Physics and Astronomy Department
Weekly Newsletter
Vol 32, No 8, Friday 6 March 2015
From the HOD – Prof Mike Reid
It has been a busy week, as the semester gets well underway, and the inevitable issues with student
enrolment and course organisation get sorted out. It is always stimulating to get to know, or
reacquaint myself, with the students.
At Science Faculty this week we had a presentation by Andrew Bainbridge-Smith, who has recently
taken on the role of Head of Academic Services, which encompasses both the Academic
Development Group and AQUA, the quality-assurance group. Of interest to some will be that as part
of the reforms of admission and examination regulations Latin terms will be replaced with plain
English terms. This will be a relief to those of us who have no Classical background, and anyone who
has had to explain to a student what exactly an aegrotat is.
Tomorrow UC hosts the International Young Physicists' Tournament for high school students. I would
like to thank the students and staff who have offered to give up their Saturday to help out with this,
especially Joan Gladwyn, College Outreach coordinator, who has worked tirelessly to raise UC’s
profile in schools by organising such events.
Today’s seminar Friday 6 March, 11:00am, Rm 701, Rutherford Bldg
Krystina Tack, PhD, DABR
Visiting Erskine Fellow in the Department of Physics and Astronomy,
Director of the Medical Physics Graduate Programme at Oregon State University
Medical Physics Education and Training in the US:
What Makes A Great Clinical Medical Physicist?
Training of clinically competent medical physicists in the United States is largely overseen by the
Commission on Accreditation of Academic Medical Physics Programs (CAMPEP), but this has not
always been the case. Historically, most medical physicists were educated in various disciplines and
trained on the job. With the increasing complexity of the field of medical physics (and the multiple
tracks of possible specialization), the U.S. is actually playing catch-up to other parts of the world with
regard to formal training programs. The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) has
over 8,400 members – and many of them will tell you they largely trained themselves after starting
work in the clinic. This talk will explore what we are doing right, what still needs to be done, and will
point out what simply cannot be taught in any academic program, in any country.
Krystina is an Erskine Fellow with the Medical Physics group, visiting with Dr Steven Marsh from 16
February until Easter. She is the Director of the Medical Physics Graduate Programme at
Oregon State University, where her research focus is on nuclear engineering and radiation
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and health physics. While here Krystina will be teaching into the MDPH404, Radiation Biology
course in the first semester and will be based in Room 706 Ext. 6764.
All Welcome
Next week’s seminar Friday 13 March, 11:00am, Room 701, Rutherford Bldg
Dr Anthony Butler
Chief Technology Officer, Mediplix All Resolution Systems (MARS)
a senior clinician with Otago School of Medicine, Christchurch and a research fellow in Electrical and
Computer Engineering at the University of Canterbury
MARS Spectral CT: A New Tool for Molecular Imaging
The MARS research group is leading the world in a new medical imaging modality that provides
molecular information about tissues. The modality is based on spectral x-ray measurements of
biological tissues. The technique provides quantitative material information in 3 dimensions. The
team have built a small animal scanner which incorporates spectral photon counting detectors; x-ray
conversion material based on high-Z semiconductors ; specialized image reconstruction routines,
and in-house data visualization techniques. The technique is currently being applied to problems in
pre-clinical medicine such as atherosclerosis, cartilage disease, and metallic implants. The team has
recently achieved 6 years of funding to build a human MARS scanner suitable for clinical trials.
Background: Dr Anthony Butler, Chief Technology Officer, a senior clinician with Otago School of
Medicine, Christchurch and a research fellow in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the
University of Canterbury.
He was awarded three major prizes in 2007 by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
Radiologists for his medical imaging research (the Thomas Baker Fellowship, the Siemens Medical
Systems Prize and the GE Medical Systems Prize). Other awards include the RHT Bates prize from
the Royal Society of New Zealand (2006), the Philips Medical Systems Radiology Paper Prize (2006),
and the Toshiba Medical Imaging Prize (2008). He has academic affiliations with the University of
Otago Christchurch, the University of Canterbury, and CERN (European Centre for Nuclear
Research). He has won 10 awards for his research including awards from the Royal Society of NZ
and the Royal Australian College of Radiologists.
Dr Anthony Butler is the Director of the Christchurch Bioengineering campus. He has strong record in
scientific team leadership having played a key role in the development of the MARS CT research
group. In 2010 he founded UOC’s Centre for Bioengineering (UOC) which has grown to have 4 full
time permanent staff and 9 PhD students.
All Welcome
Canterbury Branch of the Royal Society
Krystina Tack, currently visiting in the department will also be giving a lecture on prostrate cancer for
the Royal Society – read on for details…
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis & Therapies: things to consider for healthy men and their families
6.30pm, Thursday 12 March Note Date to be changed from 19 March due to a clash
C3 Lecture Theatre, University of Canterbury
Dr Krystina Tack, Nuclear Engineering & Radiation Health Physics, Oregon State University
This presentation will (fortunately or unfortunately!) have a U.S. flavour, as we tie some of our
therapeutic choices to our fee-for-service / private payer healthcare system.
