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Volume 10, No. 1. January/February 2002 |
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“Many people have asked me whether I think the huge investments advocated in the budget for medical research will distort or unbalance the pattern of funding for science. Those concerned refer to a balance that must be re-established between the life sciences and the physical sciences. I think on the contrary that the opening of the frontier of complexity creates far more opportunities in the life sciences, and that given the new atomic-level capabilities the life sciences may still be underfunded relative to the physical sciences. But I do agree that new opportunities exist also for inorganic functional materials, and these need to be exploited. And of course the enabling instrumentation is largely a product of physical science and engineering research, and these too deserve continuing priority.” OSTP
Director John Marburger
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Dick Smith is one of 10 applicants awarded sabbatical leave for next year. Dick will divide his time between MSU and PNNL in Richland, WA, where there are lots of folks for him to interact with in surface science and in fuel cell development. Mike Murray was a coordinator for the 7th annual Montana Astro Fair at the Museum of the Rockies February 23, which was sponsored by the Southwest Montana Astronomical Society, Space Grant, and the Museum. Numerous talks, seminars and workshops on astronomy and NASA were made available to over 900 people at the Museum that day. The Feb. 5 launch of a NASA spacecraft ended 18 months of waiting for a Bozeman scientist involved in a mission that will gather the first high-fidelity x-ray movies of powerful bursts from the sun. The spacecraft will use special x-ray vision to study gigantic explosions, called solar flares, in the atmosphere of the sun. Richard Canfield coordinated the ground-based part of the mission. He’ll act as a clearinghouse for scientists around the world who are participating in the two- to three-year project. The scientists must decide where the sun’s active regions are on any given day and come up with what’s called an observing plan to support the satellite that carries just one scientific instrument. Canfield will oversee that process and provide a central place for posting plans and results. MSU's high-bandwidth connection called Internet2 makes this work possible, he said. The project’s lead scientist is Robert Lin at the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California-Berkeley. Scientists have worried that the delay puts HESSI into orbit past the peak of the sun’s 11-year cycle of activity, when flares are most frequent. “Fewer flares are expected,” said MSU research scientist David McKenzie. But, he added, solar activity is still fairly high and flares will still occur “Bound Charge Diffusion and Polar Nanocluster Dynamics in Proton Glass Crystals,” V.H. Schmidt, CP582, Fundamental Physics of Ferroelectrics 2001, (AIP Conf. Proc. vol. 582, Melville, New York, 2001, H Krakauer, Ed.), pp. 165-174. "The Time-of-Flight Energy, Angle, Mass Spectrograph (TEAMS) Experiment for FAST", D. M. Klumpar, E. Möbius, L. M. Kistler, M. Popecki, E. G. Shelley, E. Hertzberg, K. Crocker, M. Granoff, Li Tang, C. W. Carlson, J. McFadden, B. Klecker, F. Eberl, E. Kuenneth, H Kaestle, M. Ertl, W. K. Peterson, and D. Hovestadt, Space Science Reviews, Vol 98, Nos. 1-2, pp. 197-219, Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, Holland, 2001. The Montana Space Grant Consortium co-sponsored a public talk by Loren Acton at the Museum of the Rockies titled "Update on Modern Space Science and Experiments", Feb. 22. "Montana's First Satellite: The Science Reflight of Explorer-1", D. M. Klumpar, Museum of the Rockies Winter Astronomy Lecture Series, Jan. 25. "Mars Odyssey", Mike Murray, Yellowstone Valley Amateur Astronomers, Billings, MT, Feb. 28. “Fractal model for dielectric relaxation in deuteron pseudospin glass “DRADP”,” V.H. Schmidt and D. Arbogast, presented by V.H. Schmidt at 4th IDMRCS (International Discussion on Materials Research in Correlated Systems), Hersonnisos, Crete, Greece, June 17-24, 2001. “Magnetic Helicity Transport in the Quiet