I teach coursework in physics. Previously, I was active with the medical physics program and served as de facto advisor for the Minor in Geology program. My research was in numerical modeling in biological physics.
The United States, by far, has more tornadoes than any other country, with more than 1,000 each year. Understanding the physics of how tornadoes form, evolve, and die requires an understanding of adiabatic heating and cooling, capping inversions and potential energy, rear flank downdrafts and dry slots on the hook echo Doppler radar signature of a tornado, mesocyclones and wall clouds, sky color in tornadic weather, moisture transport in the atmosphere, wind shear, updrafts and downdrafts. I will offer this special topics class if several students are interested. You must have completed PHY 3080 Physical Oceanography before taking this course. (The math we discuss will not be excessive, however.) Part of this course will involve certification as a trained weather spotter for the National Weather Service. If you are interested in this course being offered, please let me know.
Algebra-based review of the entire year of introductory physics, MCAT Physics prep is a major part of this General Education approved physics course. Exams are multiple choice, with 59 questions (stand-alone and as passages) in 95 minutes. Fast calculations, estimation, and memorization techniques are stressed. Lab activites in radiation biology and cardiac electrophysiology. Invited speakers demonstrate applications of physics in the medical field. The class is very informal, with time for students to talk about career prep, other course work, medical interests, etc.
Important note for Premeds and Preprofessional Students: PHY 1310 cannot be used in place of an intro physics course if your degree program at Oakland University requires a physics course. You must take the designated physics courses (e.g. PHY 1510-1520 or PHY 1010-1020). However, if your program does NOT require a specific intro physics course, you may have some flexibility: Consider checking with your medical school of choice (MD or DO program) to see if they will allow you to substitute PHY 1310 for one of your intro physics courses for admission. Some programs will allow this, while others will not. Physician Assistant programs are generally more strict about requirements, and so they are very unlikely to allow this. It also seems unlikely that optometry programs would allow the substitution, for obvious reasons. Dental programs, like medical programs, may allow this for specific schools so, again, you would need to check on a case by case basis.
We will use minimal calculus, so a pre-calculus course should be sufficient preparation. Please contact me for any necessary registration overrides. The course focuses on seafloor geology, ocean currents and the marine environment, glaciers, meteorology and cloud formation, and climate science. We will also discuss the physics of weather, including severe storms and tornadoes. The course can be taken as a stand-alone course, and it also counts towards the major and minor in Physics, the minor in Geology, has been approved as an elective for the Environmental Science program, and with a petition of exception can count towards the minor in Sustainability Engineering.
This Honors Class science course focuses on the physics and science of heart arrhythmia and cancer. Cancer science will be the majority of what we discuss. The role of the caregiver and hospice will also be emphasized. Premeds will appreciate this course, but because these conditions are so prevalent everyone can benefit from the course. Our text will be Siddhartha Mukherjee's Emperor of All Maladies.
I enjoy teaching and taking coursework for personal enrichment in psychology. Unfortunately, I no longer have the time to be active in research, but I recommend that all students try to work on a summer research project-- if for no other reason than the friends you will make in the process. :)
2024 Dr. Puwal's article on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in nuclear weapons was published in NATO Review. This online magazine published by NATO provides a forum for opinion, debate, and analysis on security issues. It is noteworthy that NATO Review publishes only a small number of articles, and the article published immediately before this was written by the President of the Czech Republic.
2022-2024 As part of her Honors College thesis, Kylie Bedard continues working on the problem of whether the shape of an action potential in phase space correlates to the rate of spontaneous termination of fibrillation. We were very surprised to find that it does not. Kylie has also explored the role that chatbots and AI can play in research.
2020-2022 Literally nothing interesting happened in the world of science.
2018-2019 Grace Goodrich, Shelby Gulda, Sharon Taragaturi, Alyson Light, Jason Medcoff, and Christina Ramotowski looked at whether the size and shape of phase space trajectories correlate to the rate of spontaneous termination of fibrillation. Their work was presented at the 2018 Meeting of Minds Conference. Grace has since graduated from nursing school, and Christina has graduated from medical school.
2015-2017 Courtney Clark and Erin Feeney of the Biology program developed a model of electrical defibrillation with class IV antiarrhythmics (calcium channel blockers). Both have since graduated from medical school.
