physics and physics/engineering dual-degree · 2019-07-30 · physics and physics/engineering...

Physics and Physics/Engineering Dual-Degree West Virginia Wesleyan College

G. Albert Popson, Jr., Chair 304-473-8070 [email protected] https://www.wvwc.edu

Here is information on employers, internships, our

schedule of classes, our NASA affiliation, labs, new

equipment, and student projects.

Our hands-on approach emphasizes labs. In recent years,

we have benefited from grants from the U.S. Department

of Education, NSF, NASA, Dominion Resources, and the

Naylor Foundation. These grants fund student projects

and help us keep our labs up-to-date.

Our graduates report satisfying professional careers. Our

graduates often pursue an M.S. or Ph.D., and in the last

five years, our acceptance rate into these programs is 94%. Our senior class with the faculty, February 2019.

What is the Physics/Engineering Dual-Degree program? These are agreements with West Virginia University,

Marshall University, Virginia Tech, and the University of

Virginia. Students study three years at Wesleyan followed

by about two years at one of the universities. Students earn

toward our physics degree. Students benefit by starting their engineering studies in our smaller classes. And students find

that a strong physics background enables them to better

understand the theory behind engineering practice.

two degrees — Wesleyan’s

physics degree and the univer-

sity’s engineering degree.

Students can finish these in

about five years because many

of Wesleyan’s courses count

toward the university’s engi-

neering degree, and many of

the university’s courses count

Meet our faculty—Dr. Reynolds, Dr. Popson, Dr.

Wiest, Dr. DeLaney, Mr. Grose (technician)

The physics background

is especially valuable to

engineers who are working

on projects at the forefront

of the profession. In addition,

many of our students success-

fully participate in sports,

student government, theatre,

and music.

We welcome our 2018 freshman class

Where do our graduates work?

Alliant Technical

American Electric

BAE Systems

Ball Aerospace

Bell Helicopters

Bechtel-Bettis

Cabot Oil & Gas

Caterpillar

Corhart Refractories

Cutler-Hammer

DuPont

EPIC Systems

Fischione Instruments

General Electric

General Motors

Hermes Abrasives

Hewlett-Packard

Huntington Medical

Physicists

Jacobs Engineering

Kettering Cancer

Center

Johnson & Johnson

Lockheed-Martin

Mercy Cancer Center

Mitre Corporation

Morton-Thiokol

Monongahela Power

Motorola

Mylan Labs

NASA-Glenn

NASA-Langley

NASA-Marshall

National Energy

Technology Lab

Omnia Medical

PDC Energy

Pratt and Whitney

Raytheon

Rockwell Automation

Schlumberger

Shell Oil

Siemens

Thrasher Engineering

Tower Engineering

Toyota

United Hospital Center

U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers

U.S. Naval Air Station

U.S. Well Service

Vantage Oncology

Weatherford

WV Division of

Highways

mailto:[email protected]

Summer internships B.S. in Applied Physics This major is designed for students who are interested in

physics applications to help meet the society’s needs. It is

a four-year program that includes the courses in our Dual-

Degree Physics/Engineering and B.S. Physics programs.

The program has all the components of modern experi-

mental and theoretical physics. Our hands-on system has

one or two labs each semester. Students succeed at summer internships and graduate school. They have obtained

professional employment at national labs and industry.

