Session 1: June 24 – July 8

The Mammal Family Tree: Understanding Evolution through Phylogenetic Reconstruction

Proj. Leaders: Mariska Batavia, Department of Integrative Biology - & - Sonal Singal , Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Phylogenies are evolutionary family trees, and are a valuable and widely used tool in modern evolutionary biology. Students will learn how biologists construct phylogenies, and will use both morphological and molecular sequence data to create a mammalian phylogeny of their own. We will also explore why phylogenetic reconstruction is so important to our understanding of evolution.

Tracking the Shipment of a Good from the Factory to Your Home

Proj. Leader: Celeste Chavis, Department of Civil Engineering

The purpose of this project is to become familiar with how goods are transported from all over the globe and into your local store. The transporting of goods is known as goods movement. The United States gets the majority of its products from abroad (imports). These goods are shipped by large ships (some as large as 3 football fields) to US ports. The west coast ports, in fact, are the nation’s busiest ports due to the increased trade from China. Once these goods reach the US, they are transported across the country through a combination of trains and trucking.

The goal of this project is to pick a good that you use regularly (say your cell phone or ipod) and track this product from the factory to your local store.

Requirements & Goals

Develop a clear understanding of how goods move across the globe.

Describe some of the challenges that the goods movement industry faces and how these challenges can be reflected in the price of your product.

Focus on the intermodal aspect of transportation (describe how the industry uses ships, trains, and trucks to move items).

Present your findings to the class in a creative way. Consider a poster or even a 3-D model of how your good made it to your home.

Deliverables

Paper

The paper should be 2 pages, typed 12-point font. Pictures and figures do not count towards the page limits. The paper should be written as to an audience of scientists. (You can be more creative during the presentation.) Be sure to answer all of the questions posed above.

Presentation

The presentation should last approximately 10 minutes and should summarize the paper. Be creative! Now that you know how the good that you chose to study made it to the store, find an interesting way to present this to the class. Use visual aids. Don’t forget to dress in professional attire!

Timeline

Date

Due at Beginning of Meeting

Agenda for Meeting

Things to Do Before Next Meeting

Tues 6/24

Go over project.

Decide on a good to study & begin to collect information on how the finished product reaches America.

Thurs 6/26

Name of good to be studied

Answer questions & discuss how goods reach America

Finish collecting information on the movement of the good. Discuss paper organization.

Tues 7/1

Outline of paper

Work on paper & continue to research. Answer any questions.

Begin drafting the paper and discuss presentation format.

Thurs 7/3

Working drafts of paper & presentation

Go through paper and presentation. Answer any last questions.

Polish & perfect the paper and presentation!

Tues 7/8

Final paper & presentation

Probability and Paradox—Great Expectations?

Proj. Leader: Patrick LaVictoire, Department of Mathematics

Let’s say I had an infinite pile of money, and offered to play a game with you; I’d flip a coin as many times as it took to come up tails, paying you $1 for the first flip, $2 for the second, $4 for the third, $8 for the fourth, and so on. How much would you be willing to pay upfront for the right to play?

According to a standard mathematical calculation, you should be willing to pay any amount of money to play this game; but in reality, it seems crazy to pay more than a couple of bucks. Is the math wrong, or is common sense wrong?

We’ll pick up some probability theory and see in what way each is right after all; in the process, we’ll figure out exactly how doomed a persistent gambler is in a casino, and if there’s any point in playing the lottery when the jackpots get enormous...

Is the Internet Secure Against an Attack from a “Quantum Computer”?

Proj. Leader: Chris Herdman, Department of Physics

A computer that operates according to the laws of quantum mechanics (the physics of very small things) could solve problems that can’t be solved by the largest supercomputers in the world. One such unsolvable problem is factoring large numbers into their prime factors; state of the art internet encryption schemes use the fact that large numbers are hard to factor to securely transmit private information. We will write a computer program that can encrypt information and then test this scheme by writing a program that attempts to break the encryption. We’ll then investigate how quickly a standard computer, a supercomputer, and a quantum computer can break internet encryption schemes.

How to Tell the Shapes of Space: a Taste of Topology

Proj. Leader: Shawn McDougal, Department of Mathematics

Our group will explore the Euler characteristic, including—as time permits—the characterization of regular polyhedra, the classification of compact surfaces, and generalizations to higher dimensions.

