Physics “Good News” Highlights for the 2007-2008 Academic Year
This past year, the Physics Department offered a wide range of courses: from general education to upper-division physics electives. Physics students had the opportunity to enroll in Analytical Mechanics I, II, Experimental Physics II, and Quantum Mechanics I.
Physics faculty also taught the UNIV 101 course to incoming freshmen and courses in the
STEP curriculum (the NSF funded Science Talent Expansion Program). Some of the major accomplishments of CWU Physics faculty and students for the 2007-2008 academic year are listed below.
Student Scholarships
• Travis Petersen was the recipient of a Leadership Scholarship ($2,000) from the
Society of Physics Students (SPS).
Student Grants and Awards
• Chris Parker received a CWU Alumni Award in October 2008.
• Kevin Ewell, “Numerical modeling of tsunami propagation and run-up,” CWU
Science Honors Program, $9,000 [Advisor: Andy Piacsek] (2008).
• Travis Petersen, “Discovery and Frequency Measurement of Far-Infrared Laser
Emissions From Optically Pumped 13 CHD
$9,000 [Advisor: Mike Jackson] (2008).
2
OH,” CWU Science Honors Program,
Club Awards
• The CWU Society of Physics Students chapter was selected as an “Outstanding
SPS Chapter” for the 2006-2007 school year by the National Society. This is the eleventh time in the last fourteen years the CWU chapter has been honored.
Taylor Kendall, physics graduate, was the chapter president last year. Sharon
Rosell, physics, is the chapter advisor.
Student Presentations
Oral Presentations
• Sami Abdul-Wahid, “Electronic Realization of the Logistic Map,” SOURCE 2008
[Advisor: Mike Braunstein]. Sami won an “Outstanding Presentation” award at
SOURCE.
• Eric Kangas, “Differential Photometry on SV Camelopardalis,” SOURCE 2008
[Advisor: Mike Braunstein].
• Travis Petersen, “Investigation into the Characteristics and Procedures of
Numerical Calculation for the Lyapunov Exponent,” SOURCE 2008 [Advisor:
Mike Braunstein].
• Evan Masters, “Comparing Two Methods of Acquiring and Analyzing a Single
Slit Diffraction Pattern,” Source 2008 [Advisors: Mike Jackson and Mike
Braunstein].
1

Poster Presentations
• Travis Petersen, Eric Kangas, Chris Parker, Evan Masters, Erik Bakke, Sami
Abdul-Wahid, and Jeff Leiseth, “Electronic Realization of Chaotic Systems,”
SOURCE 2008 [Advisor: Mike Braunstein].
• Chris Parker, Jeff Leiseth, Mike Braunstein, Sharon Rosell, Travis Petersen, Evan
Masters, and Eric Kangas, “Electronic Realization of Chaotic Systems,” 10 th
Annual Meeting of the Northwest Section of APS, May (2008).
Faculty Grants [funded]
• Mike Jackson “RUI: High Resolution Spectroscopy of Stable Molecular Species and Free Radicals,” National Science Foundation, $85,742 (2008).
• Mike Jackson "Enhancing NASA related research and educational activities at
Central Washington University," Washington Space Grant Consortium/NASA,
$10,000 (with $10,000 matching) (2008).
• Mike Jackson "Laser and Optics Instructional Laboratory" CWU COTS Essential
Instructional/Research Equipment Request, $14,970 (2008).
• Mike Jackson "The Physics and Laser Light Extravaganza Program" CWU
Foundation, Len Thayer Small Grants Program, $1,000 (2008).
• Bruce Palmquist, “China Travel Grant,” American Association of University
Professors, $470 (2008).
• Bruce Palmquist “China Travel Grant,” CWU International Studies and Advisory
Committee, $700 (2008).
Faculty Publications
• Mike Jackson published the journal article “Frequencies of cw FIR laser lines for use in laser magnetic resonance spectroscopy” in
Applied Physics B
, vol.
92
, pgs.
5-7 (2008).
• Mike Jackson published the journal article “The Far-Infrared and Microwave
Spectra of the CH Radical in the v
= 1 level of the X 2 Π state” published in the
Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy
, vol.
247
, pp. 128–139 (2008).
• Bruce Palmquist published a journal article entitled “Promoting a Contemporary
View of the Nature of Science in Your Classroom” in the Washington Science
Teachers Journal, September, 2008.
• Bruce Palmquist published an educational dialog between China and the United
States during Education Week in September, 2008.
• Bruce Palmquist published “Emphasize the Process in Chinese education: An
Interview with Three Chinese Teacher Education Students,” in Phi Delta Kappan in 2008.
• Bruce Palmquist publishes a weekly column in the Ellensburg Daily Record entitled “What’s Up in the Sky.”
2