Typical class schedule

Antero Resources

Cleveland Clinic

Corhart Refractories

Cornell University

Energy Corporation of

America

Johns Hopkins University

LEAM Drilling Services

NASA-Fairmont

NASA-Glenn

NASA-Goddard

NASA-Langley

National Energy Tech-

nology Laboratory

National Institute of Stand-

ards and Technology

National Radio Astronomy

Observatory

Jefferson National Lab

Oak Ridge National Lab

Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation

Pickering Energy Solutions

Raytheon

Penn State University

Rutgers University

Thrasher Engineering

Toyota

University of Florida

University of Utah

Virginia Tech

Walter Reed Medical Center

West Virginia University

Weyerhaeuser

WV Division of Highways

WV Wesleyan College

Year 1, Fall General Physics I 4

Calculus I 4

Composition I 3

Freshman Seminar 4

Total 15

Year 1, Spring

General Physics II 4

Human Communication 3

Composition II 3

General studies 6

Total 16

Dylan’s superconductivity project at Wesleyan

Graduate schools

Year 2, Fall Engineering Mechanics 3

Light & Atomic with Lab 4

Chemistry I with Lab 4

Calculus II 4

Technology for Calculus 1

Total 16

Year 2, Spring Mechanics of Materials 3

Nuclear with Lab 4

Chemistry II with Lab 4

Calculus III 4

Laser Lab 1

Total 16

Year 3, Fall Digital Electronics & Lab 4

Differential Equations 4

Scientific Programming 3

Humanities 3

General studies 3

Total 17

Year 3, Spring

Materials Science & Lab 4 Thermodynamics 3

Analytical Mechanics 3

Fluid Mechanics 3 General studies 3

Total 16

Year 4, Fall Analog Electronics & Lab 4

Electromagnetic Theory 3

Engineering Lab 1

Research Seminar I 1

General studies 6

Total 15

Year 4, Spring Solid State & Lab 4

Quantum Mechanics 3

Engineering Mathematics 3

Research Seminar II 1

General studies 6

Total 17

West Virginia University

University of Virginia

Virginia Tech

Marshall University

Boston University

Case Western Reserve Univ.

Clemson University

Colorado School of Mines

Duke University

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical

University

Florida Tech

Georgia Tech

George Mason University

George Washington Univ.

Hofstra University

Lehigh University

Ohio State University

Penn State University

Purdue University

Stanford University

University of Arizona

University of Cincinnati

University of Delaware

University of Florida

University of Kentucky

University of Kansas

University of Maryland

University of Nevada

University of New Mexico

University of North Carolina

University of Oregon

University of Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh

University of Wisconsin

Vanderbilt University

Spectra of sodium, mercury, helium, and hydrogen

Freshman Engineering Design

NASA Fellowship winners

Faculty congratulate 2018’s NASA Fellowship winners.

Each October, we offer NASA Fellowships to eleven

students (freshmen preferred) to help pay for college. NASA also provides funding for summer research.

Wesleyan students have priority for summer internships at

sites such as NASA-Langley. And NASA provides expertise

for our Space Club to build payloads to be launched from

NASA sounding rockets.

Josh’s NASA picosatellite electronics must fit in the can.

Physics/Engineering Dual Degree—typical class schedule

Aerospace, Civil, Industrial, Mechanical

Year 1, Fall Engineering Design I 1

General Physics I 4

Calculus I 4

Freshman Seminar 4

General studies 3

Total 16

Year 1, Spring

Engineering Design II 1


Composition II 3

Humanities 3

General studies 6

Total 17

Year 2, Fall Engineering Mechanics 3

Light and Atomic & lab 4

Calculus II 4

Analog Electronics & lab 4

General studies 3

Total 18

Year 2, Spring

Mechanics of Materials 3

Electro-Optics Lab 1

Calculus III 4


General studies 9

Total 18

Year 3, Fall Chemistry I with lab 4




General studies 3

Total 17

Year 3, Spring

Chemistry II with lab 4

Engineering Math 3


Thermodynamics 3

Engineering Lab 1

General studies 3

Total 17

Years 4-5 — Engineering at chosen university

General Physics Lab

Aerospace Engineers design airplanes, spacecraft, rockets, fuel-efficient

cars, propulsion systems, and guidance systems.

Will George (2014 internship at NASA Langley;

B.S. Wesleyan, 2015; M.S. Virginia Tech, 2017) emails,

“My work at Pratt & Whitney involves testing designs of

new engines, testing hardware improvements, and FAA

certification tests.”