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This talk is primarily for the general healthy man, focusing on screening, what to think about (not to
panic) when you have prostate cancer, then why there are so many therapies and how to choose
what is best for each patient. I will explain therapy options and focus technically on radiation
therapies. This tends to be a very hot topic in the US, as we get more healthy patients experiencing
early stage diagnosis (and what to do about that).
Krystina's research interests are radiobiological model correlation with patient outcomes (BED),
Permanent Prostate Brachytherapy (PPB), and prostate cancer clinical trials.
For more biographical information see:
http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/schools/school-of-medicine/departments/clinicaldepartments/radiation-medicine/about/faculty-staff/krystina-tack.cfm
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Graduate Profile – Harry Pirie BSc(Hons) 2014
Last year I completed an honours degree in physics at UC, working with Prof. Simon
Brown studying nanoscale topological insulators. I had the opportunity to use a scanning
tunneling microscope (STM) and developed a vast interest in modern solid state physics.
The experience inspired me to purse a PhD in condensed matter physics, which I have now started
at Harvard University. My research investigates a new type of recently-discovered iron-based
superconductors, which have remarkably different properties when grown as a single layer than
those observed in the bulk material. In particular, the superconducting transition temperature
increases from 8K in the bulk to over 100K when grown in a single layer. The reason for this large
difference is not yet understood, and it has sparked a great deal of research aiming to understand the
superconducting mechanism. Our group operates a home-built STM-MBE system and uses
experimental techniques such as quasi-particle interference (QPI) imaging and lock-in spectroscopy
to analyze the properties of nanostructures of these materials.
My background at Canterbury has been fantastic preparation for my work here. The honours projects
provide valuable skills and gives students the opportunity to contribute to the forefront of scientific
research. [Ed note:] This year’s 480 students will be receiving notice today of their topics.
Publication - Congratulations
Congratulations to John Hearnshaw and Alan Gilmore who
have recently completed work on.
Mt John – The First 50 Years, A celebration of half a
century of optical astronomy at the University of
Canterbury
A formal book launch will occur in late March. In the
meantime you can learn more here….
http://www.cup.canterbury.ac.nz/catalogue/mt_john.shtml
http://www.nationwidebooks.co.nz/product/mt-john-the-first50-years-9781927145623
Quick Links
Sky Charts March and April are now available here as well.
Scholarships at UC
http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/future-students/fees-and-funding/scholarships-at-uc/
News from the Physical Sciences/ Engineering Library
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New titles for Physics http://bit.ly/wafgjA; new titles for Astronomy http://bit.ly/xntPcH; newtitles-list generator http://bit.ly/1brTI3E
To recommend books to the Library, send the details to the Library Liaison Officer for Physics,
Dr Chris Gordon http://bit.ly/GEWv4z
From the Web
 The Future of the Web Is 100 Years Old (Nautilus) http://bit.ly/1GhqPGA
 The Unintended Consequences of Borrowing Business Tools to Run a University (Chronicle
of Higher Education) http://bit.ly/18G1Yi7
 Radiocarbon Dating at 75 (JSTOR Daily) http://bit.ly/1BCFScT
 A Brief History of the Speed of Light (The Nature of Reality, PBS) http://to.pbs.org/1E8bCFw
 Optics in Ancient China http://bit.ly/18eKBUv
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NASA Spacecraft Nears Historic Dwarf Planet Arrival (JPL) http://1.usa.gov/1EHeJow
Planetary Science: The Pluto Siblings (Nature News & Comment) http://bit.ly/1AMMBi0
Who Speaks for Earth? The Controversy over Interstellar Messaging (Universe Today)
http://bit.ly/1AZGDJx
On the lighter side…
 Quiz: Test Your Einstein IQ (Discover Magazine) http://bit.ly/1vDgSzE
John Arnold
EPS Library – Kā Puna Pūkahataka me te Pūtaiao
http://canterbury.libguides.com/profile/JohnArnold
Greetings from Colombia - Dr Oscar Macias Ramirez PhD
It's been a bit more than 3 months since I left New Zealand - I enjoyed a remarkable time, met the
finest people and learnt a great deal of not only physics! Anyways, I just wanted to touch base and let
you guys know I got married to Liliana about 2 weeks ago. Here are the pictures I promised to many
of you.
This small observatory is just a few steps away from the church!
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Email Ro on rosalie.reilly@canterbury.ac.nz: Newsletter, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of
Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, Phone: +64 3 364 2404, Fax: +64 3 364 2469.
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