Sun”, Brian T. Welsch, Feb. 11. Awards Honors and New Positions Jil Hallenberg received a NASA Graduate Fellowship that includes a stay at NASA Langley from January through August 2002, working with Joycelyn Harrison on polyimide piezoelectric polymers. Her M.S. research in Hugo Schmidt’s lab is with PVDF piezoelectric polymers and conducting polymer electrodes. Three students received Undergraduate Scholars Program awards. Izaac Spencer’s award research is supervised by George Tuthill, while Hugo Schmidt is supervising the work of Michelle Galvin and Michael Patterson. Two students are putting their piezoelectrics training to use in Seattle. Darin Arbogast is working at Boeing after getting his M.S. here, and Rusty Stuver is at General Dynamics after obtaining his B.S. They share a house in Maple Valley. David Klumpar has been appointed to the NASA Sun-Earth Connections Advisory Subcommittee (SECAS). SECAS is chartered to provide advice and recommendations to the Space Science Advisory Committee (SScAC) on the NASA research program for the study of the Sun and its connections to the space environment of the Earth, other planets, comets, and other small bodies of the solar system, and to the heliosphere out to its interface with the interstellar medium. Brett Taylor signed a contract for a tenure track position at Radford University. Brett said “It's nice to have a tenure track position and not to be thinking of applying for jobs again! Of course, now I need to look for a house.... I'm not sure that's any easier or more fun. :-)” John Chesbrough got a job in South Africa!! He will be leaving August 1st after getting married on July 27th! Unfortunately the job is not teaching Physics; he will be teaching middle school math. “Dielectric anomalies of relaxor-based single crystal (PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3)0.68(PbTiO3)0.32 (PMN-32%PT)” by V. Hugo Schmidt, Chi-Shun Tu, and J.-S. Chen, to appear in Ferroelectrics. “Orientation dependences and E-field effect in relaxor-based ferroelectric crystal (PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3)0.68(PbTiO3)0.32 (PMN-32%PT)” by Chi-shun Tu, C.-L. Tsai, J.-S. Chen, and V. Hugo Schmidt, to appear in Phys. Rev. B. “Phase diagram and dielectric properties of mixed Cs1-x(NH4)xH2PO4 crystals,” A.I. Baranov, V.V. Dolbinina, S. Lanceros-Mendez, and V.H. Schmidt, Proc. 10th Internat. Mtg. on Ferroelectricity, Madrid, Aug. 2001, to appear in Ferroelectrics. “Electromechanical properties of mechanically deformed b-PVDF films,” S. Lanceros-Mendez, J.F. Mano, V. Moriera, A. Marekvia, A.M. Costa, G. Bohannan, and V.H. Schmidt, Proc. 10th Internat. Mtg. on Ferroelectricity, Madrid, Aug. 2001, to appear in Ferroelectrics."FAST observations of discrete electrostatic waves in association with downgoing ion beams in the auroral zone", C. Cattell, L. Johnson, R. Bergmann, D. Klumpar, C. Carlson, J. McFadden, R. Strangeway, R. Ergun, K. Sigsbee, and R. Pfaff, accepted, J. Geophys. Res., 2001. "Temporal versus spatial interpretation of cusp ion structures observed by two spacecraft", K. J. Trattner, S. A. Fuselier, W. K. Peterson, M. Boehm, D. Klumpar, C. W. Carlson, and T. K. Yeoman, accepted, J. Geophys. Res., 2001. "Microcontroller Design for the Montana EaRth Orbiting Pico-Explorer (MEROPE) Cubesat-class Satellite", B. Larsen, D. M. Klumpar, M. Wood, G. Hunyadi, S. Jepsen, M. Obland, accepted, IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, Dec, 2001. "Power Subsystem Design for the Montana EaRth Orbiting Pico-Explorer (MEROPE) Cubesat-class Satellite", M. Obland, D. M. Klumpar, S. Kirn, G. Hunyadi, S. Jepsen, B. Larsen, accepted, IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, Dec, 2001. "A Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) Packet Communications Subsystem for the Montana EaRth Orbiting Pico-Explorer (MEROPE) Cubesat-class Satellite", G. Hunyadi, D. M. Klumpar, S. Jepsen, B. Larsen, M. Obland, accepted, IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, Dec, 2001.The
Space Public Outreach Team, managed by the Montana Space Grant Consortium,
has a new outreach program called "Mars Odyssey".
The presentation is given by specially trained undergraduate
students and is available free to Montana K-12 classrooms and the public.