Will George (white shirt) in Langley’s 20-ft wind tunnel

Robert Vollmerhausen (2014) completed our Dual-

Degree Engineering program at WVU. He works at the

Naval Air Command in California.

Emily Kearney’s 2017 summer internship at NASA-

Fairmont involved the Commercial Crew Program, a

partnership with companies to develop safe and reliable

access to the International Space Station. She is completing

the Physics/Engineering Dual-Degree program at WVU.

In 2019, sophomore student Baylee Senator had a

summer internship at the University of South Florida to

improve smart sensor technologies for space research and

aerospace applications. The students visited the Kennedy

Space Center, where they toured the Swamp Works.

Russell Gillespie (2018, M.S. Embry-Riddle Aeronauti-

cal University) is a software verification engineer at the

U.S. Missile Defense Agency in Huntsville, Ala.

Alexa Mortenson (2018) is pursuing an M.S. at New

Mexico State University, where she is specializing in

attitude control of satellites.

Cody O’Meara (2016; M.S. at Ohio State) is a research

engineer at NASA-Glenn. While at Wesleyan, Cody had a

summer internship designing diffusers at NASA-Langley.

Chris Kuhl (M.S., Purdue, NASA Langley) was chief

engineer of the sensors on the Mars Rover’s heatshield to

monitor atmospheric conditions during the rover’s descent.

Josh Keane (M.S., George Washington University). “I

work at Bell Helicopters on projects such as the UH-1 Huey,

the AH-1 Cobra, and the V-22 tilt rotor helicopters.”

Our NASA affiliation

Wesleyan is a member of the NASA-WV Space Grant

Consortium, which enables us to offer NASA Fellowships

to our students. NASA funds summer research by students

at Wesleyan. And our students have priority for summer

internships at sites such as NASA-Langley.

Science Public Outreach Team

This is an organization of college students who travel

to schools to give science presentations to students K-12.

SPOT members are also giving Universe in the Park

presentations at Stonewall Resort, which include talks on

research at the Green Bank Observatory and backyard

astronomy. In addition, participants can observe planets

with our large Dobsonian telescope and hike through our

Planet Walk, which is a scale model Solar System.

Skype downlink from the

International Space Station

Jan. 25, 2018—The SPACE Club invited students K-12

to participate in a live conversation with astronauts.

Space Club

NASA supports our

Space Club. Members are

working on this year’s

NASA Space Flight Design

Challenge. Their objective

is to design and build a

payload to detect cosmic

rays during a sounding

rocket’s flight.

Members participate in

regular design reviews at

NASA-Fairmont, just like

NASA engineers. This

summer, two members of

the club will go to the NASA

facility at Wallops Island

for their payload’s launch.

Applied Physicists work with lasers, nuclear power, quality control,

radiation safety, solar panels, airport security

systems, electron microscopes, and robotics.

James Abraham is the radiation safety officer at

Colorado State University.

Joe Zambelli is a physical scientist at the National

Energy Technology Lab in Morgantown.

Wes Hughes (B.S. Wesleyan, M.S. in Applied Physics,

University of Oregon): “I work at Fischione Instruments

as a designer of ion milling equipment that prepares

specimens to be used in electron microscopes.”

Wes returned to Wesleyan to give a presentation.

Jason Martin (B.S. Wesleyan; M.S. U.Va.) teaches at

the Naval Nuclear School in Charleston, SC.

Michael Scruggs (B.S. Wesleyan 2011; M.S. Optical

Physics, University of Arizona) is a laser physicist at the

Naval Surface Warfare Dahlgren Division.

Aaron Weaver (B.S. Wesleyan 2016, M.S. Physics,

WVU) is the Physics Lab Manager at the State University

of New York in Brockport.

Olivia Rycroft (2019): “I have accepted a position

as a Software Systems Engineer with Aerodyne at NASA-

Huntsville. I will be writing the requirements for the flight

software on the Space Launch System.”

Paige Stinson (2019) is studying for a Ph.D. in Optical

Science at the University of North Carolina—Charlotte.

