1. First year lab projects

2. Structure of first year lab Opt./Elec.DemonstrationComputing First Term Second Term Third Term | | | | | | Monday 14.00 - 17.00 Thursdays 09.00 - 12.00 Tuesday 09.00 - 12.00 Fridays 14.00 - 17.00 a b c x y z O/E D C D C C D C D D C D C | | | | Short Experiments | Projects Open Days | Introductory Sessions Maths analysis

3. Projects: Timetable in term 3 First meeting with your students Open days Schedule is mostly free in weeks 2 to 7

4. Demonstrators: actions This term: write two project proposals, due March 3 procure/prepare any hard to find equipment, software etc. Next term: meet with each pair of students (1 hour/project/week) attend department open day June 17 complete continuous assessment form by June 18

5. Project ideas Projects can be experimental or theoretical/computational Look over scripts for short experiments to see what level students are used to. (Short experiments are 6 hours) Check previous years projects for ideas, http://www.imperial.ac.uk/physicsuglabs/firstyearlab/projects/previousprojects Too ambitious? You should be able to complete the project in less than 10 hours.

6. Project Ideas What is physics? Mathematical description of the natural world, starting from basic physical laws. An ideal project will have something to calculate and something to measure. This is not always possible. Project could: Illustrate basic physics in a interesting way, or Involve important/useful experimental, computational or theoretical techniques Students need to be able to present their project results on a poster at the open days

7. Project examples Bat box (experimental) Build an ultrasonic receiver to mix bat chirps down to audio range. Physics: heterodyne measurements (okay) Techniques: electronics (okay) Presentation: Excellent, easy to make an interesting poster w/ audio Counting without counting (theory/ experiment) Measure electron charge by statistics of small current fluctuations. Mechanical analogy could be dropping ball bearings on scale. Physics: counting statistics, fluctuations (excellent) Techniques: Monte Carlo? Data acquisition? (good) Presentation: Very good, easy to make an interesting poster.

8. Project examples Helmholtz coils (theory/computing/experiment) Calculate/measure field from Helmholtz pair. Physics: Electromagnetism, elliptic functions (excellent) Techniques: Hall probe (fair) Presentation: Difficult to make interesting (fair) Rubber band heat engine: Physics: excellent, Tech: good, Pres: good Phase locking: Physics: excellent, Tech: fair, Pres: fair/good Electronic fireflies- self organized criticality: Physics: excellent, Tech: good, Pres: excellent Metal detector: Physics: fair, Tech: v. good, Pres: good CD/DVDs and diffraction: Physics: good, Tech: fair, Pres: good Robots?: Physics: none?, Tech: electronics?, Pres: good

9. Less-conventional projects Web-based project? Video? Group projects: supervise 4 students doing one project, rather than 2 individual projects

10. Assessment