The Department of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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  • 217.333.3761
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  • 217.333.3645
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  • 217.333.4361
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  • Department of Physics
    1110 W. Green St.
    Urbana, IL 61801-3080
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Content

Physics in 1917

The Physics E&M lab in 1917

The image at the left shows the "modern" E&M laboratory on the first floor of the old Physics Building in 1917. That same year, a bachelor's degree program in engineering physics (distinct from the standard physics curriculum) was established, although no one enrolled.

Professor Alfred P. Carman, then head of Physics, remained optimistic, however, believing that "the war [WWI] will demonstrate the value of trained physicists to government, industry, and scholarship."

In 2008, U.S. News & World Report ranked engineering physics at Illinois the #3 program in the nation.

Physics as the foundation of engineering

Instruction in engineering at the University of Illinois began in 1870, three years after the university was founded. The engineering faculty consisted of one man, Stillman Robinson, professor of mechanical science and engineering.

As a cornerstone of engineering education, Robinson introduced and taught a course in physics, which included lecture-room demonstrations and laboratory practice, a concept considered very novel at that time.

Physics is still part of the College of Engineering at Illinois.

First Engineering Physics degree

The first Illinois engineering physics bachelor's degree was awarded in 1923 to Wallace Waterfall, who would return in 1931 to earn a a graduate degree of Professional Engineer.

Waterfall served as the secretary of the American Institute of Physics from 1945 until his death in 1974.

Along with his former professor, Floyd R. Watson (Physics, U. Illinois), and Vern O. Knudsen, Waterfall founded the Acoustical Society of America in 1928.

 

Name that Illinois Physicist

Name that Physicist Contest

This Illinois physicist led research groups in the Physics Research Division at Bell Laboratories for 32 years, turning out a steady stream of discoveries, observations, and theories that contributed to the revolution in the field of optoelectronics. He was an inventor as well as a thinker, combining a rare mastery of both theory and experiment. The holder of 28 patents, he did seminal work on quantum wells and invented the quantum well laser, established the "alpha parameter" to explain the behavior of semiconductor lasers, and initiated a new optical integrated circuit technology that enabled optical routers and multiplexing.