PHYSICS DEPARTMENT

RESEARCH

Faculty:

Dr. Dermot Coffey does research in theoretical solid state physics.

Dr. Michael DeMarco does experimental solid state research involving the Mossbauer effect on superconductors. Dr. Demarco has published several papers with Buff State undergrads (see Undergraduate Students section below).

Dr. David Ettestad does research in chaos theory and also statistical mechanics theory. He also helps to coordinate the High Performance Computer Laboratory (HIPERC).

Dr. Luanna Gomez conducts research on the teaching and learning of physics. She is particularly interested in the improvement of student learning in introductory physics and the preparation of pre-college teachers to teach physics and physical science as a process of inquiry. A description of Dr. Gomez' research may be found at  http://www.luannagomez.com/

Dr. Daniel MacIsaac  studies the factors that influence the development of effective physics teachers. Dan also coordinates the M.S.Ed. (Physics) graduate programs for physics teachers.

Dr. Ram Rai conducts experimental research on electronic and magnetic materials. He is particularly interested in thin films of complex oxides, and their investigation using different experimental techniques, including optical spectroscopy, resistivity, and dielectric measurements.

Dr. Rai's webpage: http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/rairc/index.htm

Undergraduate Students:

Steven Tarasek (Class of 2014) presented a poster titled "Measurement of the neutron age of water" in the April 2012 Student Research and Creativity Day at Buffalo State College. Dr. Demarco mentored the project.

Anthony Delmont (Class of 2013) and Aaron Sprow (Class of 2012) are co-authors on a paper titled “Spin-Charge-Orbital Coupling in Multiferroic LuFe2O4 Thin Films” published in Applied Physics Letters 100, 212904 (2012) with Dr. Rai.

M. Guminiak (Class of 2012) and S. Wilser (Class of 2011) are co-authors on a paper titled “Elevated Temperature Dependence of Energy Band Gap of ZnO Thin Films Grown by E-Beam Deposition” published in Journal of Applied Physics 111, 073511 (2012) with Dr. Rai.

Anthony Delmont (Class of 2013) presented a poster (PDF, 1.30 MB) titled "Growth and Low-Temperature Optical Studies of HoMnO3 Thin Films" in the April 2012 Student Research and Creativity Day at Buffalo State College. Dr. Rai mentored the project.

Aaron Sprow (Class of 2012) presented a poster (PDF, 1.22 MB) titled “Studies of Growth and Optical Properties of LuFe2O4 Thin Films” in the April 2012 Student Research and Creativity Day at Buffalo State College. Dr. Rai mentored the project.

Steven Wilser (Class of 2011) and Matthew Guminiak (Class of 2012) are co-authors on a paper titled "Optical and electronic properties of NiFe2O4 and CoFe2O4 thin films" published in Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing with Dr. Rai.

Anthony Delmont (Class of 2013) presented a poster (PDF, 844 kB) titled "Growth and Characterization of DyMnO3 and HoMnO3 Thin Films" in the April 2011 Student Research and Creativity Day at Buffalo State College. Dr. Rai mentored the project.

Steven Wilser (class of 2011) presented a poster (PDF, 1.28MB) titled "Thin Film Studies of Spinel Ferrite MFe2O4 (M = Ni, Co, and Zn)" in the April 2010 Student Research and Creativity Day at Buffalo State College. Dr. Rai mentored the project.

Melissa Chudyk (Class of 2011) and Joe Steiner (Class of 2010) are co-authors on a paper in in Physical Rev B with Drs. Coffey and DeMarco: "Coexistence of magnetic Fluctuations in Sm Fe0.95Co.05 AsO seen in 57Fe Mossbauer Spectroscopy" Physical Rev B 84, 064423 (2011)

Carrie O’Donel (Class of 2012) presented a poster in the April 2011 Student Research Day at Buffalo State College entitled "Cosmic Rays and Muons." Carrie's mentor for the project was Dr. DeMarco

Alyssa Cederman (Class of 2012) and two Universtiry at Buffalo students (Anthony Grisafi, and Eric Mikida) won the best poster award at the International Laurel Centennial Conference (in Applied Mathematics, Modeling and Computational Science) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, July 25-29, 2011 for their poster entitled "Numerical Analysis of Time-Dynamic Multi-Phase Flow in Volcanic Conduits". Jude Sabato (BSC) and Bruce Pitman (UB) acted as mentors. The honor is particularly noteworthy, since most of the posters at the conference were submitted by graduate students. The students are part of "URGE to Compute", an undergraduate apprenticeship program in computational mathematics research, run by the UB and Buffalo State Math Departments, that is funded by the CSUMS program of the National Science Foundation.