Hunter Lowe (2018) performs abrasive studies on

bonded abrasives at Hermes Abrasives in Virginia Beach.

Hunter travels to Hermes locations in the U.S. and beyond.

Robert Hardin (B.S. Wesleyan; Ph.D. Physics, WVU)

works at Oak Ridge National Lab.

Tom Damiani (B.S. Wesleyan; Ph.D. Physics, WVU)

designs propulsion systems for submarines and aircraft

carriers at the Bechtel-Bettis Nuclear Lab in Pittsburgh.

Robert Powell (2010 summer internship, Jefferson

National Accelerator; B.S. Wesleyan, 2011) is a field

engineer at the Bechtel-Bettis Nuclear Lab in Pittsburgh.

Corey Rhodes had a summer internship (2016) at NIST

studying the sensitivity of atomic force microscopes.

Engineering Lab

Air conditioner

Heat pump

Steam engine/generator

Wind tunnel Tensile tester

Biomedical Engineers design and implement neural repair, pacemeakers,

hip replacements, and genetic manipulations.

Physics/Engineering Dual

Degree—Biomedical Engineering Students study three years at Wesleyan, followed by

about years at an articulation university. Students earn

two degrees—Wesleyan’s physics degree and a B.S. in

Biomedical Engineering from the university.

Typical class schedule

Summer biomedical internships Rebecca Davis studied spinal cords at Rutgers Univer-

sity.”I used a clearing agent called Visikol to clear soft

tissue surrounding the spinal cord, which made the spinal

cord visible using light sheet microscopy.”

Lauren Cronise studied

the standard for lung tissue

at the National Institute of

Standards and Technology

to improve accuracy in

diagnosing emphysema.

Paige Rutter studied silver nanoparticles at WVU.

“If these are put into the cement at a joint replacement,

the result could be lower infection rates and faster healing.

I investigated the correlation of particle size to toxicity.”

Taylor Price had a summer internship at WVU to study

photonic crystals to be used as optical biosensors.

Dillon Huffman worked at WVU to understand path-

ways in the human sensorimotor system and to design

rehabilitation to help people to recover from damage.

Graduate schools Troy Schifano earned an M.S. at the University of

Alabama. He works at Omnia Medical in Morgantown.

The company provides medical and surgical products for

spinal pathology and neurological and orthopedic trauma.

Dillon Huffman is pursuing a

Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering

at the University of Kentucky.

“I work in the Neural Systems

Lab on signal acquisition and

machine learning to build com-

putational models of brain states

from EEG data. It’s satisfying to

see how your work translates to

a clinical setting in a field that is

innovative and growing.”

Lauren Cronise is a student at the WV School of Osteopathic Medicine. She is in her third-year rotation in

Labor and Delivery at United Hospital Center.

Paige Rutter earned an M.S. in Health Science at WVU.

She works at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, where she

is involved with research on gastrointestinal disease, lupus,

pulmonary disease, kidney transplants, and diabetes.

Year 1, Fall Engineering Design I 1

General Physics I 4


Composition I 4

Calculus I 4

Total 17

Year 1, Spring




Composition II 3

General studies 6

Total 18

Year 2, Fall Princ. Biology I & Lab 4

Calculus II 4


Analog Electronics & Lab 4


Total 17

Year 2, Spring Princ. Biology II & Lab 4

Calculus III 4


Humanities 3

General studies 6

Total 18

Year 3, Fall Anatomy & Physiology I 4




General studies 3

Total 17

Year 3, Spring

Anatomy & Physiology II 4


Engineering Lab 1 Economics 3

General studies 6

Total 17

Years 4-5 — Engineering at the chosen university

Parag Chitnis earned a Ph.D. at Boston University and

is a professor of biomedical engineering at George Mason

University. His research includes ultrasound-assisted drug

delivery systems, ultrasound contrasting agents, and cancer

treatments using combined acoustical and optical methods.

