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Physics Newsletter
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Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008 |
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Department Members and
SPS Students Attend Joint TSAPS/
TSAAPT/SPS Meeting at UT El Paso
In October members of the Physics faculty along with several
students attended the Joint
Texas Section American Physical Society/Texas Section American
Association of Physics
Teachers/Society of Physics Students meeting at the University of
Texas at El Paso. Our
newest physics major,
Paige Gray
(Freshman, Robstown), shares her experience:
First of all, I didn't expect to be able to go to one of the
conferences so early in my physics
career, but that's one of the advantages of a small program. I
wasn't originally scheduled
to attend, but one of the other physics majors couldn't go, and I
took his place. The
conference itself wasn't at all what I expected. I expected
something
more like a science fair, I suppose. It was an all together humbling
and positive experience, though.
 The conferences primarily consist of a bunch of mini-lectures called
talks over assorted topics. The first talk I chose to go to was over
high-energy particle physics, because I find it very interesting, and
I thought I knew a decent amount about it. It was completely over
my head. I quickly found that my Discovery Channel knowledge
of the subject was inadequate when the necessary math was involved.
I chose more
accessible topics for the rest of the talks I went to-mostly
astrophysics or general theory.
The conference gave me a chance to mingle with highly educated
physicists, which
encouraged me to consider pursuing a higher degree. I also had
roughly 22 hours, round
trip, to get to know some of the other members of the physics
department. I came away
from the conference with a deeper respect for physicists, and an
intensified interest in
physics, itself. |
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Physics Newsletter
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Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008 |
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A Word From the Chair
As Interim
Chair of the Department of Physics and Geosciences, I would like to
take this opportunity to welcome our new
physics majors and to congratulate our current majors on
your progress toward a career in physics. We are proud to have
you as our students and have enjoyed being a
part of your education. Your hard work has breathed new life into our
physics program and demonstrated your own
level of academic growth. I look forward to watching you
continue to grow in your knowledge and experience as you mature
into a truly professional scientist in the
fields of physics, astronomy, nuclear engineering, and health physics
Dr. Lionel D. Hewett
Introducing Dr. Edward Butterworth - Our Newest Faculty Member
Edward J. Butterworth
holds a Bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of
Massachusetts (1973) and doctorates in Theology from
Fordham
University (1985) and in Biomedical
Engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (1999). His
research specialty is the physics of
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). He has collaborated on projects
involving radio frequency (RF) pulse design, the use of
magnesium MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) as
a diagnostic tool for migraine and for presurgical localization of
lesions suspected in temporal lobe epilepsy.
Additionally, he has developed a novel RF coil design for high-field
MRI, pioneering the use of titanium dioxide as a dielectric
material in cavity resonator type MRI coils
as well as deriving an analytic solution for the electromagnetic field
produced by such a resonator. His teaching
career has included theology and religious studies as well as physics,
astronomy and mathematics.
Following
on his radio frequency MRI resonator designs, some of his future
research will be directed toward finding
optimal configurations for a whole-body RF resonator for use at the
highest field MRI, as the FDA has now approved the use of
magnetic fields as high as 11.7 Tesla for
human research. In addition, he will be continuing work on other MRI-related
projects, including an NIH-funded study of
the phenomenon of fluent late bilingualism using functional
MRI (fMRI). He will also investigate an MRSI technique that
will be used in a novel approach to breast
cancer treatment. He has taken a particular interest in prosopagnosia
as a result of suffering from that disorder,
and is pursuing the use MRSI to investigate prosopagnosia
in cases in which there appears to be no structural
abnormality. These projects will require
developing collaborative relationships with institutions in which
innovative MRI development is a priority.
In addition to the above projects, Dr. Butterworth is also
interested in theoretical physics, and will
continue working to find analytic solutions to Maxwell's equations
under boundary conditions that will be
applicable to the human body.
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Physics Newsletter
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Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008 |
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Astronomy
Open House Events
This fall, the
department has scheduled three public viewing open house events for
the Physics and Geosciences Department
observatory which houses the 16” telescope. The next, and last
one for the semester, is scheduled for November 20.
