BASS 2012 Scholar Zack Goodwin completes summer program
Dr. Josh Gladden, Zack Goodwin
Zack Goodwin, rising senior at The University of the South in Sewanee, TN and Basic Acoustic Summer School (BASS) 2012 scholar, ended his two month program at the National Center for Physical Acoustics with a cookout and a presentation of his research findings entitled “Optical methods for studying attenuation of shear waves in viscoelastic birefringent fluids” Zack was mentored by Dr. Josh Gladden, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy who also heads the Material Science laboratory at NCPA.
The purpose of the Henry E. Bass Basic Acoustics Summer School (BASS) is to bring undergraduate students, distinguished Research Scientists of the National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA), and Discussion Leaders together to explore a wide variety of topics in physical acoustics and engineering. BASS gives students opportunities to do research directed by experts, exploring topics that are not ordinarily encountered in the undergraduate experience. The program was established in 2010 following the death of Henry Bass (Hank) in honor of his dedicated commitment to acoustics research.
When asked what he would take from his experience this summer, Goodwin said, “Not to be afraid of conducting research without knowing the outcome. So much of what we do as undergrads is replication of established research.” He added his favorite part of the program was just daily being around research scientists and grad students in a lab setting and he hoped to follow up on his initial summer research when he returns to The University of the South.