Student projects at Wesleyan Kim Lubic’s objective was to use electrical signals from

electrodes attached to her head to control a servomotor.

Paige Rutter designed a prosthetic arm. Her project

consisted of four parts: (1) creating a design, (2) printing

the design on a 3-D printer, (3) installing the servomotors

and Myoware muscle sensors, and (4) programming an

Arduino microcontroller.

Chemical engineers adapt chemical reactions to produce industrial

quantities of chemicals, fuels, and other products.

Civil engineers design, construct, and operate facilities such as

highways, bridges, and drinking-water systems.

Cayla Collett had a 2017 summer internship at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology. “I worked

on time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, which

can be used to make three-dimensional maps of surfaces

of organic molecules.” Cayla is pursuing a Ph.D. at

Colorado School of Mines.

Thomas Haines (M.S. WVU, 2019) works at Worley

(previously Jacobs Engineering) in Elkview, WV. “I have

been hired as a process engineer and will also be assisting

the mechanical engineering department. My goal is to take

the FE exam this fall and start working towards my PE.”

Kim Richards Farnsworth (B.S. Wesleyan; Ph.D.,

Georgia Tech). “I work at Dupont in Parkersburg as

Division Engineer for Teflon. I work to improve the

production process and to search for new polymers.”

Our laser spectroscopy apparatus

X-ray crystallography at Wesleyan

Austin Jarrell (2019) has a summer internship

at the WV Division of

Highways. He has been

accepted to the M.S.

program at the Univer-

sity of Florida. Austin’s

senior research studied

the effectiveness of self-

healing concrete made

by embedding cyano-

acrylate adhesive.

Alex Lipscomb (2018) works at Civil and Environmental

Consultants in Bridgeport.

Ben Vance (B.S. Wesleyan; M.S., WVU) is a civil

engineer at the WV Division of Highways

Dustin Schilpp (M.S. University of Maryland) is a civil

engineer at Sabra-Wang in Baltimore.

Amelia Riley (B.S. Wesleyan

2016; M.S. Civil Engineering

WVU) works at the U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers in Wilming-

ton, NC. At Wesleyan, Amelia

tested the compressive strength of

different types of concrete (photo).

Jason Jackson (B.S. Wesleyan;

M.S. WVU) is a field engineer at

Kokosing Engineering.

Wyatt Strickler (2017) is pursuing an M.S. at

Cleveland State University.

Thomas Bartleman (B.S. Wesleyan, 2014; M.S.,

Stanford University) works for the software company

Aperia Technologies.

Andrew Cvetnick (2016) is pursuing an M.S. at WVU,

specializing in detecting leaks in fiber reinforced pipes.

Brenton Stone (B.S. Wesleyan; M.S., University of

Virginia) designs bridges at Volkert and Associates.

Ed Hasis (B.S. Wesleyan 2013; M.S. University of

Pittsburgh) is a project engineer at Mascaro Construction

in Pittsburgh. He is supervising construction of two cancer

treatment centers for the Allegheny Health Network.

Electrical Engineers develop communication systems such as cell

phones, control systems such as microprocessors,

and electrical power transmission systems.

Field engineer. Denny Vincent emailed (2017), “I am a

field engineer trainee at First Energy in Fairmont and have

almost completed the three-year training program. I operate computer programs that switch electric circuits on and off.

My job is to strategically select circuits to enable necessary maintenance while minimizing customer outages.”

Tesla coil. For his

senior project (2016)

at Wesleyan, Corey

Rhodes constructed a

400,000-V solid-state

tesla coil. He is work-

ing on an M.S.E.E. at

Virginia Tech. Last

summer, Corey had an

internship at NASA-

Glenn. “I worked on

electric propulsion for

deep-space probes.

They offered me a job

when I finish my M.S.”

Kichler Lighting, Cleveland. Tom Tyson (B.S. Wes-

leyan; M.S. Penn State) works as an electrical engineer.

