Work at MSU

I spent the last two summers working in the physics lab at Montana State University as a participant in the RET program:

Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Program (RET Sites)

• Funded by NSF
• Professional development opportunity for k-12 teachers
• Placed in research labs during the summer
• http://www.ptec.org/rets

Magnetic Nanostructures Lab

• Yves Idzerda
• Professor of Physics at MSU

I was able to gain experience with research projects and lab equipment as well as producing teacher outreach projects to be used in the classroom.

• Fuel cell research with solid oxide fuel cells
• Examples of lab equipment used
• The MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) and MBE (Molecular Beam Epitaxy
• Sputter Coating
• Micro-plotter
• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• Rutherford Backscattering
  Ion Beam
• PPMS (Physical Properties Measurement System)

Amy Williams who teaches at Headwaters Academy in Bozeman, MT also participated in the RET program in the Magnetic Nanostructures Lab.  She developed a unit on “The Metric Length,” “Scientific Notation,” and “The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).”.  You can view the materials that she created at the following website: http://www.physics.montana.edu/RET/LRT/

Sputter Coating yttrium stabilized zircona onto steel

Rutherford backscattering Ion Beam