“It is with great sadness I learned that longtime physics professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and friend of AAPT, Ken Ozawa, passed away March, 4, 2009. Ken worked very hard to help bring the Northern and Southern California Sections of AAPT together by hosting meetings at Cal Poly, many of which were very memorable. The national AAPT even hosted a summer meeting at Cal Poly once. He served not only as an officer of the Southern CA Section of AAPT, he also was the national President of AAPT. He was a very hard working and dedicated fellow and…
Month: May 2009
It is with great sadness I learned that Robert H. (Bob) Good passed away August 2008 after a battle with prostate cancer. He was a professor and department chair for 42 years at Cal State Hayward. Although he authored a textbook entitled “Classical Electromagnetism”, Bob was best known for his computer simulations on the Apple II platform which he distributed for $5. Worth at least 10 times that amount, they were repackaged by Laserpoint Software for $30 and ported to the PC platform for Physics Academic Software for $50, he never accepted a dime of royalties. “Give it to your…
Dear Advanced/Intermediate Lab Faculty and Technical Staff, I encourage you to consider attending the Advanced Lab Topical Conference at U. of Michigan, July 23-25 (just before the summer AAPT meeting). These conferences only happen about every 15 years, and should be of considerable interest to faculty and technical staff involved with college-level physics labs beyond the introductory level. Details can be found on the conference web page http://advlabs.aapt.org/events/event.cfm?ID=2 Registration will be capped at 120 and we currently have at least 100 registrants, so sign up soon if you plan to attend. Lost cost ($150) registration has been extended and there…
Residential Summer Workshops at the University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering The daVinci Project July 13-17, 2009 The UConn School of Engineering is holding its 10th annual daVinci Project. It is a week long (Mon-Fri) residential series of hands-on workshops for middle and high school science and math teachers. This year it’s being held July 13-17. Teachers live on campus and participate in one of 5 workshops (Fuel Cell-Construction and Operation, Bio-Fuels/Sustainable Energy, Nanotechnology, Bio-materials: Bones/Joints/Tissues and Water-Processes and Principles). An on-line 2009 application and more information can be accessed at http://www.engr.uconn.edu/davinci/ Registration deadline: June 26, 2009. Confirmation will be…
May 30-31, 2009 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on a 15-year mission to explore the universe. Now, just past it’s 19th birthday, it is getting a new lease on life. Space Shuttle mission STS-125 (scheduled for launch on May 11) is slated to replace and repair science instruments, computers, batteries, gyroscopes and blankets. This, the last Hubble servicing mission, should allow Hubble to operate as a fully operational enhanced astronomical observatory for many more years. At JPL we are taking this opportunity to revisit the Hubble mission and the work of JPL’s…