Rockwell Automation. (B.S. Wesleyan; M.S. Penn

State). David Klebe emailed, “I manage a team in

manufacturing pulp and paper technology for Rockwell

Automation. This is a $900-million business devoted

to large-scale industrial projects. A recent project is a

materials-handling system for a Chicago news press.”

Alexa’s digital counter circuit

NASA-Glenn. Corey Rhodes (M.S. 2019, Virginia

Tech) works on power-processing units for space travel

using electric propulsion technology such as Hall-effect

and gridded-ion thrusters.

SQUIDS. Rebecca Davis (summer 2018) studied super-

conducting quantum interference devices at Cornell with

Dr. Katja Nowak. SQUIDs are highly sensitive detectors

of magnetic fields. Applications include brain scans and

detecting land mines and submarines. Rebecca studied a

procedure to tune SQUIDs for minimized noise.

Avalanche diodes at NIST. Merrik Malin (summer

2018) studied single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs)

with Dr. Kevin Bienfang at the National Institute of

Standards and Technology. These devices provide a

convenient solid-state detector of individual photons.

Merrik investigated a temperature controller to cool the

diode to a low-noise state and circuitry to quench single-

photon-induced avalanches and reset the diode.

M.S.E.E. Kody Tucker is pursuing an M.S. in Electrical

Engineering at WVU. He reported (2018), “Some projects

I have worked on include designing a battery charger for

an electric car, designing circuit boards with MatLab, and

designing a feedback circuit to simulate the motion of a

pendulum as a function of string length and angle. My

thesis project involves low-power sensors using op-amps

and floating-gate transistors with Dr. David Graham. I’m

on path to complete my Master's degree in January 2020.

Wesleyan’s classes were absolutely handy for my M.S.”

Light-emitting diodes. Merrik Malin (summer 2017)

had an internship at WVU involving the efficiency of

gallium-nitride LEDs.

General Motors. Colby Stanley completed his M.S. in

Computer and Electrical Engineering (2017) at Duke Uni-

versity. He works at the GM’s Milford Proving Grounds.

Colby reports, “I mentor new engineers as they rotate

through our team every four months. I train them on the

software and physics behind our work, and I work alongside

them to improve our software capabilities.

“I drive vehicles on the track prior to the public debut.

I write software that runs in the engine-control modules of

vehicles to detect misfire in accordance with government

regulations. My software goes in every car GM makes.”

M.S.E.E. Alex White (2017) is pursuing an M.S. in

Electrical Engineering at WVU with an emphasis in

electronics. His project uses CAD to design MOSFETS.

Electronics lab

Mark programs the Comdyna analog computer.

Josh Tenney’s Lissajous figure

Josh Keane shows us a diode’s characteristic curve.

Physics/Engineering Dual-Degree Electrical and

Computer Engineering Year 1, Fall Engineering Design I 1

General Physics I 4

Calculus I 4

Composition I 3

Freshman Seminar 4

Total 16

Year 1, Spring



Computer Sci. Discipline 3

Composition II 3

General studies 6

Total 17

Year 2, Fall Analog Electronics & Lab 4



Calculus II 4


Total 17

Year 2, Spring Calculus III 4



Humanities 3

General studies 6

Total 18

Year 3, Fall Digital Electronics & Lab 4

Object-Oriented

Programing I 3




General studies 3

Total 17

Year 3, Spring

Discrete Mathematics 3

Object-Oriented

Programing II 3

Engineering Mathematics 3 Mechanics 3

Economics 3

General studies 3

Total 18

Years 4-5 — Engineering at the chosen university

Zach is synthesizing a sawtooth wave.

Geophysicists use remote sensing to discover and evaluate

underground resources.

Industrial engineers plan such things as assembly lines, hospital emer-

gency rooms, and amusement park layouts.

Brendan Schwendeman (2019) is a process engineer

at Momentive Performance in St. Marys, WV.

Eric Wooten (2018) is a geophysicist at LEAM Drilling.

