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Physics Research

SOAR Project

Research

Honors

The Honors Program at Moravian University offers Seniors of proven ability the opportunity to pursue a year-long study of special interest under the personal guidance of a faculty member who serves as the Honors Project Advisor. While Honors students usually choose a topic in their major, they may select another academic area or even a combination of areas. Honors study is invaluable preparation for graduate school; the experience has also proven to useful to students entering the professional world. Honors students should devote at least one-fourth of their academic activity to their projects.

Past Honors Projects in Physics / Earth Science

Year Student Project Title Advisor(s)
2020 Gavin Kemery Photometric Analysis of Variable Star Systems Ruth Malenda
2019 Matthew Conners Investigating the Mechanical Quantities of an Inelastic Collision Ruth Malenda / Kelly Krieble
2019 Bryan Harvey Fragment Alignment Analysis in Simulated Nuclear Collisions Kelly Krieble
2019 Vaughn Tempesta Physics: Fear of a Queer Universe Ruth Malenda / Robert LaRue 
2018 Rachel Myers Exploration of Potential Energy Functions of the 4³П₀ Electronic State of NaCs  Ruth Malenda / Shannon Talbott
2010 Matt Bross Flow Profile of the Radial Hydraulic Jump Kelly Krieble
2010 Ben Sofka Segregation of Granular Materials in a Viscous Medium Kelly Krieble
2009 Andrew Abraham The Crystallite Size Distribution in 2-D Beds of Randomly Close-Packed, Binary Beads Kelly Krieble,
Yong W. Kim
2009 Deanne Dvorak Mössbauer Spectroscopy Investigation of Ge Substituted Cobalt Ferrite Kelly Krieble
2008 Ryan Cress The Effect of Particle Mass on the Dynamics of Avalanches on Three-Dimensional Granular Piles Kelly Krieble
2007 Matthew Devlin A Study of Ga Substituted Cobalt Ferrite Using Mössbauer Spectroscopy Kelly Krieble
2006 Casey J. Hoffman An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Physical Parameters on the Circular Hydraulic Jump Kelly Krieble
2005 Aditya Khanna Exploring the Nature of Environmental Feedback in Daisyworld Kelly Krieble (physics) and Gordon Williams (math)
2004 Anthony G. Costantino Foy, Peter, Dana: An Acoustical Study Joseph Powlette
2003 Aaron W. Buckner An Experimental Investigation into the Effect of a Rotational Non-Inertial Reference Frame on the Position of the Hydraulic Jump in a Radial Flow Kelly Krieble
2003 John F. Lesoine A Rotational Study of Exchange Bias and Coercivity in FeMn/Co Thin Films Joseph Powlette
2003 Steven J. Sweeney An Empirical Investigation of the Effectiveness of the Magneto Optical Kerr Effect in Thin Film Investigations Joseph Powlette, Kelly Krieble
2001 Lauren Chaykin Investigation of the Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect in Thin Multi-Layered Magnetic Films Joseph Powlette
2001 Laurie Sibbach Experimental Studies in the NaK Triplet States John Huennekens
2000 David R. Hart An Experimental Study of Quench Rates of Amorphous Materials Using Mössbauer Spectroscopy Kelly Krieble
2000 Chad N. Weiler Investigation of Multi-Layered Ferromagnetic Thin Films Using Magneto-Optical Kerr Effect Joseph Powlette,
A. Reilly
1999 Megan R. Leahy An Experimental Study of the Spontaneous Amplification of Light in the Photorefractive Polymer PVK:TNF:ECZ:DMNPAPBE David McGee
1995 Thea Elizabeth Dravecz CCD Imaging of Selected Reference and Double Stars Joe Gerencher
1989 Matthew John Burnard Monte Carlo Simulation of Electron Transport in a Helium Gas Y. Kim
1988 Ignacio Mosqueira Computer Simulation for Shock Formation in a Free Expansion Flow Y. Kim
1988 Michael Thomas Witkowski A Study of Resonant Responses in a Nonlinear Oscillator Jack Ridge
1986 Kelly Kreible Mössbauer Spectroscopy of Amorphous Materials as a Function of Temperature near Their Curie Temperature Joseph Powlette
1985 Harris Hoke An Investigation of the Ferromagnetic and Paramagnetic Mossbauer Spectra of Fe32Ni36Cr14P12B6 Joseph Powlette
1982 Joseph P. Lynn A Study of Crystallization of Amorphous Iron Bearing Alloys by X-ray Diffraction Joseph Powlette
1982 Christopher A. Shuman A Multivariate Statistical Analysis of the Interrelationships Between Selected Physical and Chemical Variables of Coals Sampled from a Five County Region of Western Pennsylvania Joe Gerencher
1980 John E. Snyder The Mössbauer Effect of an Amorphous Iron-Containing Material near the Curie Temperature Joseph Powlette
1977 E. Thomas Moyer Use of an Electron Conversion Detector for Mössbauer Corrosion Studies Joseph Powlette
1977 Frederick S. Patt The Motion of Charged Particles in Selected Electromagnetic Fields Jack Ridge
1971 Robert Paul Flicker Determination of the Neel Temperature of Antiferromagnetic FeF3 Using Mössbauer Spectroscopy Joseph Powlette
1969 Larry Frederick Sine Experimental Study of Mössbauer Source Preparation Joseph Powlette
1968 Robert J. Semper The Mössbauer Effect: An Experimental Study of the Hyperfine Structure in Fe57 Joseph Powlette
1963 H. Joseph Trodahl A Study of the Variation of the Hall Effect with Magnetic Field in a Single Crystal Germanium Sample Jack Ridge
1960 Joseph L. Powlette A Study of Thermocouples Jack Ridge

SOAR

SOAR (Student Opportunities for Academic Research) is a Moravian University program which provides stipends, travel allowances, and research expenses to support students, in any discipline, who are engaged in scholarly or creative activity with faculty members. Since scholarship takes different forms in different disciplines, SOAR is designed to be as general and inclusive as possible. SOAR also serves the Moravian University community by keeping it in touch with organizations that develop and support undergraduate research.

Past SOAR Projects

Semester Student Project Title Advisor(s)
Summer 2015 Matthew Dill Effects of Vibration of the NaK Molecule on Changes in the Rotational State Due to Collisions with Helium Ruth Malenda
Summer 2015 Rebecca Hamel and Ljuboslav Boskic Computer Interfacing of a Granular Material Experiment Kelly Krieble
Summer 2010 Andrew Watson Mössbauer Spectroscopy of Cobalt Ferrites Kelly Krieble
Summer 2005 Neil Dobracki Computer Interfacing of a Granular Flow Experiment Kelly Krieble

Summer 2002

Aditya Khanna The Dynamics of a Sputtering (Under Powered) Laser Kelly Krieble
Summer 2000 Cory Lowe Investigation of Pattern Formation Phenomena in Fluid Dynamics - The Hydraulic Jump Kelly Krieble
Summer 1999 Charles Gero Network Distribution of Seismic Data and Event Registration Joseph Gerencher