Understanding electric circuits provides a healthy intuition for approaching many physical systems. In this project, students gain an appreciation for circuits involving inductors and transformers. The first session is an introduction to Ohm’s law, using a simple resistive circuit. In following sessions, inductors are introduced. An inductor is a circuit element based on self-induced magnetic fields. The fact that magnetic fields can be coupled between two inductors introduces the concept of the transformer. Although power must be conserved, a transformer has the ability to create very large voltages through a simple ratio of coil windings. In a Jacob’s Ladder, a transformer is used to produce electric fields high enough to force air to ionize and conduct an impressive arc. In the final session, students explore high voltages in a Jacob’s Ladder, and find conditions for which an electric arc is possible.

Scavenging Light from Materials: the Science and Operation of a Laser

Proj. Leader: Franklin Wong, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Course Objectives / Questions to “Answer”:

1. What is a solid? What is a “material”?
2. What is “materials science”?
3. What is Light? What is a photon?
4. Why does light come in different colors?
5. What is so special about a laser? How is it different from a light bulb?
6. How do we achieve “lasing”?
7. What is the most common color of a laser pointer?
8. Why are blue lasers so rare? Even if they are available, why are they so expensive?
9. What are some tricks we can play with light?

In the process of exploring and answering these questions, I hope to introduce you to some general concepts about materials and how they interact with as well as generate radiation, i.e. light. The intention is to begin to discover how modern technologies are by-and-large governed by very basic fundamental scientific principles. The notion of treating light as both a physical wave (like sound) and a particle (like an atom) will be introduced. This is the famous “wave-particle duality” of everything. We will discuss how light can be extracted from materials. To this end, we will consider light as packets of energy, and explain the difference between the ground and excited states of a material. Physical concepts will be emphasized in favor of mathematical details.

Session 2: July 10 – July 24

Computer Aided Design of Synthetic Biological Systems

Proj. Leader: Douglas Densmore, Department of EECS

Students will learn about the emerging field of synthetic biology and how design tools are becoming more and more useful in the design of biological systems. The students will learn about how lab work is done and which parts of the process can benefit from design automation.

Exploring Microbial Diversity in Your Fridge! What Will We Discover?

Proj. Leader: Daniela Goltsman, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management

Using microbiological techniques and your favorite spot in the house, you will learn about microbial diversity in our everyday life. The lab experience will be focused in culturing, visualizing and identifying bacterial classes isolated from your refrigerator. We will use fluorescent microscopy (FISH) to identify different classes of organisms. The class will use our group’s lab facilities in Hilgard 113.

Is the Internet Secure Against an Attack from a “Quantum Computer”?

Proj. Leader: Chris Herdman, Department of Physics

A computer that operates according to the laws of quantum mechanics (the physics of very small things) could solve problems that can’t be solved by the largest supercomputers in the world. One such unsolvable problem is factoring large numbers into their prime factors; state of the art internet encryption schemes use the fact that large numbers are hard to factor to securely transmit private information. We will write a computer program that can encrypt information and then test this scheme by writing a program that attempts to break the encryption. We’ll then investigate how quickly a standard computer, a supercomputer, and a quantum computer can break internet encryption schemes.

Basic Strategy in Blackjack

Proj. Leader: Ryan Hynd, Department of Mathematics

Students will use probability theory to understand odds in blackjack. Time permitting, they may also explore card counting techniques.

In this project, students will learn about the different types of radioactivity and how we can measure radiation. We will use a cloud chamber to see the tracks of particles emitted by (weak) radioactive sources. An overview will also be given on how useful (but sometimes dangerous) radiation can be, from medical application to characterization of dark matter detectors. The students will in particular perform an energy calibration of a CDMS dark matter detector using a barium source.

Living in the Age of Silicon

Proj. Leader: Franklin Wong, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Course Objectives / Questions to “Answer”:

1. What is materials science? How do we “engineer” materials?
2. What makes for a useful engineering material?
3. What are the properties of silicon?
4. How can the properties of silicon be modified and controlled?
5. What is an electronic device? What is a transistor?
6. What determines the speed of your computer?
7. Why is silicon such a gift?
8. How do we “make” and “see” small things on the nanoscale?

The exploitation of silicon has revolutionized electronics and computing. It is the best example of how the physical sciences of a material are so well studied and understood that many of its promises have been realized in the form of engineered technologies. Also, besides processor technology, it’s difficult to find another technology that has continued to achieve huge advances in so short an amount of time. The only thing I can think of is memory technology. In this short course, I will attempt to illustrate what factors made this revolution possible, how the materials challenges were solved, and why further advancement in the future may be much more difficult. The intention is to through the example of silicon, introduce you to the field of science and engineering—particularly how science is bridged to society through engineering. With as little math (and work in general) as possible, we will try to learn as much science as possible.