Nate Reynolds (2017) is a lead engineer for U.S

Well Services.

From our class of 2017, Ryan Holcomb and Cody

Turner both work at Thrasher Engineering in Bridgeport.

Ryan North (B.S., Wesleyan; Ph.D., Colorado School

of Mines) works the U.S. Army Research Center.

Mark Mattis (B.S., Wesleyan, 2015) works at Systems

Planning and Analysis. Mark is also pursuing an M.S. at

George Mason University.

Chris Ly (2013) works at Raytheon-Solyptis in

Baltimore. Raytheon is paying Chris to obtain an M.S.

at the University of Maryland.

Bryan Corder completed our Dual-Degree Physics/

Engineering program. He reports, “Wesleyan and WVU

provided me with a great opportunity with the Dual-

Degree program. Your careful planning made the transfer

easy.” Bryan works at Bechtel-Bettis in Pittsburgh.

Medical physicists are licensed professionals who use radiation to

treat cancer. They use nuclear medicine, X-ray

imaging, computerized tomography, ultrasound,

and MRIs. The average starting salary is $95,000.

Amy Patrick (B.S. Wesleyan, 2006; M.S. Vanderbilt)

works at the United Hospital Center in Clarksburg.

Tom Holtschneider (B.S. Wesleyan, 2013, Ph.D.,

University of Cincinnati). Tom works at the Kettering

Grandview Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio.

Chera Gainer (B.S. Wesleyan, 2012; M.S., University

of Cincinnati) works at Huntington Medical Physicists.

Mike Curry (B.S. Wesleyan, 2012; M.S. East Carolina

State University) works at the Mercy Cancer Center in

Des Moines, Iowa.

Kate Turner Wagner (B.S. Wesleyan, 2011; M.S. Duke)

is a medical physicist at the Wright-Patterson Air Force

Base in Dayton, Ohio.

2019 summer research

students at Wesleyan

Front row: Dr. DeLaney, Dr. Popson, Dr. Wiest; Middle

row: Nate Reynolds, Rich Calo, Anna Puigvert, Virginia

Martin; Back row: Dylan King, Josh Tenney, Ethan

Randolph, Eric Roy. Not pictured: Paige Stinson

Zach Whiting (B.S. Wesleyan, 2019) is pursuing an

M.S. in Medical Physics from Hofstra University.

Josh Carter (2015, M.S. Duke) recently finished up a

two year medical physics residency at Rutgers. “They were

a great group of people to work with and learn from. I am

working as a medical physicist at HannLeb Physics Con-

sultants at the Medical University of South Carolina.”

Josh’s proton beam project at Wesleyan

Emma Rickels (2018) is pursuing a doctorate in Medi-

cal Physics at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Her

classes include Nuclear Physics, Radiation Biology, and

Cross-Sectional Anatomy.

Peter Sandwall (B.S. Wesleyan, 2005; Ph.D., University

of Cincinnati). Chief Medical Physicist, TriHealth Center.

Mechanical Engineers design devices that move, such as cars, heat

engines, and industrial machinery.

Gary Valkavitch (B.S. Wesleyan, M.S. UVa) works

at Bechtel Plant Machinery in Monroeville, Pa., where he

focuses on relief valves on nuclear reactors.

Derek·Johnson (B.S. Wes-

leyan, 2013) works at Pentree

Engineering in Princeton,

WV. At Wesleyan, Derek

designed a device that uses footfall energy from walking

to charge a battery.

Matt Edwards (B.S. Wes-

leyan, 2013; M.S., University

of North Carolina) works at

Cross Automation, Charlotte.

Chad Moore (B.S. Wes-

leyan; M.S., Georgia Tech)

works at General Motors.

Landon Todd (B.S. Wesleyan, 2017) works at Garrett

Container Systems, where he uses AutoCad for technical

drawings of shipping containers. Landon is also pursuing

an M.S. from the University of Maryland.

