Teaching: Spring 2008 Classes
- Physics 122: Astronomy of the Solar System
- Physics 204: Foundations of Physics 2
Contact Information
Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics
The College of Wooster
Wooster, OH 44691, USA
Taylor Hall 106
330-263-2586 (vox)
330-263-2516 (fax)
TMcAlpine@Wooster.edu
Office Hours: Monday: 3 - 3:50 p.m., Thursday: 10 - 10:50 a.m., Friday: 2 - 2:50 p.m.
Also by appointment and chance.
Research
As a graduate student, I characterized optically pumped semiconductor lasers operating in the mid-infrared. I have a variety of research interests, including optical properties of materials, applied optics, thermoelectric materials, space plasma and solar physics, simulations of interesting physical systems, and physics in history.
This summer, I worked with students on two projects in Wooster's NSF-REU program. The first project was a simulation of a charged pendulum in electric and magnetic fields and the second project was the design and construction of a celestial clock. There was significant progress made on both projects. Mark Wellons, a Senior Independent Study Student, is carrying on work on the charged pendulum project while Travis Brown, a Sophomore Research Assistant, is carrying on the work on the Celestial Clock. Kirsten Larson, another Senior Independent Study student, is investigating galaxy classification in the infrared and radio by means of the IR-Radio correlation.