The computer work includes programming, computer interfacing and computer algebra systems. The modern lab has been built up over the last 8 years by Greg Derry through a delicate balance of funding and in-house construction. We now have 15 working experiments in that lab that cover most of the topics and techniques of modern physics. Helene Perry has done a similar job with the optics lab. With the arrival of Joe Ganem, whose expertise is optics, we hope to be able to make additional improvements in this lab.
Many students gain additional laboratory experience by participating in research.
The computer interfacing course designed by Bernie Weigman introduces students to the use of the computer to monitor and control experiments. Bernie has published articles and given papers on the experiments he has devised for this lab. After Bernie's course, our students continue to apply their computer interfacing skills in their upper level laboratories. Two students presented the results of their final project in this course at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research meeting in Salt Lake City in 1993. The physics department has also moved to the forefront in the use of computer algebra systems to solve physics problems.