Here is a list of students, titles and some supporting materials for recent senior research projects conducted in the Physics Department at Hastings College.  Please check back in the near future since we will continue to add new pictures and information to this page.

In January 2011, the Physics Department received a generous grant from the Johnson Controls Foundation to establish the Johnson Controls Physics Fund for senior projects. 

• Colby Dolezal '12, "NASCAR Aerodynamics" 
• James Duin '12, "Modifying Java Simulations of Bernoulli's Principle to Simulate Wind Tunnel Air Flow Through a Venturi Tube"
• Raymond "Sonny" Hughey, Jr. '12 "Venturi Effect and its Presence at Pedestrian Levels Between Two Long Narrow Buildings"  
• Neil Sabata ’12, “Rayleigh Instability of Charged Droplet”  
• Nick Tramp '12, "The Effect of Thermal Fluctuations on Resistivity of an YBCO High Temperature Superconductor" 
• Stephen Cannon '11, "Three Dimensional Imaging of a CD-ROM Drive Fringe Projection Interferometry" 
• Jake Doyle '11, "Construction of a Photovoltaic Energy System to Determine Maximum Efficiency" 
• Kendall Murphy '11, "Aerodynamics of Golf - The Effects of Dimples on the Drag and Lift Forces"  
• Chris Webber '11, "The Domino Effect"
• Tyler Bartsch '10, "The Doppler Effect Using the Method of Images"
•  Kayla Peltz '10, "Observations of the Fresnel and Arago Laws Using a Zehnder Interferometer"
• Jason Gerritsen '09, "Use of the Generalized Eikonal Method Approximation to Test Light Scattering by Large Spherical Dielectric"
• Joe Jeanjaquet '09, "Single Bubble Sonoluminescence"
• Jordan Neuhart '09, "Efficient Wireless Power Transfer Using Strongly Coupled Magnetic Resonances"
• Brian Steinert '09, "Thermoacoustic Refrigerator"
• Matt Beachley '08, "Determining Fault Displacement by Seismic Reflection Survey"
• Josh Tomayer '08, "Macroscopic Scattering: Rigid Body Impact of a Baseball by a Bat"
• Toby Martinez '08, "The Sweet Spots and Dead Spot of a Tennis Racquet"
• Kyle Phillips '08, "Construction and Implementation of a Particle Impact Damper for Vibration Suppression"
• James Martin '08, "Physical Analysis of Spear and Dart Throwing"
• Chris Kube '08, "Acoustic Levitation Using a Piezoelectric Transducer"
• Heather Finney '08, "Construction and Utilization of an Electric Field Mill to Measure the Electric Field of the Earth"
• Geoffrey Bergman '08, "Investigation of Magnetic Dampening on a Non-ferromagnetic Air Track"
• Nick Vanous '07, "Performance Characteristics of a Remote Controlled Blimp"
  • Here is a video of Nick's blimp cruising around in Lynn Farrell Arena. Nick was guiding the blimp using a remote control module.
• Rob Viehman '07, "The Magnus Effect - The Forces on a Baseball in Flight"
• Aaron Parker '07, "Construction and Testing of an Electromagnetic Projectile Accelerator - Coil Gun"
• Brian Burks '07, "Optimization and Utilization of a Fabry-Perot Interferometer"
• Keian Kirkegaard '07, "Design, Construction, and Testing of a Portable Anechoic Chamber"
  • Click here to download a copy of Keian's PowerPoint presentation.
  • Click here to download an article that summarizes how to construct an anechoic chamber.
• Jarred Horsky '07, "Design of Conductive Concrete"
• Landon Haack '06, "Remote Control Submarine"
  • Newspaper coverage
• Emily Petermann '06, "Detection of Exoplanets Using the Transit Method"
  • Click here to download a copy of Emily's PowerPoint presentation. 
• Dwight Easterly '06, "Design, Fabrication and Testing of a Small Engine Dynamometer"
  • Click here to download a copy of Dwight's PowerPoint presentation. 
• Brian Kloppenborg '06, "Design, Construction and Implementation of a Radio Telescope to Study Neutral Hydrogen"
  • Click here to download a copy of Brian's PowerPoint presentation. 
• Heidi Miller '05 "Variable Mass Oscillator"
• Jill Schmitz '05 "A Measurement of Supernova Magnitude and Type Classification"
• Kyle Oakeson '05 "Characterizing the Performance of Baseball Bats"
• Jeff Tonniges '05 "Hall Effect in Low Density Plasma"
  • Click here to download a copy of Jeff's PowerPoint presentation. 
• Mike Mahoney '05 "The Physics of Light Scattering"
• Mike Rust '05 "Construction and Testing of an Electric Guitar Pick-up"
• Tyler Doane '05 "Magnetic Birefringence in a Liquid Crystal"
• Josh Koch '04 "The Construction and Investigation of an Axial Flow C02 Laser"
  • Click here to download a copy of Josh's PowerPoint presentation. 
• Samantha Hamernik '04 "FG Hydrae: CCD Observation of an Eclipsing Binary Star"
  • Click here to download a copy of Sam's PowerPoint presentation.
• Troy Schneider '04 "The Design, Construction, and Testing of a Tesla Coil"
  • Click here to download a copy of Troy's PowerPoint presentation.