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From Physlab.lums.edu.pk
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The following are the goals of the SSE Physics Lab:
1. Preparing an institutional and national platform for student-driven experimental research in physics.
2. Indigenous development of experiments for the laboratory and demonstrations for the classroom environment.
3. Training SSE students in world class experimental physics through required and optional lab courses.
4. Sharing expertise, resources and training in physics education with sister institutions and organizations in the country and the region.
Here is a review of the activities and achievements of the Physlab in March 2012, four years after its establishment.
National Laboratory Immersion Program 2012 and Third Annual Open House
(1-3 June 2012)
The Physics Department is organizing a national workshop for students, researchers and teachers associated with the field of physics education and experimental physical sciences. The immersion activity will allow participants to learn about acquiring, processing and presenting physical data acquired from physical processes.
Please visit this page for details of the workshop.
Important Physlab news
- Common laboratory practices sometimes yield profound insights into the mathematical richness of simple systems. A vibrating string is one such system. For a scientific passer-by, the string's motion obeys the linear wave equation but for the probing investigator, the vibrating string can reveal mathematically and visually attractive phenomena such as fold-over, jumps, hysteresis, saddle-node bifurcations, super and sub harmonic resonance. In the Physics Lab (Physlab)'s latest work on physics education, we have demonstrated a clear ability to resolve these minute, subtle effects using strategically placed cameras, projective geometry and image processing. Multiple time scales method has been used to predict the behavior of the string under various regimes. The experimental observations match analytical predictions to a high degree of precision. The work has been done under Dr. Sabieh Anwar's supervision by Development Engineer Umer Hassan and the electrical engineering undergraduate student, Zubair Usman, who worked as a summer researcher. It is now set for publication in a forthcoming issue of American Journal of Physics (AJP) published by the American Association of Physics Teachers.
David Jackson, Editor of AJP claims that the articles published in Journal "are understandable by almost any physicist, most physics graduate students, many undergraduate physics students, and a good number of other scientists as well. As such, AJP may well be one of the most widely read physics journals in the world, giving it tremendous reach.”
- The Physlab participates in the Pak-China Business Forum in Islamabad between 15 and 18 April 2012.
- The Higher Education Commission has now provided funding of Rs. 20 million to our research group. The three-year funding will allow the P.I., Dr. Sabieh Anwar, to establish some key experimental facilities, notably atomic layer deposition by sputtering and a high-end pulsed laser for time-dependent optical studies. The project will open up new directions in magnetic landscape mapping, magnetic microscopes, and magnetic resonance at the nano-scale.
- The Physics Department arranged an open-house for teachers of B.Sc. Honours / M.Sc. and M.Phil. on 25 October 2011 at 4 pm.
- Afaq Habib Piracha is awarded with the best student presenter at the International Conference on Nanomaterials and Nanoethics, held at COMSATS IIT, Lahore Campus between 1 and 3 December 2011. He presented his work on nano-ferrites prepared by sol-gel autocombustion.
- NILOP (National Institute of Lasers and Optics), Islamabad builds a high-power nitrogen laser for SSE Physics. The 150 kW ultra-violet emission in pulsed mode with pulse lengths of the order of 10 ns, will open up new explorations in probing of dynamical chemical, biological and physical processes. Dr. Tayyab Imran is currently travelling to Islamabad for training and transport of this valuable donation, made possible after lengthy conversations, thanks to several well-wishers of LUMS SSE.
- In September 2011, The Physics Laboratory SSE deployed select freshmen experiments in the | undergraduate physics laboratory at Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology. Under the agreement, equipment and materials designed and built at LUMS, with accompanying monographs, software and instructor resources were transferred. Muhammad Wasif and Muhammad Yusuf traveled to GIKI, set up the experiments and provided essential training to teachers at GIKI. This represents a rare happening in Pakistan, where one University shares its technology and learning resources with another University, and has now happened for the second time in quick succession, following a similar agreement with SUPARCO's IST. The goal of this initiative of resource sharing is to germinate seeds of world-class education in scientific experimentation throughout Pakistan.
