Waves Attest, Our Programs Continue to Attract Beginning of 2011
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THE UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics physics.utoledo.edu DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY Number 14 Fall 2011 DEPARTMENT CHAIR’S COMMENTS reetings to all of our alumni, friends Energy Laboratory and has an accomplished record in current, Gand supporters of the department! emerging and future generation materials and device architectures I hope this newsletter finds you well. I for energy and related applications, electron microscopy techniques, am sure you have noticed a change in the and density functional theory of electronic structure modeling. All photograph accompanying this message. three scientists complement and add to our existing research efforts, After a period of administrative study, the and promise significant contributions to enhancing our profile. 100-year-old College of Arts and Sciences In addition to these new appointments, we are happy to was divided into three independent report that Dr. Rupali Chandar, an astrophysicist working colleges in the late fall of last year. The new on the evolution of stellar clusters, has been awarded tenure Anderson-Huang colleges are: the College of Languages, and promoted to the rank of associate professor, and Dr. Jon Literature, and Social Sciences; the College Bjorkman, an astrophysicist working on the theory of stellar disks, of Natural Sciences and Mathematics; and the College of Visual has been promoted to the rank of full professor. As the articles and Performing Arts. The new structure became effective at the in this edition of Waves attest, our programs continue to attract beginning of 2011. We are very proud that our own Dr. Karen interest locally, nationally and internationally. Bjorkman, previous chair of the department, was selected as Neither the University nor our department has avoided the the founding dean of the new college of Natural Sciences and economic downturn in recent years. As a result, we have lost Mathematics. She brings to the college level a fundamental the Secretary 1 position held by Ms. Nadine Hoffman, who in understanding of and respect for scientific research and turn had replaced Ms. Suzanne Hickey when she retired at the education. If you have not done so already and would like to send beginning of the year. Fortunately for her, Ms. Hoffman is moving her your congratulations and encouragement, her e-mail address to a similar position in the College of Engineering. Meanwhile, remains [email protected]. For those of you who both Ms. Willie Brown, our chair’s secretary, and Ms. Stephany may know them, the new deans for the other colleges are Mikols, our business services officer, have announced their Dr. Alice Skeens (LLSS) and Debra Davis (VPA). More news on retirements effective at the end of June. All three staff members the restructuring may be found on the UTNews website at have served our department well, and will be sorely missed. utnews.utoledo.edu/index.php/01_10_2011/academic- Ritter Planetarium continues its excellent outreach efforts reorganization-continues-at-university. to the community, attracting more than 25,000 people a year After the loss of several faculty members to retirement to visit and learn about astronomy and the night sky. We are (including Dr. Bernie Bopp and Dr. Nancy Morrison during very happy to announce that University President Dr. Lloyd the past year) as well as personal moves in their careers, we are Jacobs has authorized funding to replace our venerable old Spitz welcoming three new faculty members in the coming fall. A3P projector with a new Spitz SciDome XD Digital Projection In order of appointment, we are very happy to welcome System. The Spitz A3P served our needs well for 44 years. It was Dr. Nikolas Podraza as an assistant professor of physics in the area an analog-style projector consisting of a star ball with 1500 holes of photovoltaics, Dr. Michael Cushing as an assistant professor and an internal arc lamp, and a cleverly designed set of motor- of astronomy and the new director of the Ritter Planetarium, driven mirrors to provide a geocentric view of the moon and solar and Dr. Yanfa Yan, awarded an Ohio Research Scholar Endowed system that could be advanced through time to show the changing Chair in Photovoltaics as a full professor. We are very pleased to view of the sky. All visual special effects were displayed using have these well-recognized scholars join us. Dr. Podraza comes separate projectors. The new system will be fully digital, dividing from the Materials Research Laboratory at Penn State and has an the sky into more than 6 million pixels, each about 6 mm across accomplished record in ellipsometry and other characterization at the distance of the dome. That size is comparable to the stellar methods of thin film materials. Dr. Cushing comes from NASA’s images from the A3P star ball. All visuals will be programmed Jet Propulsion Laboratory and has an accomplished record in seamlessly into the projection, allowing the viewer not only to the analysis of brown dwarfs, objects at the boundary between visit throughout the solar system, but