2013-2014 Michael Kenney in the Health Science program assisted with summarizing the zoo of numerical models of fibrillation. Michael has since graduated from a PA program.
2011-2012 Natalya Melkus, a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Biology program, developed a model of ventricular fibrillation to determine the key factors that can be used to guide the design of a defibrillator. Her work was presented at the 2012 Fall Meeting of the Ohio Region Section of the American Physical Society. Natalya has since graduated from a nursing program (yay!).
Due to so many recent requests for letters of reference, please note my new policy:
I am willing to consider writing letters of reference for polite, academically mature students who perform well in class, if you give me sufficient time to write the letter. Letters of reference are a courtesy, not an entitlement.
You must have taken at least two different courses with me, including at least one of the following: PHY 1310 Physics in Medicine, PHY 3070 Geophysics, PHY 3080 Physical Oceanography, and/or an Honors College course. Alternatively, you must have worked as a grader/teaching assistant for my course.
I will not provide letters of reference for international programs, for employment opportunities (except for OU campus employment), nor will I provide a letter for you to keep as a reference "just in case".
You will find that some of the best letters are written by faculty with whom you have engaged in research. So my best advice is to try to work on summer research projects with multiple faculty to build the kind of professional references that you will need for employment or graduate education. You will find it is best to have at least five people willing to write detailed professional references.
An academic genealogy traces your roots back through your academic advisor. Dr. Puwal earned his doctorate from Oakland University in Biomedical Sciences with a specialization in Medical Physics in 2008. His mentor was
Bradley Roth - PhD Physics, Vanderbilt University (1987)
Going back from student to advisor from Dr. Roth, we have
John Wikswo, Jr. - PhD Physics, Stanford University (1975)
William Fairbank - PhD Physics, Yale University (1948)
Cecil Lane - PhD Physics, McGill University (1929)
Etienne Bieler - PhD Physics, University of Cambridge (1923)
James Chadwick - PhD Physics, University of Cambridge (1921) - Discoverer of the neutron
Ernest Rutherford - University of Cambridge - "father of nuclear physics"
Ernest, apart from being the father of nuclear physics and the pride of New Zealand, didn’t actually earn a doctorate.
J.J. Thomson - Discoverer of the electron
John Strutt (Lord Rayleigh) - Rayleigh scattering explains why the sky is blue
Sir George Stokes - Stokes theorem, Navier-Stokes equations in fluid dynamics
William Hopkins - Discovered melting point increases with pressure; Notable for two of his other students, James Clerk Maxwell and Lord Kelvin
Adam Sedgwick - Mostly notable for one of his other students, Charles Darwin
Thomas Jones
Thomas Postlethwaite
Stephen Whisson
Walter Taylor
Robert Smith
Roger Cotes - First introduced what is known today as Euler’s formula
Isaac Newton - Co-inventor of calculus, Formulated laws of Newtonian mechanics, Universal Law of Gravity
Isaac Barrow - Discoverer of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus
According to the Mathematics Genealogy Project, Isaac Barrow wasn’t Newton’s formal advisor. Pulleyn was his official tutor, but it is said that Barrow had the greatest influence on Newton as a student. Isaac Barrow formally studied the classics. In parallel and after graduation he learned his mathematics under Vincenzo Viviani.
Vincenzo Viviani
Galileo Galilei - the principle of inertia, discovering the Galilean moons of Jupiter,
Ostilio Ricci
Niccolo Tartaglia - Self-taught in mathematics, first to publish a translation of Euclid’s Elements into a modern European language.
Most academic genealogies stop at Tartaglia. According to academictree.org, Galileo has an alternative connection. Galileo was a student of
Guidobaldo del Monte a Mathematician who was influential in ensuring Galileo had patrons, leading to his professorship at the University of Padua. del Monte's connection to Galileo is, therefore, indirect. But from him we can resume an academic genealogy of direct study
Frederico Comandino, Mathematician
Francesco Maurolico, Mathematician and Astronomer
Antonio Maurolico, father of Francesco
Konstantinos Laskaris
Johannes Argyropoulos, whose impressive career includes one other student of note: Leonardo da Vinci
Office: 186-D MSC, 146 Library Drive, Department of Physics, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan
Email: smpuwal2@oakland.edu