On November 13, 2016, a team of three College of San Mateo physics students took home a bronze medal in the seventh annual 2016 International University Physics Competition. Advised by CSM physics professor, Mohsen Janatpour, the students joined over 500 other undergraduate teams from colleges and universities throughout the world to compete in this prestigious event.

Of those initial entries, 197 teams were eligible to move forward in the competition by submitting their papers on time. On November 11 at 5 pm PST each team was presented with two problems. Their challenge was to choose one and submit their solution as a scholarly paper within 48 hours. The CSM team chose reactor waste disposal as their problem and proceeded to analyze the possibilities of launching radioactive waste into space.

For the next two days, Denghui Chen, Lok Ching Lui, and Ke Lu worked in an area adjacent to Janatpour’s office. As the advisor, he could answer the team’s questions in general terms and supply them with any materials needed, but was not allowed to participate in, nor was he consulted about, solving the problem. The team finished and successfully submitted their paper on Sunday, November 13 by the designated deadline.

Read more about The University Physics Competition at www.uphysicsc.com.

CSM Professor Mohsen Janatpour advises physics students, Denghui Chen, Lok Ching Lui, and Ke Lu (left to right).