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Duan a finalist in the Student Paper Competition

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Ran DuanRan Duan, a PhD candidate in engineering physics, has been named a finalist in the Student Paper Competition of the 2014 International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation, cosponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Antennas and Propagation Society and the Union of Radio Science.

As a finalist, Duan has been been invited to present a poster on his paper titled “Multiband Unidirectional Cloaking Based on Geometric Optics” at the symposium in Memphis, July 6-11. He will also receive a $1,250 award to help him attend the symposium.

Duan won Michigan Tech’s Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award for the fall 2013 semester.

Duan’s research is on an invisibility cloak being developed by Associate Professor Elena Semouchkina (ECE/Physics). An invisibility cloak is a device that allows electromagnetic waves such as microwaves or light to bypass objects, essentially making them invisible.

From Tech Today.

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Physics Senior Research Colloquium 2014

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Department of Physics Senior Research Oral Presentations
Michigan Technological University
Thursday, April 17, 2014
3:15 – 5:00pm
Room 139 in Fisher Hall

Undergraduate Presentation Abstracts

PhysicsUndergradPresentations-04-17-14

Formation of the Midcontinent Rift System: Fossil Magnetization of Intrusive Rocks
Darcy Jacobson
Advisor: Dr. Aleksey Smirnov

High-Speed Imaging of Freezing Drops: An Investigation of Contact Nucleation
Joseph Charnawskas
Advisor: Dr. Raymond Shaw

Synthesis of molybdenum disulfide for applications in van der Waal’s heterostructures
By Emily Makoutz
Advisor: Dr. Yoke Khin Yap

Preliminary Search for Exotic Events in the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory Data
Greg Furlich
Advisor: Dr. Brian FIck

Numerical Investigation of Water Vapor Effects in Rayleigh-Bénard Convection
Michael Adler
Advisor: Dr. Raymond Shaw

Synthesis and Characterization of Boron Nitride Nanosheets for Applications in Heat Dissipation
Sawyer Hopkins
Advisor: Yoke Khin Yap

Boson Sampling Using Optical Microcavities
Stephen Dipple
Advisor: Ramy El-Ganainy

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Physics Graduate Poster Session 2014

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Department of Physics Poster Session
Michigan Technological University
Thursday, April 17, 2014
1:00 to 3:00pm
Aftermath Atrium in Fisher Hall

Graduate Poster Abstracts

PhysicsGraduatePosterSession-04-17-14
PhysicsGraduatePosterSession-04-17-14a

Investigation of the Resistance to Demagnetization in Bulk Rare-Earth Magnets Comprised of Magnetically-Isolated, Crystallographically-Aligned, Single-Domain Crystallites
Jie Li
Advisor: Dr. Peter Moran

Effective Extraction of Nanomaterials from Water Contaminated with Nanotubes, Nanowires, Nanosheets, and Nanoparticles
Bishnu Tiwari
Advisors: Dr. Yoke Khin Yap and Dr. Dongyan Zhang

Laboratory Measurements of Contact Freezing by Dust and Bacteria at Temperatures of Mixed Phase Clouds
Joseph Niehaus
Advisor: Dr. Will Cantrell

A Multi-band, Unidirectional, Phase-preserved Lensing Invisibility Cloak
Ran Duan
Advisors: Elena Semouchkina and Ravi Pandey

Minimum Principle in Electromagnetic Scattering by Small Particles
Ajarii Mongkolsittisilp
Advisor: Dr. Alex Kostinski

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Mr. Charnawskas Goes to Washington

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Joe Charnawskas
Joe Charnawskas (left) and other SPS representatives meet with Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (center).

Physics major Joe Charnawskas attended the the 2014 Science-Engineering-Technology Congressional Visits Day (SETCVD), which took place on March 25 and 26 in Washington D. C., Capitol Hill.

Joe is the President of the Michigan Tech Chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) and and an Associate Zone Councilor for the national SPS.

SPS is part of AIP, the American Institute of Physics, which was represented at the event, along with hundreds of scientists, engineers, educators, and other participants. Five students from across the country were there to represent SPS. They attended several talks and workshops focused on the budget and funding.

On the second day of the event, the SPS representatives met with a staff member of their Congressman or Senator. They discussed funding for STEM fields, especially funding at the undergraduate level. The students emphasized that undergraduate research is a very important part of their education, setting them ahead of those who do not have research experience.

Joe met with a staff member of the following people: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), Rep. Dan Benishek (R) (MIchigan), Sen. Robert Menendez (D), Sen. Carl Levin (D) (Michigan), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) (Michigan), and Sen. Edward Markey (D). He also personally met Rep. Dan Benishek (Michigan), Rep. Kerry Bentivolio (Michigan), Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Rep. Rush Holt, and Rep. Bill Foster. Representatives Holt and Foster are both physicists.

Joe considers the Washington trip to be amazing. View the PHOTO GALLERY at Joe’s Facebook page.

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Shaw Interview on Cloud Chamber Forecasting

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Michigan Tech posted a video in Facebook with a statement by Dr. Raymond Shaw on the recent storm and cloud chamber forecasting.

Watch the video at the Michigan Technological University Facebook page.

Cloud Chamber Forecasting

Cloud Chamber Forecasting

Cloud Chamber Forecasting

Getting their heads in the clouds
Tech purchases large cloud chamber

Scientists and researchers at Michigan Technological University and beyond will be going to the cloud to find answers – the cloud chamber that is.

“Basically this is a chamber that allows us to simulate the atmosphere all the way up to altitudes that airplanes fly at, so 10 to 15 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, where it’s very, very cold and very low pressure,” said Raymond Shaw, physics professor and director of the atmospheric sciences Ph.D. program at Michigan Tech.

The scientists at Michigan Tech are currently testing the machine before starting their research projects. Shaw expects that within a few months the machine will be fully functional and available to professors, students and visiting scholars.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Meagan Stilp.

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