Valerie Keefer Oldaker (B.S. Wesleyan; M.S., WVU)

is a quality specialist at Toyota in Buffalo, WV.

Pedro Martins (B.S. WVU, 2018): “I obtained a very

good job at Knapp, which designs and installs automation

technology and software involving logistics and production

for the healthcare, textiles, and e-trade industries.”

Randy Corathers (2018) is pursuing an M.S. from the

University of Maryland.

From our class of 2017, Andre Fernandes and Dustin

Kimble are both pursuing an M.S. at WVU.

Ryder Bolin (B.S. Wesleyan 2016; M.S. WVU) works

at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent, Maryland.

Ken Benson (B.S. Wesleyan, 2016) completed our

Dual-Degree program at Virginia Tech and is enrolled in

their M.S. program.

Matt Spicer (B.S. Wesleyan 2015; M.S. Virginia Tech,

2017) works at Blue Ridge Envisioneering. “My work in-

volves high speed computer signal processing and machine

learning. It also involves speeding up computer algorithms

by running them on a graphics processing unit.”

Summer research

Nate’s project in the plasma physics lab

Anna solders a diode. Fracking simulation in geophysics

Paige is studying nuclei using tunable lasers.

Hyperfine spectra of rare-earth elements

Laser lab

Homemade helium-neon laser

Argon plasma

Nitrogen laser fluorescence

Iodine excited by Nd:YAG laser Computerized spectrum

Guest speakers Aerospace Engineering. William George (B.S. Wes-

leyan, M.S. Virginia Tech) spoke on measuring airflow

in jet turbofan engines. He works at Pratt and Whitney.

Atomic force microscope. Student Corey Rhodes

spoke on his summer project at the National Institute

of Standards and Technology. An AFM is capable of

visualizing individual atoms. Biomedical engineering. Student Rebecca Davis

spoke on her summer research at Rutgers on methods

of visualizing spinal cords.

Chemical engineering. Thomas Haines (B.S. Wes-

leyan, 2017) discussed his research to make plastic from

natural gas as a graduate student at WVU.

Civil engineering. Jennifer Morris Cook (B.S.

Wesleyan, M.S. WVU) discussed her work as a bridge

designer at Palmer Engineering.

Electrical engineering. Tom Tyson (B.S. Wesleyan,

M.S. Penn State) discussed his magnetic-resonance

research, which can be used in airport security systems.

Humans on Mars. Dr. Darrel Tenney (B.S Wesleyan,

Ph.D. Virginia Tech) spoke on his work at NASA Langley.

Gravitational waves. Dr. Sean McWilliams spoke on

his work at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave

Observatory (LIGO). Gravitational waves are ripples in

space-time produced when a very massive object suddenly

slows down, speeds up, or changes direction. Gravitational

waves are a key predication of Einstein’s 100-year-old

theory of general relativity.

Higgs boson. Dr. Gavin Hesketh spoke on the dis-

covery of the Higgs boson at the European Center for

Nuclear Research (CERN). He is a member of the team

that made the discovery.

Medical physics. Dr. Peter Sandwall (B.S. Wesleyan,

Ph.D. Medical Physics, University of Cincinnati) spoke on

his career. He is Chief Medical Physicist at the Tri-Health

Center Cancer Institute.

NASA rocket payload. Student Olivia Rycroft spoke

about her experience at NASA-Wallops Island, in which a

payload that she built was launched on a sounding rocket.

Olivia’s payload measured Earth’s magnetic field, which

recently has been showing surprising changes.

Nuclear power. Tom Damiani (B.S. Wesleyan, Ph.D.,

WVU) discussed his work at the Bechtel-Bettis Atomic

Power Lab in Pittsburgh, which involves nuclear propulsion

systems for submarines and aircraft carriers.

→ For more information, please email or call me. ←

Dr. Albert Popson, Chair, [email protected], 304-473-8070

physics and physics/engineering dual-degree · 2019-07-30 · physics and physics/engineering...

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