TheoryNet Meeting 12-10-2025 Minutes

["Kautsch, Stefan" <s kautsch northeastern edu>]

Minutes of TheoryNet Meeting on Wed., Dec 10th, 4 – 5PM EST. Submitted to 
the TheoryNet listserv...

A. Attendees
Thank you all for attending and responding: 
The following faculty, Brent Nelson (NU), Ken Olum (Tufts) and Stefan 
Kautsch (NU, NEW), met in person in DA 114, doughnuts with coffee were 
served. 

The following people joined the video call on ZOOM:
Teachers: Michael Hirsch (Needham), Tim Fitzgibbon (Middleborogh), Mathew 
Heising (Medford), Mike Wadness (Medford), Jeremy Stegmeier (East Boston, 
NEW), Scott Goelzer (retired teacher, now adjunct at U of NH)
Faculty: Nishant Agarwal (Umass Lowell), Eugene Tang (NU, NEW) 

Not present but excused:
Ning Bao (Faculty, NU, NEW), Sara Harrison (Faculty, NU, NEW), Soubhik 
Kumar (Faculty, Tufts, NEW), Nivedi Das (Teacher, Sharon)

NEW...New to TheoryNet

B. Intro to TheoryNet
Dean Brent Nelson gave a quick intro about the long-running TheoryNet: 
Teachers will be paired with faculty, then they arrange the faculty visit 
at their schools by themselves, and teachers get a stipend. The faculty 
presentation can be about any topic, either the newest research and 
discoveries, or anything that excites the students and teacher about 
physics, in particular theoretical physics. The faculty visit can be a 
whole day, cover multiple classes, or just one lesson. 

Prof. Ken Olum gave an overview about the equipment, and mentioned that 
also middle-school teachers could join in the future. He announced that 
Tufts just recently started operation of their new three meter 
radiotelescope and he would like to engage teachers to think about 
potential radio astronomy projects for their students using Tuft's 
telescope. 

Mr. Scott Goelzer reported that he is currently in possession of useful 
experimental equipment and he offered that someone should take it to use 
it at schools.

C. Meet and Greet
Every attendee was introducing himself. 

D. Pairing
The following pairs were confirmed

Tim Fitzgibbon & Ken Olum; pairing info submitted
Mike Wadness & Nashant Agarwal; pairing info submitted
Mike Hirsh & Ning Bao; pairing info submitted
Matt Heising  & Soubhik Kumar; pairing info submitted
Jeremy Stegmeier & Eugene Tang; pairing info submitted

Nivedi Das; waiting for response
Not paired yet: Scott Goelzer, Brent Nelson, Sara Harrison

E. End of Meeting
The end

F. Future and Notes
Pairing info mails sent out to pairs. Operations Manager Sheila Magee is 
informed about the stipends, she will send paperwork info to paired 
teachers. Future talking points: TheoryNet attendance requirements for 
faculty due to their grant participation. Meeting frequency and 
scheduling. School visit reports and reports for NSF. Please let me know 
your comments and if these minutes need corrections. Happy Holidays!

Stefan Kautsch, PhD | he/him/his | Teaching Professor & Inclusive 
Education and Public Outreach Officer | Department of Physics | 
Northeastern University | 105 Dana Research Center | Boston, MA 02115 | s 
kautsch northeastern edu | 617 373 5082