Month: May 2026

2026 Idaho/Utah Section Report

Section Representative: Larry K. Smith, Snow College Department of Physics

The 1983 section bylaws had been lost for decades. A copy was recovered and examined. It was determined they needed updating, so Larry Smith wrote a draft which was discussed and then approved at the section meeting.

Section Meeting: The 2026 meeting of the Idaho/Utah section was held at the University of Utah on  April 10–11 in Salt Lake City, with about 50 attending. On the evening of Friday, April 10, a banquet was held with a popular demo show afterwards. Demos where shared by many people representing various institutions. A good time was had by all. 

On Saturday, April 11, Rhett Zollinger, section president and planner and organizer of the conference, welcomed everyone. The section meeting was held in conjunction with a regular make-n-take workshop the U of U provides for area high school teachers.

The keynote speaker was Nick Borys who spoke about “Advancing Quantum Technologies Through New Materials.” Parallel workshop sessions were then held.

After lunch a section business meeting was held at 1:00. We approved some revised section bylaws and elected a full new slate of officers (which we’ve previously been unable to do since COVID). A spreadsheet showing the history of all section meetings was also shown.

Cheryl Davis at Brigham Young University will be the new section president and will host the 2027 meeting. 

Two sessions of parallel talks were held in the afternoon.

President Zollinger did a wonderful job planning and hosting the meeting.

Current Officers (terms all start Spring 2026)

Section Representative: Kim Nielsen, Utah Valley University (3-year term)

Section President: Cheryl Davis, Brigham Young University-Provo (1-year term) 

Section President-Elect: Katie Devine, College of Idaho (1-year term)

Section Vice President: Steve Hart, Snow College (1-year term)

Section Past President: Rhett Zollinger, University of Utah (1-year term)

Section Secretary/Treasurer: Adam Beehler, University of Utah (2-year term)

Next Section Meeting: Brigham Young University in Spring 2027, planned by Cheryl Davis.

2025 Idaho/Utah Section Report

Section Representative: Larry K. Smith, Snow College Department of Physics

Section Meeting: The 2025 meeting of the Idaho/Utah section was held at Brigham Young University – Idaho on  March 28–29 in Rexburg, Idaho, with about 50 attending. On the evening of Friday, March 28, a banquet was held with a popular demo show afterwards. Demos where shared by many people representing various institutions. A good time was had by all. 

On Saturday, March 29, Matt Zachreson, planner and organizer of the conference, welcomed everyone. 

Lunch was concurrent with a poster session and the section business meeting was held at 1:00. COVID-19 (and the cancellation of section meetings 2020, 2021, and 2022) derailed the planning of future meetings and the list of expected section officers. Rhett Zollinger (U of U) will become the next president and host in 2026.

Next Section Meeting: University of Utah in April of 2026 planned by Rhett Zollinger. We plan to vote on updates to the section bylaws to better plan for section office holders in the future.

2024 Idaho/Utah Section Report

Section Representative: Larry K. Smith, Snow College Department of Physics

Section Meeting: The 2024 meeting of the Idaho/Utah section was held at Utah Valley University (UVU) April 12–13, 2024, with about 50 attending. On the evening of Friday, April 12, a banquet was held with a popular demo show afterwards. Most of the demos were done by UVU faculty, but others also brought some demos to share. A good time was had by all. 

On Saturday, April 13, Dustin Shipp, planner and organizer of the conference, welcomed everyone, followed by a message from Duane Merrill, past National AAPT President. President Merrill counseled us as AAPT to focus on physics teaching and not get distracted by peripheral issues. Kent L. Gee of BYU gave a fascinating keynote address about high amplitude acoustics from explosions to rockets to volcanoes. Parallel breakout sessions were held in the morning and afternoon with good attendance. 

Lunch was concurrent with a poster session and the section business meeting was held at 1:00. COVID-19 (and the cancellation of section meetings 2020, 2021, and 2022) derailed the planning of future meetings and the list of expected section officers. At the conference Matt Zachreson of BYU-I volunteered to host the meeting in 2025 if no one else was available. After the meeting that plan of action was confirmed. Matt will be the section President until the end of the 2025 spring section meeting and then Rhett Zollinger (U of U) will become the next president and host in 2026.

Next Section Meeting: BYU-Idaho in spring of 2025 hosted by Matt Zachreson.