Joe Steiner (Class of 2010): Joe collected and analyzed 57Fe Mossbauer Spectroscopy experiments on SmFe{1-x}CoxAsO (where x=0, 0.05 and 0.1) at magnetic fields up to 9 T and temperatures from 4.2 K to 298 K. Joe presented a poster at the March 2010 American Physics Society conference in Portland, OR (APS log number MAR10-2009-004941 )

Alyssa Cederman (Class of 2011) and Jessie Segal (Class of 2011, Psychology):  Alyssa and Jessie developed inexpensive diffraction demonstrations for teachers. Their project won an award in the Apparatus Competition at the 2009 Summer Meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers, Ann Arbor, MI.   Peer reviewed paper available at http://physicsed.buffalostate.edu/EURP09. General information on the project available on the project website.

Joseph Steiner (Class of 2010): Joe used a neutron howitzer to produce Plutonium from Uranium by following the gamma rays from the decay of intermediate chemical element Neptunium. Joe did a presentation at the 2007 Student Research and Creativity Celebration titled "The Production of 239Pu from the Neutron Irradiation of 238U." (PPT, 1.28MB)

Stephen Wilser, Melissa Chudyk and Stephen Dutter (Class of 2011): In Summer 2008, Steve, Melissa and Steve set up and tested an inexpensive apparatus to take high speed still photographs. The students made a website that houses some of their photos and shows the details of their apparatus and technique. Steves and Melissa were funded by the Early Undergraduate Research Program.

Stephen Wilser (Class of 2011): Stephen constructed a low cost clothespin microwave transmitter and antenna and mapped the electric field produced by the transmitter. (PPT poster, 6.3 MB) 

Bryan Graves (Class of 2007): Brian measured the magnetic properties of a material in a superconducting state. His presentation at the Student Research and Creativity Celebration was titled "The Existence of Superconductivity and Magnetism in GdRuSr2Cu2O8 ."

Griffin Harmon (Class of 2007): Griffin studied how the surface magnetic properties of the particles change as the particles get smaller. His presentation at the Student Research and Creativity Celebration was "FePt Nanoparticles and the Dead Zone."

Neil Miller (Class of 2007):  Neil Miller was able to measure changes in the properties of Magnetic materials as they changed from Paramagnets to Ferromagnets and then to Antiferromagnets. His presentation at the 2007 Student Research and Creativity Celebration was "The Properties of Some Ruthenates." (PPT, 852KB)

Neil Miller (Class of 2007):  Neil Miller also did research with the math department on epidemiology of gonorrhea in Erie County. He gave a presentation at the  2007 Frontiers in Applied and Computational Mathematics conference (and at the 2007 Student Research and Creativity Celebration) titled "Modified SIR models to forecast epidemics: Gonorrhea in Erie County." (PPT, 208KB)

Graduate Students:

Publications in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Students in our M.S.Ed. programs successfully publish in peer-reviewed journals. Often these publications grow out of manuscripts students produce for their projects in the capstone course of the program (PHY690). Even if PHY690 manuscripts do not result in external publication, they are archived at http://physicsed.buffalostate.edu/pubs/PHY690/.

