Invited Speakers
Fall Meeting of the Illinois Section of the AAPT and IACT
Oct. 10-11, 2008 - Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois

"Energy and the Structure of Matter:
Common Threads from Physics to Chemistry"

Gregg Swackhamer
Glenbrook North High School, Northbrook, Illinois

Friday banquet speaker

Students generally have difficulty explaining how particles and energy account for the behavior of matter as we observe it with our senses. Phenomena such as diffusion, phase changes, chemical changes, and so on, are often problematic for students even after we have done our best as teachers. In addition, physics and chemistry books sometimes contradict one another in their treatment of energy and bonding, whether physical, chemical, or nuclear.

Because particle models and energy are common to physics and chemistry, our science department decided to attempt to address these learning issues by designing a physics course to serve in part as an introduction to chemistry and a chemistry course designed to use models from physics explicitly, weaving structure-of-matter and energy “threads” through these courses. This presentation describes the rationale for our work and our progress so far.

"Remote Access Telescope"

Albert Grauer
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona

1:00-1:30 pm, Friday, October 10

The NFO WebScope is a web-based observatory that has been in use since December 2004. The telescope is a 0.6-m Group 128 Cassegrain reflector with a new drive and control system. By optical modifications and appropriate image treatment, we have been able to reach a differential photometric accuracy of about 0.005 magnitudes per observation in work on eclipsing binary stars. In addition, middle school, high school, college, graduate students, and public school teachers use this telescope to conduct their astronomical research projects under a NASA IDEAS grant. Collaborators include A. W. Neely and C.H.S. Lacy.

"Wind Energy"

John Fulton
Horizon Wind Energy, Bloomington, Illinois

4:00-5:00 pm, Friday, October 10

A brief introduction to wind, history of wind energy use, how a wind turbine is used to make electricity, and wind energy and the environment.

In 2005 the ISU Solar Car team successfully completed the North American Solar Challenge, a 2500-mile “rayce” from Austin, Texas to Calgary Alberta. This year the team updated and improved essentially all of the components of the car in preparation for the 2008 Solar Challenge. Even though the team was forced to withdraw due to a motor malfunction, the project was still a big success from the perspective of student learning and gaining experience. We are currently working to resolve the motor problem in preparation for a track rayce in May of 2009 and to long distance road rayces in 2010.

"Photovoltaics for Today and Tomorrow"

David Marx
Physics Department, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois

10:00-10:30 am, Saturday, October 11

In the United States, renewable energy sources currently provide around 7% of our energy needs. Around 85% is provided by fossil fuels, which are in increasing demand, largely imported, increasingly expensive, and a primary source of carbon emissions. Although Germany and Japan are the world’s leaders in the use of solar energy, the United States hopes to catch up with both utility-sized projects and distributed systems on homes and businesses. This presentation will focus on past and present efforts to make high efficiency, low cost solar cells to provide a greater percentage of tomorrow’s energy needs.