Todd C. McAlpine

I recieved my B.S. in physics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2000, and my M.S. and Ph.D. (both in physics) from University of Kansas in 2003 and 2006, respectively. My graduate work was in the field of semiconductor laser physics and the preliminary results of that work were presented at the 2003 Materials Research Society Fall Meeting in Boston, MA and published in the Journal of Applied Physics in 2004.

Currently, I am a visiting assistant professor of physics at The College of Wooster for the 2006-2007 & 2007-2008 academic years. Of all the vast possibilities that exist, my research interests include applied optics; astronomy, particularly with respect to space plasma and solar physics; simulation of interesting physical systems; physics in history; and physics education research. My current research efforts involve writing up the final results of my dissertation work for publication, simulating a charged pendulum in electric and magnetic fields, and construction of a celestial clock.

My professional affiliations include the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), the American Physical Society (APS), Materials Research Society (MRS), and Sigma Pi Sigma, a national physics honor society.

I was born and raised in Erie, PA. I lived there my entire life before I ventured 1000 miles to attend graduate school in Kansas, where I lived for five years. I moved to Edmonton, Alberta for my final year of graduate work, in order to analyze my data and write my dissertation with relatively few distractions. My family name is Scottish and it's been a dream of mine to travel to Scotland since I was ten years old.

Every year, I read my favorite novel: Neil Gaiman's Stardust. It's recently been adapted into a movie, which is very good in its own right. I also adore Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" trilogy (though I've only read them twice!). I grew up reading Stephen King novels and comic books. I have a deep appreciation of King's The Dark Tower series, though his classics are probably my favorites. My favorite comic book titles of all time include Sandman, Books of Magic, Fables, Bone, and The Amazing Spider-Man. Currently I am working my way through Terry Pratchett's Disk World novels, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series of novels that picks up where the TV series left off, and a variety of non-fiction books.

The TV shows that watch when the writer's aren't on strike include Heroes, Smallville (sorry - it's like a train wreck), The Simpson's, Survivorman, and Good Eats. I am, however, considering cancelling my cable since there doesn't seem to be an end to the writer's strike in sight just now. Favorites of the past include Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Nowhere Man, X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Malcolm in the Middle, and Dead Like Me.