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College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom

New physics chair seeks to prepare students for Intel, Air Force Research Lab careers

By Dave Larsen

Dayton-area physics majors enjoy job opportunities unique to the region, with employers that include the Air Force Research Laboratory and two new Intel chip factories currently under construction outside of Columbus.

“A physics undergraduate degree will get you employed,” said Jason Deibel, who joined the University of Dayton faculty in July as an associate professor and Department of Physics chair. “People tend to assume that the available career options for physics majors are quite limited, but statistics actually support that a physics degree is very lucrative and can serve as a springboard for a wide variety of career options in science and engineering. It’s even more lucrative in this region. The starting salary for a Bachelor of Science in physics degree holder in the Dayton metropolitan area is approximately $60,000 a year. This is largely due to the regional infrastructure that supports the Air Force Research Lab.”

In his new role at UD, Deibel plans to increase the number of undergraduate physics students and advance the department’s curricular offerings. The latter goal is related in part to Intel’s $20 billion investment in Ohio to build two leading-edge chip plants to meet the surging demand for advanced semiconductors, which are used to make everything from computers and smart phones to cars and appliances. The initial phase of the project is expected to create 3,000 Intel jobs and 7,000 construction jobs over the course of the build.

“With Intel breaking ground, this has an impact on both science and engineering programs,” Deibel said. “I want to make sure our students have the opportunity, training and course experience that, if they want to go into a career that is tied to this, that we can support that.”

To support the development of its new site, Intel pledged an additional $100 million toward partnerships with educational institutions to build a pipeline of talent and bolster research programs in the region.

In September, UD announced that it was part of the Intel-funded Ohio-southwest Alliance on Semiconductors and Integrated Scalable Manufacturing to help develop a workforce for Ohio’s semiconductor industry needs. Deibel and fellow physics faculty Jay Mathews, Imad Agha and Chenglong Zhao are participating in the three-year, $210,000 project with colleagues from the School of Engineering, who will work together to develop training modules integrated into UD undergraduate courses.

“An important part of this, too, is that this is not just preparing students for careers at Intel,” Deibel said. “Any of the skill sets and content knowledge that would come out of this would also help students to get ready for careers at AFRL. The companies that support Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and its research would love to grab these students, too.”

Previously, Deibel was chair of the Department of Physics at Wright State University in Fairborn, where he was an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Electrical Engineering.

He succeeds John Erdei, professor emeritus of physics, who retired in May 2021 after 38 years at UD.  Todd Smith, associate professor of physics, served as interim chair during the 2021-22 academic year.

Deibel’s long-term goals for the department also include possibly developing a first-year seminar course for new physics majors to prepare them for a faculty-mentored research experience. As director of undergraduate research and experiential learning in the Wright State College of Science and Mathematics, he developed an early-intervention, college-wide undergraduate research program to improve student retention and graduation rates and overall student success.

“It is a passion of mine,” he said. “I have seen success with it. UD’s physics department is very dedicated to undergraduate research.”

Deibel is active in the American Association of Physics Teachers and would like to increase the number of high school physics teachers trained at UD in collaboration with the School of Education and Health Sciences.

Deibel holds a doctorate in applied physics from the University of Michigan, where he did research work on ultrafast optoelectronics. He has engaged in collaborative research with partners at AFRL and a number of local, regional and national companies. He has received more than $6 million in external funding to support research and educational endeavors from the NSF, AFRL, Office of Naval Research, UD Research Institute and the Ohio Department of Development, among others.

His primary research focus is time-domain terahertz spectroscopic imaging.  Recently, he expanded his interests to also include plasma science as part of a collaboration with aerospace engineering researchers at Georgia Tech University.

“I'm very excited about the experience and leadership that Jason brings in curriculum and faculty development, his enthusiasm for supporting faculty research and also for mentored research for students,” said Danielle Poe, College of Arts and Sciences dean. “Additionally, Jason's experience with working on graduate curriculum has the potential to further strengthen the contributions that the Department of Physics makes to the School of Engineering's doctoral program in electro-optics.”

For more information, visit the UD Department of Physics website.

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