The Great Planet Hunt was held on September 25 and included
viewing not only with the main 16” telescope
in the observatory dome but also with various other instruments from
the Hill Hall second floor observation deck.
Jupiter was high in the sky while Mercury, Mars and
Venus were near the Western horizon. Venus, the evening star,
was quite visible. As the sky darkened,
viewing became very good for those in the dome. An astronomy CCD
camera was installed on the small refractor
atop the 16" telescope and provided visitors with real time
images of the deep sky that was simultaneously in the field of
view of the larger telescope. More people
could see what was being observed than just the one at the telescope
eyepiece, and the camera brought into view
objects too dim to be seen with the naked eye.
On October 23, the second viewing night for the fall semester
took place. With a pre-Halloween theme of
Ghosties, Ghoulies & Globular Clusters, it was almost a perfect fall
viewing night. About 70 guests from TAMUK
and the community came to view a variety of objects. Viewing
was done using the 16'' telescope in the observatory dome in
addition to the CCD camera. Venus was fairly
near the horizon and was subject to a bit of turbulence. With nearly
80% of its disk illuminated,
Venus appeared almost round. Jupiter offered an
outstanding viewing opportunity
 with
its moons clearly visible for the enjoyment
of all visitors.
Later, the Eagle Nebula was observed using the CCD
camera. The
Eagle is the area
associated with the
famous
Hubble image Pillars of Creation.
Next the Great Cluster in Hercules, M13, was
viewed. It is a giant
globular cluster consisting of hundreds of
thousands of stars, all within a
diameter of about 145 light years. The cluster is located about 25,000
light years from Earth and is the direction
in which the 1974 Arecibo radio transmission message from planet
Earth to anyone listening was beamed.
The astronomy open house events are conducted by
Mr.
Charles Allison,
instructor in the physics program, with
assistance from departmental staff member
Ms. Nancy
Altman
and
various SPS students. For the second viewing, assistance was
provided by Altman and physics majors
David
Daumiller
and
Paige Gray
as
well as several students from Mr. Allison's
astronomy class.
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Physics Newsletter
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Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008 |
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TAMUK Society of Physics Students (SPS)
As the last order
of business in the spring semester, the SPS elected its current set of
officers for the 2008-2009 academic
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Michael Leimon President |
Erik Harwell
Vice-President |
Christopher Lopez
Treasurer |
John Wilson
Secretary |
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The SPS club has
been quite active this semester. On September 24th,
members participated in the inaugural College Night Out
held on the
quadrangle in front of the physics building (Hill Hall). The
SPS helped
represent the department while simultaneously launching
marshmallows at
onlookers from a trebuchet. The trebuchet had
been built by
recent transfer physics major
John
Calvin Martinez
as a study in
using the laws of physics in an engineering design
activity. |
SPS
member John Calvin Martinez describes the trebuchet design to
physics department instructor Charles
Allison while professor Edward Butterworth looks
on at the recent College Night Out activities.
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Some members of the SPS after a recent meeting. Pictured from left
to right are Heather Gray,John Wilson, David Daumiller, Michael
Leimon, and Erik Harwell. |
SPS members also
volunteered at the astronomy
open house. Four club members
(Heather Gray, Michael Leimon,
Christopher Lopez
and John Calvin Martinez) attended
the Fall 2008 APS/SPS
conference at the University of
Texas
at El Paso. |
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Physics Newsletter
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Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008 |
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Alumni
Contributions
Former Texas A&M University-Kingsville Dean
of the College of Engineering and TAMUK
alumnus
Dr. Ernest Franke
donated a Celestron Sky Scout, a personal planetarium, for use
in the astronomy laboratories. The device, when pointed to a
region of the sky, gives the user
information about what is in the pointed direction. Alternatively, it
can direct the user towards a selected
celestial object.
Majors News
David Daumiller,
physics junior, has been named to Who's Who
in American Colleges and Universities. He
and other recipients were honored at a banquet on November 9 at Jones
Hall David was also named to the Dean’s list
for last term.
