In one, a student spends three years at Gordon completing courses in the basic sciences, mathematics and the Core Curriculum. The next two to two and one half years are spent at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell in engineering studies. This 3-2 program results in two degrees for the student. A second option is to spend two to three years at Gordon and then transfer into an engineering program. The faculty have special interests in history of physics, energy issues, optical properties of materials and nonlinear dynamics, chaos, astronomy and science-theology interactions.
Opportunities exist for student research collaboration with faculty.
Many students gain valuable research experience through National Science Foundation-sponsored summer research opportunities at major research centers. The department maintains a laboratory with 10 PCs dedicated to automated data collection and analysis as well as mathematical studies using Mathematica and other software. Nearly all physics courses feature laboratory work utilizing a wide range of equipment, including a nuclear spectroscopy system and a range of optical instruments. Graduates have demonstrated the effectiveness of the department's program by success in their post-undergraduate endeavors. Others have gone to work in research settings like Princeton's Plasma Physics Laboratory, the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Naval Research Laboratory, the Army Research Laboratory, Raytheon Corporation, Spire Corporation, Varian Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Bell Laboratories.