Surface Lab – Troubleshooting

Fluke Multimeter At the beginning of week three of research, the Surface Lab discovered that the third of three existing reference electrodes has met an untimely end. What is supposed to establish a stable potential reference point is no longer doing so. (The other two have been broken for at least a week.) We borrowed the Fluke digital multimeter from Dr. Remillard’s lab to measure the potential difference between the three broken electrodes.

Emily, Nick, and Dan

Nick Wozniak measured the potential differences, while Emily Berger and Daniel McNeel recorded the results. Unfortunately, the results show that the electrodes are malfunctioning. However, new ones were ordered last week, and should arrive soon.

Afterwards, we posed for a fun Surface Lab photo.

Surface Lab Fun

Summer 2010 Research Underway

Summer Research in the Physics Department has started. The largest group of students will begin their summers of work next week, but there are a few who started this week or earlier.

This afternoon, Kevin Krueger, who is working for Graham Peaslee (Chemistry) and Paul DeYoung, was running the accelerator at HIBAL in the basement of VanderWerf Hall.

Down the hall in the Microwave Lab, Andrew Bunnell, who is working for Steve Remillard, was using the wire bonder.

We look forward to many more students joining us next week and the weeks following.

Notre Dame Undergraduate Research Symposium

On Friday, July 31, Nick Wozniak and Alyssa Frey from the Surface Lab and Cam Recknagel from the Microwave Lab traveled to the University of Notre Dame with a group of Chemistry research students to participate in the Science and Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium.

The oral and poster sessions included research students from Notre Dame, the University of Michigan, and Hope College.