Scholarships
Three students are recipients of this semester's
scholarships supporting students with an
interest in nuclear engineering. They are
David
Daumiller,
Michael Leimon
and
John Calvin Martinez.
Outreach Activities
- GEAR UP
GEAR UP is an outreach program directed at K-12 teachers to assist
students in public schools to become better
prepared for college entry. Faculty members from TAMUK and TAMUCC are
paired off in various public school districts throughout South
Texas and are involved in working with the
teachers and students of those districts. One of several TAMUK faculty
members participating in the program this
semester is
Mr.
Charles Allison,
Lecturer in the Physics and Geosciences
Department. Allison is participating in the
Alice Independent School District with William Adams Middle
School and Alice High School. He is working to help improve the
science teaching and learning efforts there.
His associate from TAMUCC is involved with Spanish language
teaching. Several other faculty
members in other departments are also participating in the program,
mostly with science education.
At the end of the recently completed Spring 2008 semester
Dr.
Wayne Kinnison,
Associate Professor of Physics in the
Physics and Geosciences Department, along with Allison also
hosted approximately 200 middle-school students from area
schools during their visit to TAMUK as part
of the GEAR UP program. During their visit, the students were
introduced to recent. astronomy and physics
research topics along with a tour of Kinnison’s high-energy research
lab. In the tour they saw and asked questions about the
equipment and the experiments that are
currently being conducted in cosmic ray research here at TAMUK.
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Physics Newsletter
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Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008 |
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Outreach Activities-Recruiting Trips
SWTJC, Uvalde
-On
November 1
Dr. Wayne
Kinnison,
Associate Professor of Physics, and
Dr. Tom McGehee,
Professor of Geosciences, along with physics students
Michael
Leimon
(Senior, Harlingen) and
Paige Gray
(Freshman, Robstown) went on a recruiting trip to Southwest
Texas Junior College in Uvalde. Presentations were made to Mary
Beth Monroe's physics
students. (Monroe is a well recognized physics instructor and a
candidate for the National President of the
American Association of Physics Teachers.) Kinnison presented a talk
about the Physics Program here at TAMUK
while the students described their own experiences in
the TAMUK Physics Program. Both Kinnison and the students
extoled the advantages of our research
opportunities for undergraduates - something
that only graduate students at major
research universities may access. Dr. McGehee presented the
Geosciences program of the Department to the
students. Some students expressed interest in both programs.
Rio Grande Valley Trip
-On
November 13-14, a team consisting of
Drs. Kinnison
and
McGehee
along with
Dr.
Jaehyung Yu,
Assistant Professor of Geology, and
Dr. Edward
Butterworth,
Assistant Professor of Physics, engaged in a recruiting trip to four
high schools and two junior colleges in the
Rio Grande Valley. The high-schools were
McAllen Memorial High School, Harlingen High
School South, Harlingen High School, and Weslaco West High
School. They also went to Texas State Technical College in
Harlingen and South Texas College in
McAllen. At each stop information was presented to students, teachers
and counselors about both the Physics and
the Geosciences Programs in the Department. Several students
expressed a desire to have more information sent and that was
done. Students were also given an
opportunity to get on an emailing list about the programs.
Palacios Schools
-On
December 2
Dr. Kinnison
will attend the all-day Career Day program
at Palacios High School and Middle School. That event will offer the
opportunity to meet with approximately a
hundred high-school students in the morning
and visit with middle-school students during
the afternoon. Others who have been invited to attend the program
include several departments at Texas A&M,
South Texas Power, the Nuclear Power Institute and
various chemical and pertrolium companies. Dr. Kinnison was
invited through his association with the
Nuclear Power Institute.
Outreach Activities-Maymester
During the recent Maymester, the three last weeks of May,
Dr. Kinnison
hosted two junior college students in his
research laboratory as part of the STEM Maymester program. One
student,
John Calvin Martinez
from Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, did an analysis of muon
lifetimes using Kinnison's newly
refurbished cosmic ray telescope. At the same time Joseph
McMillian from Palo Alto College in San Antonio measured the
hard component of cosmic ray flux with
the apparatus. Both students made their presentations before the
entire Maymester group on May 30.