Anyone interested in receiving the program should contact Mike
Murray at 994-7309, “Characterization of High-Strain Piezoelectric Crystals,” DoD EPSCoR, $236,393, Hugo Schmidt, 4/1/02 to 3/31/05. “Polarizing Microscope and Heat Capacity Apparatus,” DoD DURIP, $131,681, Hugo Schmidt, 4/1/02 to 3/31/03. “Mesoscale, Memory, and Nonlinear Effects in Pure and Disordered Ferroelectrics,” NSF, $298,000, Hugo Schmidt, Co-PI George Tuthill, 5/1/02 to 4/30/05. "Space Instrumentation: Demonstrating Use of Commercial Parts and Subsystems in Earth Orbiting Satellites", Montana Research and Commercialization Board, $311,000, Dave Klumpar. "Characterizing the Space Environment through Low-Cost Constellation-Class Satellites Utilizing Commercial Parts and Subsystems", DEPSCoR-Air Force, $349.7K, Dave Klumpar "Integrated Modeling of Flare X-ray and EUV Emissions from HESSI, TRACE & Yohkoh", NASA SR&T program, $281,872, Piet Martens, Co-I Charles Kankelborg, FY 2003-2005.DOE EPSCoR grant “Basic Electron Transfer Science & Electro-Optic Materials,” PI - Jerry Bromenshenk (UM), Technical Lead – Lee Spangler (MSU Chem.), 11 project leaders in this U-system-wide project; Physics project leaders are Alex Rebane and Hugo Schmidt who is also MSU Coordinator; total award $810,000 for period Jan. 2001 through Dec. 2003. NSF funded an RET (Research Experience for Teachers) supplement for our “REU Program in Materials Research,” PI - Hugo Schmidt and Co-PI – Stephen Hill, which ran through summers 1999-2001. In summer 2001 the program supported high school teachers Dennis Richards (Fort Ellis Academy) and Terry Meyer (Medical Lake, WA) and 8 undergraduates from around the U.S. Yves Idzerda (PI) and Hugo Schmidt (Co-PI) requested renewal of this program for summers 2002-5. Two M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust grants for high school teacher summer research were renewed for a second year, for summer 2002 research for David and Joy-Lyn McDonald of Sidney, MT High School. David will work on “Growth of ferroelectric crystals and measurement of their dielectric and piezoelectric properties” in Hugo Schmidt’s lab. Joy-Lyn will work on “Visualization of microscopic structure at the interface between thin metal films for magnetic sensors” in Richard Smith’s lab. The MAP program funded two Native American high school students, Natasha Don’t Mix and Maria Brien, to work in Hugo Schmidt’s lab in summer 2001. NSF funded an REU grant to AdvR (Phil Battle, PI) for undergraduates Will Rewitz and Kim Wendell to study ferroelectric and conductive properties of KTP (potassium titanyl phosphate) in Hugo Schmidt’s lab. The NASA Reduced Gravity Flight Program approved proposals “Advanced Materials for Three-Dimensional Zero-Gravity Position Control” by Jil Hallenberg and Hugo Schmidt, which four undergraduates flew in August, 2001, and “CUBESAT Satellite Antenna Test” by Jil Hallenberg, Steve Jepsen, David Klumpar, and Hugo Schmidt, for four undergraduates to fly in March, 2002. "Modeling of a diode pump continuous wave optical parametric oscillator in a KTP waveguide" Montana NASA, EPSCoR, one year, $27,000, Kevin Repasky. “Research Opportunities in Space Science (ROSS) – 2001”, NASA, $441K, Dick Canfield, 2002-2004. "Detection of Anthrax Spores by Coherent Raman Effect”, Marlan O. Scully, Burgress Distinguished Profess or Physics, Director of the Center for Theoretical Physics, Director of the Inst. Of Quantum Studies Texas A&M, and Max-Planck Institut fur Quantenoptik, Garching, Germany, Jan. 15. “All-Natural Optics”, Joseph Shaw, Electrical & Computer Eng. Dept., MSU, Jan. 18. “Nanostructured Materials and Devices for Nonlinear Optics”, Robert W. Boyd, The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester. Rochester, Feb. 1 “Hale to the Conquering Hero!” Loren Acton, Feb. 8. “Biomimetic Materials Chemistry: Minerals in Biology, the Environment and High-Tech Applications”, Trevor Douglas, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, MSU, Feb. 15. “BOREALIS: sending Montana student experiments to the edge of space”, Team BOREALIS: Ryan Belohlavek, Ryan Buckmaster, Sean Kirn, Mark Munro, Malina Schindel, John Belz, Bill Hiscock, Montana State University, Feb. 22. Condensed
Matter Physics “The Effect of Wear on Fouling and Cleanability of Hygienic Food Contact Surfaces”, Robert D. Boyd, Feb. 4. ICAL
Seminar Relativity and Space
