Physics instruction at Cal Poly is conducted in a variety of formats by skilled professionals who focus on building an inclusive and welcoming learning community so that all students achieve proficiency. Learn by Doing is a guiding principle that permeates the physics curriculum. A major emphasis on laboratory investigations, especially at the upper division, complements students' theoretical and computational grounding. At the lower division level, several sections of courses are taught in a studio environment using materials developed on the basis of research on the learning and teaching of physics.
Modified from physics.calpoly.edu
Senior Projects from 2011
Ferrofluids, James Patt
Guateca: A Carbon Footprint Viability Analysis, Kyle Reynolds
Achieving Laser Wavelength Stability for Use in Neutral Atom Quantum Computing, Jennifer H. Rushing
Human Powered Helicopter: Observing the Impacts of Ground Effect and Intermeshed Rotors, Shane Stowe
Senior Projects from 2010
Identification of Bottom Quark Jets in Pb+Pb collisions in ALICE at the LHC, Brandon Boswell
Bottom Quark Detection with the Electromagnetic Calorimeter at ALICE, Christopher Ryan Brown
Optical Coherence: Recreation of the Experiment of Thompson and Wolf, David Collins
Investigation of Track-Cluster matching vs Track-Cell matching in the ALICE detector at CERN, Kevin Coulombe
Design and Construction of a Thermal Diffusion Cloud Chamber, Alexander Donoghue
Determining Pulsation Period for an RR Lyrae Star, Leah M. Fabrizio
Construction and enhancement of stereo vacuum tube amplifier with precision machined enclosure, Nikolaus (Nik) Glazar
The Usage of Smartphones in the Calculation of Relativistic Time Dilation Effects at Meager Velocities, Leland Gregory
Experiments on de Vries Liquid Crystals: a Software Approach, Austin Havens
Search for Dark Matter Annihilation in M5, Daniel Jackson
A New Technique for Detecting Cosmic Strings in the COSMOS Survey Using Shapelet Decomposition, Kevin A. James
An Analysis of the Quasi Biennial Oscillation, Ozone and Thermal Damping, Kevin Jauregui
Study of Accretion Effects of Transients in LMXB System, Quentin Lamicq
Reflectivity of a Cholesteric Liquid Crystal, Justin Lawson
Extrasolar Planet Detection Through Analysis of K-Giant Radial Velocity Data, Floyd D. Linayao
Survey of Meteorite Samples for 92Nb, 98Tc, and 60Fe using Gamma Ray Spectroscopy, Robert Maxwell
Central Compact Objects, Trevor Meek
Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy: Meteorite Samples and the search for 98Tc, Kristopher L. Merolla
Cryogenic Refrigeration for Quantum Voltage Standards, Jeffrey Power
Construction and Improvement of a Scheffler Reflector and Thermal Storage Device, Jason Rapp
PREPARING A VACUUM CHAMBER TO TRAP ATOMS, AND THE PRINCIPLES OF A MAGNETO-OPTICAL TRAP, Grant Rayner