Martinez has since transfered here to TAMUK where he is now a Junior
majoring in physics.
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Physics Newsletter
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Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008 |
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Joint SPS
and Ham Radio Club Event
On November 15th,
the 75th Annual American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Sweepstakes
Amateur Radio Collegiate Competition began. The collegiate
category of the contest was composed of
clubs on college campuses operated by current students,
faculty and staff. The contest began
during the afternoon of Saturday, November 15 and ran until Sunday
evening. Several TAMUK students are licensed
and participated during part or all of the time using the
equipment in the Burgin Dunn Radio Center maintained by the
Physcis Program. Most of the participants
are also members of the TAMUK SPS.
In Eastern Europe, amateur radio contests go under the name
Sport Radio. It is a competition that
requires intense concentration over long periods of time. For some, it
involves operating 20 to 30 hours nonstop.
For a team activity such as this, that level of effort was not
required by any individual since the effort
was shared by all those who contributed.
The collegiate category was fairly small as usual with one or
two dozen colleges and universities
participating. However, quality reigns supreme in the contest. TAMUK
was competing head to head against
institutions which included MIT, the University of Chicago, Stanford
University, Baylor University, University of
Arkansas, and Harvard. As of press time the contest results
had not yet been announced.
Among those who participated in the event were
Dr. Robert
Diersing,
Associate Vice Provost for
Information Technology and CIO for TAMUK,
Mr.
Charles Allison,
Instructor of Physics,
Ms.
Nancy Altman,
Physics Staff, physics majors
David Daumiller
(Junior, Kingsville),
Michael Leimon
(Senior, Harlingen),
Paige Gray
(Freshman, Robstown),
Pilar Longoria
(Sophomore, Portland) and electrical
engineering major
Klint Mann
(Sophomore, Corpus Christi).
David Daumiller, Nancy Altman, Michael
Leimon,
and Charles Allison busily involved in the
Radio
Competition. The radio
equipment is part of the
Burgin Dunn Radio Center in
the physics building.
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Physics Newsletter
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Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008 |
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Program
News
On October 10,
Dr.
Kinnison
attended the
Advisory Committee Meeting for the Nuclear Power
Institute (NPI). The NPI consists of a collaboration of
universities and nuclear power companies who
are concerned about the need to encourage people to enter the nuclear
industry. This year they had a large grant
from the Texas Workforce Commission to provide scholarships to
students with a possible interest in future nuclear careers.
Kinnison has been working with the NPI to
encourage their collaboration with TAMUK.
Since last spring
Mr.
Allison
has been
working with other institutions in the Physics Program's
Texas Electronic Coalition for Physics (TECP) and with Purdue
University, Calumet to develop plans to
enhance the astronomy programs for all of the institutions. The
current planning is to develop a major
proposal to the National Science Foundation next summer. The desire is
to develop more courses on undergraduate astronomy and provide
our undergraduates the opportunty to engage
in undergraduate astronomy research.
Dr. Kinnison
continues to work on two grants to develop enhanced capabilities in
nuclear science. One grant is from the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ($180,000) to develop distance
laboratory capabilities for nuclear education. The other grant,
from the Department of Energy ($98,300), is
to assist in enhancing our capabilities to apply for further major
grants in the area of Global Nuclear Energy
Partnership. Kinnison is using these grants in
part for scholarships
and in part to engage undergraduates in
nuclear research.
Calling All Alumni
We in the
Physics Program need your help to
update our database
on alumni. Please, go to
our website at http://physics.tamuk.edu and look at the
information we have for our alumni. If your
information is not up-to-date or you see other entries that you could
help us with, please, send us an email so we
can correct it. You may reach us at
physics@tamuk.edu.
Also,
we want to hear from you!
Please, send us an email to let us know what you are doing.
We would like to have a section in our newsletter from and
about alumni. If you would like to write a
short article about your career experiences or former experiences at
TAMUK (or A&I), we would love to publish it
in our newsletter.
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