science "The Solar Wind", Steve Jepsen, Feb. 6. "What is the speed of a gravitational wave?" Bill Hiscock, Feb. 7. “H-alpha Surges on the Sun”, Patricia Jibben, Feb. 21. “Is the relativistic two-body problem chaotic?” Neil Cornish, Feb. 28. Carla Riedel participated in the Canadian High Acceptance Orbit Spectrometer (CHAOS) collaboration meeting at the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Feb. 18-20. Loren Acton, Dick Canfield, Piet Martens, Jonathan Cirtain, Michelle Larson, Elizabeth Noonan, Meredith Wills-Davey, Alisdair Davey, David McKenzie, Tetsuya Magara, June Sato, Rebecca McMullen and Trae Winter traveled to Kona, HI, to attend the Yohkoh 10th Anniversary meeting, Jan. 19-27. Dick Canfield, David McKenzie, and Rebecca McMullen traveled to Santa Barbara, CA, for an Inst. Theo. Physics Workshop, Jan. 15-19. Jun Sato performed SXT operations in Fuchinobe, Japan, Nov. 15-Jan 16 and was in Berkeley, CA, to make a data analysis of HESSI and improve imaging software, Feb. 17-24. Ron Hellings traveled from Ontario, CA, to Bozeman for a research group meeting, Feb. 23-25. Dave Klumpar traveled to Calgary, Canada to give a colloquium at the University of Calgary, Feb. 14-16. Dave participated in a NASA Advisory Committee meeting (SECAS) in Wahsington, DC, Feb. 26-Mar. 1. John Belz traveled to Salt Lake City, UT, to operate the HiRes Cosmic Ray Observatory, Jan 3-6. John traveled to San Francisco, CA, for collaboration at the Stanford Linear Accellerator Center, Jan. 13-15. On Feb. 17-19 John traveled to Los Angeles, CA, for an OWL workshop. Larry Kirkpatrick attended the annual winter meeting of AAPT in Philadelphia, PA, Jan. 19-23. Larry chaired an AIP advisory committee on Media and Government Relations and attended a meeting of AIP Physics Resources Committee in College Park, MD, Feb. 7-10. Neil Cornish attended Stephen Hawking’s 60th birthday scientific workshop in Cambridge, UK, Dec. 22-Jan. 13. George Tuthill attended a Conference on Science/Math Education in Tucson, AZ, Jan. 31-Feb. 3. Dana Longcope traveled to Boston, MA, to present a colloquium at Boston University, Feb. 6-13. Piet Martens and David McKenzie traveled to Palo Alto, CA for SDO pre-proposal meeting Feb. 6-8. Jerry Lapeyre, Yves Idzerda, Alex Lussier, Johnathon Holroyd and Damon Resnick attended the 29th Conference on the Physics and Chemistry of Semiconductor Interfaces in Santa Fe, NM, Jan. 4-10. Yves Idzerda traveled to Berkeley, CA, to attend the Advanced Light Source Proposal Review Panel Meeting, Jan. 11-13. Rufus Cone, Aleks Rebane, Mingzhen Tian, Tom Boettger and Charles Thiel attended and gave invited talks at the Physics of Quamtum Electronics meeting in Snowbird, UT, Jan. 6-11. John Carlsten traveled to Boulder, CO, to visit ILX Lightwave for a collaborative program. While in Colorado, John was in Washington, DC, to serve on an NSF panel, DC, Jan. 8-12. Alan Craig traveled to San Jose, CA, for a review requested by DOD Program Managers at IBM Almaden, Jan. 13-15, 26-28. Jack Dostal traveled to Philadelphia, PA, to present a paper at the AAPT meeting, Jan. 19-23. Randy Babbitt traveled to Washington, DC, for technical discussions with program managers and CLEO program committee, Jan. 6-8. Aliaksandr Karotki traveled to San Jose, CA, for SPIE Photonic West meeting, Jan. 18-25. Roger Yu, Ph.D. '91, writes: "Since we moved to Austin, Texas about 1.5 years ago Roger has been learning the job as the Dean of School of Natural Science at St. Edward's University. This year he started to enjoy the job. He has implemented a number of strategic plans with the help of a number of external funding agencies. After his arrival the school has submitted and obtained record-breaking grants of multi-million dollars. He also initiated the planning for a new science building, to which the university has committed. After more than a year long planning, the programming phase of the building and the capital fund raising have started a month ago. In the meantime Roger also has an opportunity of teaching a class and working with a post-doc on his research. Together they have published one article last year and another one is in the process of refereeing. Of course all these fun stuff come with a price: that is the day-to-day headache as a Dean. But, politics, conflicts are also a part of the job. He is having a ball as the Dean."
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