- Magnets are ubiquitous. Composite magnets using expensive rare earths and strongly magnetic iron promise to enhance the energy storage capability, enabling high density magnetic storage for hard disks and computer memory. In one such attempt, researchers Dr. Shahid Ramay and Dr. Sabieh Anwar of SSE Physics, while helping their Pakistani and Chinese colleagues, have shown that samarium-cobalt and iron can be coupled through quantum exchange forces in titanium metal, enhancing the energy storage capacity. The key is the ability to grow these multi-layered structures, layer by layer, with the help of magnetron sputtering. The work is now published in Journal of Modern Physics B, 25, 2957-2963 (2011).
- The Physics lab's latest initiative is using natural radioactivity to understand statistical processes. using modestly-low activity isotopes, we can demonstrate important properties of nuclear radiation. The radioactivity process is statistically similar to the number of errors a novice typist will make on a page, or the number of accidents per year on a busy motorway crossing. The new experiment will be offered to students of the 2015 batch.
Another latest addition to our teaching methodology is the preparation of pictorial procedures. We hope this will be really useful in preparing students before they come to the lab.
- The Physics Laboratory at SSE has been awarded a contract to cultivate selected experiments in the undergraduate physics laboratory at Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology. Our lab will replicate four home-made experiments, accompanying equipment and learning methodologies into the recipient institution. Under this project, four experiments from General Physics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Electronics will be transferred. The initiative generates resources to partially support our human and material needs. This is the second time that Physics lab has replicated it experiments to any sister institution in Pakistan. Previously, these experiments were deliver to Institute of Space Technology (IST) as technology share.
- The Physics Lab has designed an interesting experiment on X-ray fluorescence. It explores how various elements fluoresce by giving off characteristic X-rays. It also helps students "discover" the concept of the atomic number, which actually imparted meaning to Mendeleev's period arrangement of the elements. Hence the experiment has historical value and is reminiscent of Moseley's ground breaking work on atomic physics and the understanding of elemental chemistry.
- Dr. Sabieh Anwar has been selected by the Pakistan Council for Science and Technology for the Research Productivity Award for the year 2010-11. (June 2011)
- The article “Experimental determination of heat capacities and their correlation with quantum predictions”, by Waqas Mahmood, Sabieh Anwar and Wasif Zia has been accepted for publication in American Journal of Physics. The article presents details of a laboratory experiment for the determination of heat capacities at cryogenic temperatures using calorimetric heat exchange between liquid nitrogen and a solid. We also exemplify the detection of the spin-reordering transition in a ferrite around 120 K. This experiment in thermal physics will be adapted and offered to SSE students.
- Waqas Mahmood attended Three Days Workshop on Nano Technologies at National Centre for Physics from 24-26 May, 2011.
- Dr. Sabieh Anwar talked about Freezing Nuclear Spins inside an Oven: Entanglement and NMR at School of Science and Engineering, LUMS on April 21, 2011.
- Umer Hassan gave a demonstration on physiological measurements (Pulse Oximetry and ECG) in Physiology BIO 211 course on April 12, 2011.
- Shahid Mahmood Ramay has successfully defended his PhD. theses work titled Fabrication, Characterization and Structural Study of Ferrites of Technical Importance. He has published three International Papers from his PhD. work.
- The Physlab has recently acquired a CNC machine (CNC Lathe Smart 32-T8, manufactured in Taiwan). This will boost the manufacturing capabilities of the Laboratory, making possible the fabrication of high precision components and equipment for scientific research. This is the latest addition to the Physics Lab Workshop. The machine is equipped with Fanuc control. (December 2010) Hafiz Muhammad Rizwan will be conducting a 4 week training session for CNC Lathe machine from 21 February 2011 (Monday) to 18 March 2011 (Friday). The timing will be from 12:00 to 2:00pm.
We have setup a low cost X-ray fluorescence system for the heritage studies of Lahore's archeological sites.
The Physlab requires a qualified and experienced technician and instrumentation engineer for its undergoing research projects. Interested candidates can email their resume and documents to Muhammad Sabieh Anwar