on.

The session ran later than expected, and question time had to be cut short. Participants were encouraged to stop by and talk with Professor Madsen and the alumni if they still had questions, which there were plenty of.

The high number of attendees was welcome, especially considering that a snowstorm was edging towards the Platteville area. In fact, visits to local classrooms and a UW-Platteville Alumni breakfast were canceled on the 30th.

The event was a success due to the hard work of a lot of people. All of the returning alumni contributed to a great evening, in particular Jerry Marty, whose enthusiasm and energy inspired everyone. Staff from UW-Platteville Alumni Association and Continuing Education were key in promoting and organizing the event, notably Katie Friar and Kerie Wedgie.

The event was captured by the UW-Platteville media team. It’s long, but if you want to see what a presentation is like, check it out: