Events

 

 
    Physics Newsletter

Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008


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

Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008

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.

 
   Physics Newsletter

Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008


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.


 
   Physics Newsletter

Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008


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

 

Michael Leimon President

Erik Harwell
Vice-President

Christopher Lopez
Treasurer

John Wilson
Secretary


 

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.
 


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.

 

   Physics Newsletter

Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008


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.

 


 
   Physics Newsletter

Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008



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.

 
   Physics Newsletter

Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008

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.



 

   

 
   Physics Newsletter

Volume1, Issue1
Fall 2008

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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