Radiations Newsletter

Volume 26, Issue 17 (February 17, 2020)

Join us for lunch Tuesday at noon in the LDC!

Meritxell Colet
Wednesday, Feb 19^th 2020
3:10 pm in Anderson 036

Ground Penetrating Radar

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a device that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. This geophysical method detects changes in the initial pulse due to subtle changes in the electrical conductivity of the ground and reveal the structure of the ground under your feet. GPR can lead to interesting physics questions such as how exactly does the GPR pulse discover buried roman architecture? Can you find a buried body or clandestine graves using GPR? How can you protect UNESCO cultural heritage sites using physics? In this talk, I will address these questions while also exploring fundamental principles of electromagnetic waves. I will also discuss wave propagation underground and in various media and show some interesting uses of GPR in various applied fields such as archaeology and geology.

Serena Moseley
Friday Feb 21st 2020
3:30 pm in Anderson 036

 Advancements in Radio Interferometry

Radio observations of astronomical sources from a single telescope suffer from inherently lower angular resolution than observations at shorter wavelengths. Astronomers have developed clever interferometry techniques to overcome this limitation. In this talk, I will discuss the mechanisms of radio telescopes and how they can be effectively combined together in interferometry arrays to resolve finer details of radio sources. I will then explore what happens when these telescopes are separated by trans-global distances in a technique known as very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). After investigating how astronomers use VLBI to construct high-resolution images, such as the image of the event horizon of a black hole recently released by the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, I will conclude by discussing other significant applications of VLBI.

Michael McClurg
Monday, Feb 24^th 2020                                                                                                                                                                                              8:30 am in Anderson 036

Modeling the Galactic Spiral Structure

Spiral arms dominate the appearance of most disk galaxies, like our own Milky Way, and appear to have a significant influence in the overall dynamics of their galaxies. In this presentation, I investigate theories of the spiral structure and the models we construct to investigate them. I start by introducing the spiral structure and the ways that we observe and learn about it from our place on Earth. I then use mechanical models to investigate the formation and evolution of spirals, particularly how they’re created and whether they are long-lasting. To do this, I introduce particle and fluid dynamic models of the galaxy and discuss their application to these questions.

Wednesday, February 19

Composite Posts for Enhanced and Tunable Adhesion
Helen Minsky, Physics Department Carleton College
3:00 p.m., Regents Hall 210

Hello!

Purdue University is happy to once again, host the Summer Research Opportunities Program on its campus June 1, 2020 through July 24, 2020.  This program helps to mentor URM undergraduates, as they develop their research skills, in preparation for a graduate school education.  Both STEM and non-STEM students are welcome to apply.

Attached will you find a flyer for students who are interested in furthering their research experience, and are possibly looking at Graduate School in the future.  Primarily, this program takes Junior & Senior Undergraduates, but occasionally Sophomores are also accepted.  Students graduating this spring, and looking at Graduate Schools for the fall, are also more than welcome to apply.
We will be accepting applications until March 1^st, 2020.  The scan code to the SROP webpage is on the flyer, but also here, for ease of use.

When students apply, they will need to upload a personal statement, research statement, and transcript along with the application.  They will not be required to have letters of recommendation at the time of application, but must enter two recommenders’ names, along with the email address and phone #.  After they apply, we will contact the recommender, asking them to fill out a brief survey about the student and upload a letter of recommendation (optional) at that time.

Included with acceptance into Purdue University’s SROP is a roundtrip flight, university housing, and a generous stipend.  In addition to a 40 hour work week of research training, SROP provides professional development workshops, social activities, and the opportunity to develop a diverse cohort of colleagues and friends.

The link directly to the application, can be found HERE.

Thanks!

Theresa

Theresa Bescher, Senior Administrative Assistant  
Office of Graduate Diversity Initiatives | The Graduate School

Hello,

My name is Paul Scaletta, and I am a process engineer at Sheldahl Flexible Technologies here in Northfield. I am reaching out today because Sheldahl is looking for a summer intern to help out with our vacuum deposited materials group. The link to the internship opening can be found here .

Our vacuum deposited materials group utilizes several different vacuum coating systems and deposition processes to build products for a variety of industrial applications. First and foremost, we are a leading supplier of passive thermal control material to the space industry. Our products have been on every US space program since the 1950s! The intern will be helping this group with a variety of new and on-going projects that can range from developing or optimizing deposition processes, process trouble-shooting/problem solving, to product development. Some experience in vacuum technology and/or thin film deposition or characterization is desired but not at all a requirement. I would recommend any interested student to apply.

 Thanks,

Paul Scaletta