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2008

How the mind tricks us: visualizations and visual illusions, at Phi Beta Kappa Public Lecture, Yale University (New Haven, CT), Wednesday, April 23, 2008:
talk_1390.pdf
Neurobiology and cognitive psychology have made great progress in understanding how the mind processes information – in particular visual information. The knowledge we can gain from these fields has important implications for the presentation of visual information and student learning
Subcellular surgery and nanosurgery, at SPS Lunch Seminar, Yale University (New Haven, CT), Wednesday, April 23, 2008:
talk_1389.pdf
We use femtosecond laser pulses to manipulate sub-cellular structures inside live and fixed cells. Using only a few nanojoules of laser pulse energy, we are able to selectively disrupt individual mitochondria in live bovine capillary epithelial cells, and cleave single actin fibers in the cell cytoskeleton network of fixed human fibro-blast cells. We have also used the technique to micromanipulate the neural network of C. Elegans, a small nematode. Our laser scalpel can snip individual axons without causing any damage to surrounding tissue, allowing us to study the function of individual... Read more about Subcellular surgery and nanosurgery
Subcellular surgery and nanosurgery, at Phi Beta Kappa Lecture, Pomona College (Claremont, CA), Tuesday, April 15, 2008:
talk_1387.pdf
We use femtosecond laser pulses to manipulate sub-cellular structures inside live and fixed cells. Using only a few nanojoules of laser pulse energy, we are able to selectively disrupt individual mitochondria in live bovine capillary epithelial cells, and cleave single actin fibers in the cell cytoskeleton network of fixed human fibro-blast cells. We have also used the technique to micromanipulate the neural network of C. Elegans, a small nematode. Our laser scalpel can snip individual axons without causing any damage to surrounding tissue, allowing us to study the function of individual... Read more about Subcellular surgery and nanosurgery
Wrapping light around a hair, at Physics Colloquium, Pomona College (Claremont, CA), Tuesday, April 15, 2008:
talk_1388.pdf
Can light be guided by a fiber whose diameter is much smaller than the wavelength of the light? Can we mold the flow of light on the micrometer scale so it wraps, say, around a hair? Until recently the answer to these questions was ‘no’. We developed a technique for drawing long, free-standing silica wires with diameters down to 50 nm that have a surface smoothness at the atomic level and a high uniformity of diameter. Light can be launched into these silica nanowires by optical evanescent coupling and the wires allow low-loss single-mode operation. They can be bent sharply, making it... Read more about Wrapping light around a hair
How the mind tricks us: visualizations and visual illusions, at Phi Beta Kappa Lecture, Pomona College (Claremont, CA), Monday, April 14, 2008:
talk_1386.pdf
Neurobiology and cognitive psychology have made great progress in understanding how the mind processes information – in particular visual information. The knowledge we can gain from these fields has important implications for the presentation of visual information and student learning
The scientific approach to teaching: Research as a basis for course design, at Teaching and Learning Committee Lunch Talk, Pomona College (Claremont, CA), Monday, April 14, 2008:
talk_1385.pdf
Discussions of teaching -- even some publications -- abound with anecdotal evidence. Our intuition often supplants a systematic, scientific approach to finding out what works and what doesn't work. Yet, research is increasingly demonstrating that our gut feelings about teaching are often wrong. In this talk I will discuss some research my group has done on gender issues in science courses and on the effectiveness of classroom demonstrations.
Femtosecond laser doping of silicon for photovoltaic devices, at MIT Energy Conference, MIT (Boson, MA), Friday, April 11, 2008:
talk_1453.pdf
Silicon is an abundant, stable, and efficient material for use in photovoltaic devices. However, it is costly to process, and is transparent at wavelengths longer than 1100nm, a spectral region containing 25% of solar energy. The limitations of silicon have spurred significant research into complex heterostructures that capture a greater fraction of sun’s energy. Engineering silicon to extend its effective spectral range, however, might offer a simpler way to increase the efficiency and decrease the cost of silicon-based photovoltaics. We report the creation of a thin, highly absorbing layer... Read more about Femtosecond laser doping of silicon for photovoltaic devices
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at HCF Reception, Madison Dearborn Partners (Chicago, IL), Wednesday, April 9, 2008:
talk_1384.pdf
I thought I was a good teacher until I discovered my students were just memorizing information rather than learning to understand the material. Who was to blame? The students? The material? I will explain how I came to the agonizing conclusion that the culprit was neither of these. It was my teaching that caused students to fail! I will show how I have adjusted my approach to teaching and how it has improved my students' performance significantly
Confessions of a converted lecturer, at Physics Education Research Lecture, University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN), Thursday, April 3, 2008:
talk_1381.pdf
I thought I was a good teacher until I discovered my students were just memorizing information rather than learning to understand the material. Who was to blame? The students? The material? I will explain how I came to the agonizing conclusion that the culprit was neither of these. It was my teaching that caused students to fail! I will show how I have adjusted my approach to teaching and how it has improved my students' performance significantly
Femtosecond laser micromachining, at Research talk (with video link to UTSI), University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN), Thursday, April 3, 2008:
talk_1382.pdf
When femtosecond laser pulses are focused tightly into a transparent material, the intensity in the focal volume can become high enough to cause nonlinear absorption of laser energy. The absorption, in turn, can lead to permanent structural or chemical changes. Such changes can be used for micromachining bulk transparent materials. Applications include data storage and the writing of waveguides and waveguide splitters in bulk glass, fabrication of micromechanical devices in polymers, and subcellular photodisruption inside single cells.

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