Physics & Astronomy Student Research

The Department of Physics and Astronomy has a very active student research program. All of our students are required to complete at least one term of independent research before graduation, and many of our students elect to spend one or more summers on campus doing research with a faculty member.

Summer 2006 Research


Summer Research 06

During the summers, many of our students take part in summer research projects funded by Union College fellowships and faculty grants, endowed funds from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and alumni donations. The summer of 2006 saw more than 20 students doing research in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Here's what they worked on (including links to the posters they presented in the department on Sept. 14), grouped by research advisor:

Physics

Astronomy


Vineyard Lab

Prof. Michael Vineyard is a member of the CLAS collaboration at the Thomas Jefferson Laboratory in Virginia, using the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) to study the quark structure of neutrons and protons. Prof. Vineyard's students this summer:

Richie BonventreRichie Bonventre '08: Richie worked on data analysis of nuclear physics experiments conducted at Jefferson Lab, along with Christian Shultz and Elliot Imler. Richie was on term abroad in Japan in the Fall term, and did not present at the poster session.
Christian ShultzChristian Shultz '08: Momentum Corrections for Charged Particles Photoproduced on Hydrogen and Helium Targets in CLAS (754 kB GIF image). Christian also presented his reasearch in a poster at at the fall meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society (APS) in Nashville, Tenn.
Elliot ImlerElliot Imler '08: Fiducial Cuts for the CLAS G3 Data Set (884 kB GIF image). Elliot also presented his research in a poster at at the fall meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society (APS) in Nashville, Tenn.
Bob MarvelBob Marvel '07: Development of a Relativistic Dynamics Experiment (423 kB GIF image). Bob worked on developing an experiment using beta decay to demonstrate the effects of Special Relativity in an undergraduate laboratory.
Steve Po-ChedleySteve Po-Chedley '08: Measurement of the Muon Lifetime and the Strength of the Weak Force (665 kB PDF). Steve worked on developing a laboratory to measure the lifetime of the muon.

Orzel Lab

Prof. Orzel studies laser-cooled rare gases, and is working on a project to measure krypton contamination by counting single atoms. Prof. Orzel's students this summer:

Mike MastroianniMike Mastroianni '07: An Optically Excited Metastable Krypton Atomic Beam Source (1994 kB GIF image) Mike Mastroianni continued his project from last summer, on the development of a new technique for preparing krypton atoms in a metastable state. Mike also presented his reasearch at the 2006 meeting of the Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society in Knoxville, TN.
Matt LockwoodMatt Lockwood '07: Anti-Reflective Coating of a Diode Laser System (382 kB PDF). Matt Lockwood worked on improving the performance of diode lasers by depositing a thin coating on the front surface of the laser to lower its reflectivity.

Maleki Lab

Professor Seyffie Maleki does research in a wide variety of areas, and in collaboration with faculty from several other departments. Some of the student projects supervised by Prof. Maleki this summer include:

Tom MazurTom Mazur '07: Measurement of the Degree of Second-Order Coherence for Thermal and Laser Sources (185 kB PDF). Tom worked on measuring the quantum properties of light.
  • Sam Madden '07

Koopmann Lab

Prof. Becky Koopmann is an observational astronomer, using both visible and radio observations to study star formation and the evolution of galaxies.

Bilal MahmoodBilal Mahmood '08: HI Gas and Star Formation Properties of Nearby Galaxies (702 kB GIF image). Bilal continued his research from last summer on identifying star-forming regions in nearby glaxies.

Marr Lab

Prof. Jon Marr is a radio astronomer, using data from the Very Large Baseline Array to study the properties of active galactic nuclei.

Nate HawesNate Hawes '07: Modeling Evaporating Primordial Black Holes. Nate Hawes worked on a mathematical model of the distribution of gamma-ray bursts that would be expected from primordial black holes. He also presented his research in a poster at The 17th Annual October Astrophysics Conference in Maryland: Radiation Backgrounds from the First Stars, Galaxies, and Black Holes.
Charlie McCaleb and Josh SmithCharlie McCaleb '07 and Josh Smith '07: Development of Spectrometry for the Union College Observatory Charlie McCaleb (left) and Josh Smith (right) worked with Prof. Marr during the summer on installing and testing a spetrometer in the Union College Observatory. They will continue this project during the academic year under the supervision of Prof. Wilkin.
Michael GillinMichael Gillin '08: Measuring Polarization and Aging in Compact Symmetric Objects. Michael worked on measuring polarized radio waves from active galaxies in the early universe.
Jay ReadJay Read '07: Mapping Absorption in Compact Radio Galaxies. Jay worked on the analysis of radio images of very young galaxies.

Surman Lab

Prof. Rebecca Surman studies theoretical nuclear astrophysics and the formation of heavy elements in supernovae and gamma-ray bursts. She had two students this summer working on calculating and analyzing the abundances of elements produced in winds from the black hole accretion disks thought to accompany gamma-ray bursts:

Crystal SmithCrystal Smith '08: Proton-rich Nucleosynthesis in Outflows from Gamma-Ray Burst Accretion Disks.
Sean KaneSean Kane '07: Neutron-rich Nucleosynthesis in Outflows from Gamma-Ray Burst Accretion Disks

LaBrake Lab

Prof. Scott LaBrake is the Accelerator Manager for Union's 1 MV Pelletron particle accelerator. The accelerator is used for a number of laboratories, and a variety of student research prjects:

Alex KrickxAlex Krickx '07: Analysis of Mercury in Seafood Using a Particle Accelerator (653 kB PDF) Alex worked on using the Union College accelerator to determine the amount of mercury in the tissues of fish caught from polluted waters.
Luther VucicLuther Vucic '07: Sonoluminescence (2025 kB GIF image). Luther worked on the construction of an apparatus to demonstrate sonoluminescence.

(More to come!)

Past summer research pages: Summer 2005