also to travel through and stars and planets. Dr. Yan comes from the National Renewable outside our Milky Way galaxy. In addition, many other uses are 2 possible, from architectural rendering to zoological safaris. We CONGRAtuLATIONS TO JON BJORKMAN already are planning coordinated displays with other departments AND RuPALI CHANDAR on campus and the Toledo Museum of Art. The original Congratulations to Jon Bjorkman, who has been promoted authorization from Dr. Jacobs was enough to buy an earlier to full professor, as well as to Rupali Chandar, who has been HD version, with half the resolution. The department chose to promoted to associate professor. upgrade to the XD version described above. Ours will be the first installation of this version in the world! The opening will occur in the early fall semester of 2011 — watch our web pages for news of a more exact date. The upgrade, together with renovations to the lobby area, increase the cost by about $65,000. The UT Foundation Development Office is helping us to raise the additional funds. We are proud of all these efforts and hope to develop even more in future years. If you’d like to help us grow and improve, including adding to the planetarium projector upgrade, there is information elsewhere in this newsletter about how you can contribute — there are several funds established to support various efforts within the department. The department is very fortunate to have strong supporters in the community and beyond, Bjorkman Chandar and we are grateful to all of you. In closing, let me just say that we value all our supporters, friends, THE UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDo’S RESEARCH former students and colleagues. We’ d love to hear from you, so ON SOLAR ENERGY PROFILED IN THE please do drop us a line sometime and tell us what you’re doing TOLEDO BLADE these days. If you happen to be in the area, do stop in and visit us. (adapted from The Toledo Blade, March 9, 2010) Lawrence Anderson-Huang The research in solar energy and specifically thin-film photovoltaics at The University of Toledo is a sense of pride on campus, a selling point for state officials to solar companies, NOTABLE FACULTY NEWS and is recognized by many solar-industry insiders throughout the country. In a globally competitive solar industry in which RETIREMENTS OF PROFESSORS state governments battle to craft the most enticing incentives BERNARD BOPP AND NANCY MORRISON for solar companies, universities are also fighting for a leg up on competitors. The goals are to attract big research dollars, Dr. Nancy Morrison, who joined hire the most decorated faculty, make the fastest technological the Department of Physics & discoveries, have those discoveries inspire new businesses, and Astronomy in 1978 and served for create jobs in their regions. This is undoubtedly true for UT, many years as the director of the which produced Xunlight Corp. and has raised $37 million in Ritter Observatory and Brooks grants and contracts for solar energy research the last three Observatory, and more recently as years. Long a successful solar energy research institution, UT director of the Ritter Planetarium, must work diligently to avoid falling behind in a crowded solar retired June 1, 2010 through field. Nina McClelland, interim dean of UT’s School of Solar UT’s Early Retirement Incentive and Advanced Renewable Energy, said the University recognizes Program. Professor Nancy Morrison it needs to continue to “beef up” research and further advance photovoltaics technology. Dr. Bernard Bopp, who joined the Department of Physics & Astronomy in 1974, and served as the Director of Ritter Observatory from 1976 to 1994, the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence from 1994 to 1999, and the director of the Center for Teaching and Learning from 2001 to 2008, retired June 1, 2010 through Graduate student Lila Daha. modifies Rosa Zartman a UT physics graduate, Professor Bernard Bopp UT’s Early Retirement Incentive equipment at UT’s Clean and Alternative works with Photovoltaics in her job as Program. Dr. Bopp also developed the popular course, Energy Incubator. a lab tech at UT’s Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator. Physics of Music and Sound, and estimates that during his career he taught nearly 15,000 undergraduates in 1000-level astronomy and physics courses. Dr. Bopp and his wife report that they have moved to Eugene, Ore. 3 The University of Toledo has 14 researchers dedicated to Both Chandar and Dr. JD Smith, assistant professor of photovoltaics research and development and is one of three astronomy, study the neighboring Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. locations (Ohio State and Bowling Green State University are the Pointing to M51’s companion galaxy, Smith says, “Eventually other two) for the Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation it will be consumed by the larger spiral, a pretty standard and Commercialization, a consortium of universities and part of galactic evolution that’s only recently been accepted businesses formed with an $18.6 million grant from Ohio’s Third as scientific fact.” Dozens of smaller neighboring galaxies, he Frontier Program.