Skip to:Main Content

Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University Campus Image

Physics & Engineering

The department offers a wide variety of courses in physics and engineering, serving students who seek the bachelor of science degree in physics, physics/engineering, and chemistry/engineering, as well as those majoring in other fields.

Students who choose this department for their major come from diverse backgrounds. Twenty-one states and five foreign countries were represented in the classes of 2005-2009. Typically 25% of our majors are women.

W&L now has an ENGINEERS WITHOUT BORDERS club, which includes students at both W&L and VMI. It is not necessary to be an engineering major.  The first project was to help with the creation a new water system for a town in Bolivia during summer 2011.  Check out the local club's website. 

W&L's short spring term has offered opportunities as well as challenges. What began as a challenge - to fit the Computer Aided Design and Drafting course into a 4-week term - turned into an opportunity to change the focus of this class  to engineering design and incorporate more diverse hands-on training to simulate real-life engineering challenges.  Check out the video from 2010!   See the update video from spring 2011 bridge design contest.

News

  • Achromatic Prisms made in Paris.Antique Scientific Instruments Show How W&L Students Used to Learn
    An exhibit of 19th-century scientific instruments on the main floor of the Leyburn Library at Washington and Lee University shows how students used to study physics, chemistry, mathematics, surveying and other scientific disciplines. Yolanda Merrill, humanities librarian and associate professor, originated the idea for the exhibit after noticing similar instruments on display in the library’s [...]
  • Washington and Lee senior Dana Fredericks working on a water-delivery system in Bolivia.Fresh Water for Bolivia
    Students and professors from Washington and Lee and VMI spent two weeks this summer in the village of Pampoyo, Bolivia, to oversee the construction of a multi-phase water delivery system that will bring fresh water to the villagers. The clean water will be used for crop irrigation, and those working on the project hope the [...]
  • The Nobel medalSecond Annual Nobel Symposium at W&L
    The Second Annual Nobel Prize Symposium at Washington and Lee University, coordinated this year by Wayne Dymacek, professor of mathematics, will feature presentations by W&L faculty who will give background on the individuals who have won this year's Nobel Prizes and the activities that earned those honors. All sessions are open to the W&L community [...]
  • Confocal microscope image of a hamster's hindbrain taste area.New Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope at W&L for Regional Use
    A new confocal laser scanning microscope at Washington and Lee University aims to increase research and training across the sciences, not only at W&L but also at two nearby institutions, Virginia Military Institute and Mary Baldwin College. The microscope will be acquired through a $366,000 Major Research Instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). [...]
  • The Rev. Jennier R. Strawbridge, a 2001 graduate of Washington and Lee and winner of the 2011 Distinguished Young Alumna AwardJennifer Strawbridge '01 Named Distinguished Young Alumna
    Washington and Lee University's Alumni Association has bestowed its 2011 Distinguished Young Alumna Award on the Rev. Jennifer R. Strawbridge, of the Class of 2001. Announcement of the award was made on Friday (Sept. 30) during the annual Young Alumni Reunion on campus. Rev. Strawbridge is chaplain of Oxford University's Keble College in England, where [...]
Subscribe via RSS