Sean Nowling is an assistant professor of Physics at SUNY Jamestown Community College. Outside of teaching physics, Nowling leads an astronomy course, and also supports JCC manufacturing and engineering students and faculty.
Nowling earned bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from Purdue University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before joining the faculty at JCC, Nowling was a researcher at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Nowling is often mentioned as a favorite professor and mentor among JCC graduates who studied physics or engineering.
What is your educational background?
Nowling: My background is in string theory and quantum gravity. That's what I went to school for.
But really, I've kind of dabbled with many areas of physics. I've written papers on quantum computing and just novel states of matter and things.
Why did you choose physics as a career path?
Nowling: I got into physics because I was interested in finding out why things work. As a kid, I did lots of different activities. And I played a lot of sports.
And I was in a circus as a kid. I just had a lot of different experiences. In physics, I really liked how physics gave you a unified perspective on everything.
And I think it's really captivating.
What did you do in the circus?
Nowling: The town I grew up in (in Indiana) had a circus for youth. It was kind of like instead of playing baseball, you would be in circuses.
So, trapeze, and then tumbling, and trampoline acts, and juggling, and bareback horse riding. But I was skinny. So, I was a flyer on the trapeze act. And then I grew about six inches.
And so, then I was not near strong enough to be a catcher. So that was the end of that.
What is your favorite class to teach?
Nowling: I teach thermodynamics, which is a fun class.
It's a challenging class, but it's a subject that touches on everything from why did your refrigerator work, to car engine, to black holes, and the Big Bang.
What’s a favorite project you’ve been a part of?
Nowling: I have been combining my interest in computers and programming and using AI to learn things. And I've been able to collaborate with different faculty members. So, in the past one semester, another faculty member and I were making our own neural network.
And I learned how AIs kind of work at a deep level. And then more recently, I've been working with our manufacturing and machining instructors to develop educational tools and software to help students learn. So, for example, we've been making sort of arcade games to help students learn how to code and program the machines that control tools.
And so, in the game, maybe they're controlling a race car, but really, they're learning how to control machines.
What do you enjoy about teaching at JCC?
Nowling: I think the best thing about teaching at JCC is that I get to know my students and I get to see their development from the start when they come in and they don't know a lot or have limited experiences.
And then I get to see how their trajectory goes and how much they develop. I think that's the most exciting thing.
Why should a high school student consider attending JCC?
Nowling: The best thing about JCC is that we can provide the exact same content and rigor and curriculum that students would receive at other larger schools at just a fraction of the cost. And so it makes college accessible to students from any background.
In the past, we've looked at things and our students do just as well, if not actually better than the students who start at some of the larger programs. I think that's because at JCC, the material is the same, but the difference is that the instructors know every student and every student's interest and what they want to do.
And you're able to adjust. When I teach a course, it's different every semester because every semester I have different students in the room and the examples I choose are tailored to the students that are in front of me. And I'm choosing examples each semester to mesh with the interests and future career paths of my students.
What does a quality education mean to you?
Nowling: I think a quality education means that you have the ability to teach yourself and adapt and grow going into the future. I think that means that you have to be able to pick up new skills and adjust and know that your career path won't be the same or won't be what maybe what you envisioned from the start.
When I graduated high school, I had never used a spreadsheet. I had used a word processor a few times. And to then go to a place where I have now had experiences in projects where I was simulating numerical properties of black holes or using writing computer programs to help teach people, that's just nothing I even dreamed of as a high school student.
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