Invited Faculty Presentations
• Bruce Palmquist spent two weeks in China during the 2008 summer at Shaanxi
Normal University (SNNU) in Xi'an, China, nearly 575 miles southwest of
Beijing. Bruce was invited to SNNU by fellow physics professor Guian Li, who teaches at the university. Li visited the CWU Physics Department during the
2006-2007 school year. During his visit, Bruce gave nine talks on several subjects including best practices in teaching physics and middle school science education, fostering creativity in the classroom, as well as a talk on CWU's
Science Education Department. He also discussed Chinese and American education on “Casual Talk” a program on Shaan’xi Normal University TV station.
Faculty Conference Presentations
• Mike Braunstein presented “Assessing Undergraduate Research” at the
Washington Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in
October 2007.
• Mike Jackson presented “Incorporating undergraduates into faculty research in the areas of optics and physical chemistry” at the CUR National Conference in
June 2008.
• Bruce Palmquist co-presented “What Does Reformed Elementary Science
Teaching Look Like?” at the National Association for Community College
Teacher Education Programs conference in February 2008.
• Andy Piacsek presented “Investigating musical sound as a model for the scientific process” at the Acoustics ′ 08 conference in Paris, France, July 2008.
• Andy Piacsek presented “Time-domain modeling of atmospheric turbulence effects on sonic boom propagation” at the International AIAA Aeronautics
Conference in May 2008.
• Andy Piacsek presented “Analysis and synthesis of vowel sounds in a PC-based lab” at the National ASA meeting in December 2007.
Faculty Professional Activities
• Mike Braunstein, Mike Jackson, and Sharon Rosell and four physics students
(Jeff Leiseth, Evan Masters, Chris Parker, and Travis Williams) attended the
Washington section of the AAPT held at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational
Wave Observatory (LIGO) in October 2007. Mike Jackson was elected for a three-year term (as President Elect, President and Past President) for the organization. Central Washington University will be hosting the conference in
October 2009 at the PSE Wild Horse Wind Farm.
• Mike Braunstein served as reviewer for the NASA Postdoctoral Program (2007).
• Mike Jackson was re-elected as CUR Councilor for the Physics and Astronomy
Division. The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) is a national organization that supports and promotes high-quality undergraduate studentfaculty collaborative research and scholarship.
• Mike Jackson served as an external reviewer for two Ph.D. theses at the Post
Graduate and Research Department of Physics, Presidency College, (University
3

• Bruce Palmquist served as Science Education Program Director in
Spring/Summer 2008 and as Director of the CWU-Green River Community
College program (2007-2008).
• Andy Piacsek co-chaired the “Physical Acoustics: Mathematical and Numerical
Methods I” session at the Acoustics ′ 08 conference in Paris, France.
• Andy Piacsek continued in his last year as Director of the CWU Science Honors
Program (2007-2008).
• Sharon Rosell attended the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Association for College Physics in April 2009. Sharon presented the treasurer's report, attended the Board of Director's meeting, and was re-elected treasurer of the association.
Outreach Programs
• Mike Jackson and two physics students (Travis Petersen and Evan Masters) performed nine “Kaleidoscopes” shows for the third grade classes at Lincoln
Elementary School, Mt. Stuart Elementary School, Valley View Elementary
School, and Kittitas Elementary School in December 2007/January 2008. There were 285 students, teachers and guests in attendance.
• Bruce Palmquist organized numerous star parties and planetarium shows during the year. One example was a planetarium show for 40 people at the “Exploring
Kittitas County” event in August 2008.
• Bruce Palmquist gave two lectures in January 2008 for the Ellensburg Christian
School Chapel.
• Bruce Palmquist and the CWU astronomy club performed eight planetarium shows for the “Nature of Night” event in November 2007. A total of 225 participants attended.
• Andy Piacsek gave multiple sessions of lecture and demonstrations on the subject of physics of sound and applications to music at the Suzuki Festival workshops in
November 2007. He also presented the physics of sound to the Ellensburg High
School physics class (Winter 2008).
• Sharon Rosell and the SPS club gave several physics workshops during the academic year, including the “Expanding Your Horizons” program in November
2007 and March 2008 and for two area Preschools (20 students).
• Sharon Rosell, Mike Jackson with the CWU Astronomy and SPS clubs performed a “Merit Badge Astronomy Outreach Program” for over 70 Girl Scouts (Cadets,
Juniors, and Brownies) in May 2008.
4