Phillip Barbolla explains his research to an interested student. What is life like at Roanoke College? Busy! A full weekend got started on Friday, 10/9, at Fintel Library with the Experiential Learning Showcase. All three MCSP disciplines were well represented as Phillip Barbolla from math, Dio Beck from physics, and Natalie Wilkinson from computer science…
As part of the West Salem Elementary afterschool enrichment program, physics majors Linnea Kremer (2017, Left), Sarah Dvorak (2016, Center), and Hannah Lyle (2017, Right) led a course on physics and chemistry concepts in February 2015. This was the fourth semester in a row that Roanoke College physics students and/or professors had taught an enrichment…
Bob Hudson, a Physics instructor from 1962 to 1996 at Roanoke College, passed away this week. The word “character” describes Bob as well as one word can ever capture a person. I’m using the word in both the “lovable eccentric” sense as well as the “moral integrity” sense – I think Bob would appreciate the…
Roanoke College has a long history of basketball success. Current men’s coach Page Moir and recently retired women’s coach Susan Dunagan hold the records for most ODAC conference wins. A lesser known, but more important, tradition is MCSP majors in the starting lineup. The list includes James (JP) Pennix, the well-named Ken Sine, Bryant Lee,…
There is an old saying that “the camera does not lie.” Putting aside the fact that PhotoShop does, the use of high-speed photography has revealed some fascinating facts. MCSP has such a camera; although it is very low resolution, we did capture a rubber band oscillating and verified the mathematical solution (found in Math 332)…
What do our graduates do with a physics or mathematics major? For years, one of our answers has been “assistant director of the FBI” but until recently I did not know the details of our distinguished alumnus, William A. (Al) Bayse. Some surreptitious sleuthing unearthed excerpts from books about the FBI, including recently declassified information…
Amanda Wright is a Physics major at Roanoke College. A desire to do research brought her to Roanoke College, and she has always had an interest in marine life. The chance to combine the two in a summer project was too good to pass up, even if it was not always clear how the finances…
Recent Roanoke MCSP graduate Elizabeth Ciskowski is one of nine new teachers this fall at The O’Neal School, a private college preparatory school in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Lizzie graduated in Spring 2014 from Roanoke College with a double major in Mathematics and Physics. From her frequent Facebook posts about the start of her term there, we’re…
For senior physics students Cam Cassady (middle right) and Chris Valentine (far right), the summer was spent engaged in research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory near Knoxville, Tennessee. Their research projects were a result of the Visiting Faculty Program funded by the US Department of Energy. Under the direction of ORNL research scientist Matthew Blackston…
Many of our best students were honored at the 2013-14 Roanoke College Awards Banquet on April 2. Senior Scholar awards went to TJ Kemper in Computer Science, Jon Marino in Mathematics, and Rachel Andrews in Physics. Maya Shende won the Frank Munley Physics Award, and Connor Sampson the Physics Society Award. Jon Marino won the…