  • Papapanu, S. J. (2010). The Art of Effective Questioning:  A Reflective Journey through Physics and Science Literature on Questioning.  STANYS The Science Teachers Bulletin,  Spring 2010 73(2), 34-48. (PHY690 project) 
  • Sears, P. (2009).  Physlet Based Peer Teaching for Regent Physics Review. STANYS The Science Teachers' Bulletin Fall 2009 73(1), 22-29. (PHY690 project) 
  • Harden, J. (2009). Book Review of NYSTCE: CST Physics 009, by Wynne. STANYS The Science Teachers' Bulletin Fall 2009 73(1), 47-48.
  • Saeli, S. & MacIsaac, D.L. (2007, February). Using gravitational analogies to introduce elementary electrical field theory concepts. The Physics Teacher, 45(2), 104-108. (PHY690 project)
  • Yap, J. & MacIsaac, D.L. (2006, August). Instructional use of the Johnson electric motor. Physics Education, 41(5). (PHY690 project)
  • Bochicchio, S. M. (2005). Post Use Review of School Island: An online test and remedial tool for New York State Regents physics students. The Science Teachers Bulletin, Fall 2005, 35-40. Science Teachers' Association of New York State (STANYS).
  • Doty, D. (2006). Issues with TI-83s. The Physics Teacher 44(9), 566.
  • Pearson, K. (2006). A post participation review of the University of Virginia’s graduate credit physics course for teacher PHY 605: How Things Work I. Journal of Physics Teacher Education Online, 4(1), 3-6. (PHY690 project)
  • Gosling, C. (2004). Addressing academic challenges facing high school physics students: A synopsis and annotated bibliography of peer-reviewed literature addressing classroom culture, gender, relevance and introductory physics instruction. Journal of Physics Teacher Education Online, 2(2), 3-9. (PHY690 project)

Other manuscripts prepared for M.S.Ed. project (PHY690)

Most manuscripts cited here are available at http://physicsed.buffalostate.edu/pubs/PHY690.

  • Coia, M. (2006). Blowing in the wind. Eighth Annual Program and Abstracts of the Student Research and Creativity Celebration, Friday April 21 and Saturday, April 22, 2006, p68. SUNY- Buffalo State College Office on Undergraduate Research.
  • Olszewski, C. (2006). Reflecting on the Road Less Traveled: Industrial Physicist to HS Teacher. Manuscript in preparation for the Journal of Physics Teacher Education Online.
  • Sannes, A. (2005). The role of multiple representations for introductory physics teaching. Manuscript in preparation for submission to The Physics Teacher. 
  • Lewocz, J. (2005). The collection and analysis of item latency data for the Force Concept Inventory. Manuscript to be made available from .
  • Mauser, W.E. (2005). Use of single-person hovercraft for instructing Newtons' Laws. Web-published manuscript http://physicsed.buffalostate.edu/pubs/PHY690/.
  • Tatman, Y. (2005). McNair Scholar's Research: Use of a new instrument to assess under-represented student attitudes towards physics. Manuscript to be made available from .
  • Thompson, B. (2005). PHY690: A review of Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs) for NY Regent's Physics. Manuscript in preparation for submission to STANYS Journal. (PHY690)
  • Uhrich, C. (2005). An analysis of Knight's Curriculum for teaching AP Physics. Manuscript available from . (PHY690)
  • Gang, R. (2004). An analysis of HS Physics instruction via the Force Concept Inventory. (PHY690)
  • Fooks, E. (2004). PHY690: An analysis of the Modeling curriculum for mechanics with respect to the NYSED Physics Core Curriculum. Manuscript available from .
  • Frank, P. (2004). PHY690: The New York State Regents Physics Core Curriculum correlated with the CASTLE curriculum. Manuscript available from .
  • Kwitek, S. (2004). Development and analysis of an instrument for assessing MS Physical science instruction. (PHY690)
  • Wehling, E. (2004). Basic physics of the EKG. Manuscript in preparation for The Physics Teacher. (PHY485)
  • Rose, M. (2004). An examination of the Modeling curriculum for teaching Physics in comparison with the New York State Physics Core Curriculum for subjects other than mechanics. (PHY690)

Conference Talks

  • Olszewski, C.: A Road Less Travelled: Industrial Physicist to High School Teacher, presented at 2006 AAPT National Summer Meeting: Syracuse, NY. (link to abstract)