Undergraduate modern physics projects for non-major students

Lab experimentation is an essential part of any undergraduate physics program. Other STEM and non-STEM disciplines have requirements for labs to include modern physics (e.g., atomic physics and spectroscopy) experiments. In this work, we present our approach to such experimental projects for electrical and computer engineers and also for other STEM majors in a liberal arts HBCU (Lincoln University, PA). According to von Karman, "engineers create the world that never was". To train our students for an engineering career, we designed our modern physics projects based on the challenges coming from recently published papers on HEP and gamma-ray detectors [1], [2], and other experiments, e.g., effects of temperature on characteristics of optoelectronic devices. A typical course introducing STEM non-major students to experiments in modern physics is an Engineering Capstone. Examples of student experiments, their attitudes and achievements are presented. We also discuss non-STEM labs that teach important concepts of modern physics at an introductory level.