Projects

The Mark I Project closes with a 15-minute-long group presentation and a written report from your group. The Final Project closes with a final 15-minute-long group presentation of the project in the last week of class, and a written report that is due on the last day of classes. The Mark I and Final Project reports and presentations are group efforts.

Again, all assigned work must be handed in to receive a grade.

Exemplary Final Student Project

Ferrofluid Drops: Studying Ferrofluids with High Speed Video (PDF) (Courtesy of Arun Agarwal, Elizabeth Reid, Ian Brelinsky, and Yun Ji.  Used with permission.)

Final Projects from Past Years

  • Variable Speed Bullet Photography
  • Ballistic Kevlar Tested Under Strobe Light
  • A Method of Lens Evaluation
  • Glass Breaking Patterns
  • Big Water Drops
  • An Exploration of Methods for Photographing Flying Insects
  • Reciprocity Failure
  • Automatic Triggering of Strobe Lamp for High Speed Objects
  • The Laser Velocimeter
  • Scotchlite and Silhouette Photography
  • Streak Photography of Breaking Boards
  • An Attempt to Build and Test a Flash Lamp
  • Infra-Red Systems for Monitoring Film Development
  • Heat Flow Analysis Using the Schlieren Optical System
  • PVC Impact Photography
  • Optical Triggering and Compression Studies
  • Video Astronomy-Celestial Objects Captured with an Ultra Sensitive Video Camera
  • Measuring Gravity Using a Pendulum and Streak Photography
  • Measuring Water Drop Properties Using Streak and Multiflash Photography Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
  • Bullet Velocity Measurement Techniques
  • Momentum and Friction of a Pool Table
  • Measuring the Velocity of a Bullet using a Ballistic Pendulum
  • Photographing the Analemma
  • Using Silhouette Photography to Measure the Speed of Water Waves
  • Can a Ball Rise Faster than it Falls?
  • Electronic Panoramic View
  • Determination of Surface Characteristics of a Non-Newtonian Fluid
  • Falling Golf Balls
  • Terminal Velocity of Large Water Drops
  • Measuring the Velocity of Cracks in Glass
  • Speed of Bullets
  • Creating an Effective Strain GageTrigger for Studies of Breaking Glass
  • Muzzle Velocity and Impact Force of a Paintball Charge
  • Turn-On Characteristics of an Incandescent Bulb
  • The Curve Ball from a Batter's Perspective
  • Computerized Exposure Wand for Printing in the Darkroom
  • How a BB Breaks a Window
  • Effect of Shape on Energy Transfer for an Object Dropped into a Fluid
  • A Strobe Color Mixing Wheel
  • Effect of Viscosity on Splash Characteristics
  • An Improved Method for Fluorescence Photography of Chlorophyll
  • Study of Skipping Stones
  • High Speed Video Study of Propeller Cavitation
  • Using Spectroscopy and Filters to Photograph Camouflaged Subjects
  • Analysis of a Pole Vault
  • Analysis of a Volleyball Set
  • Analysis of Baseball Pitching (Fastball and Curve) using High Speed Video, Image Capture, Motion Analysis
  • 3-D Schlieren and High Speed Photography, Including 3-D Position Determination
  • Vibration of Hammer Bone in a Cat's Ear
  • Film Color Analysis and Spectral Quantification
  • Sound-induced Vibration and Breaking of a Wine Glass with Different Fluids
  • The DigiStrobe -- a Windows®-based Versatile Strobe Controller
  • Photography with Crossed Polarizers for Stress Analysis
  • Experimental Investigation of the Jacob's Ladder
  • Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Photography of Sand Shrimp
  • A Strobe Clock
  • Comparative Analysis of Fortepiano and Modern Grand Piano Key Mechanisms
  • Failure Modes of Concrete and Plexiglass
  • Blowing the Maximal Bubble
  • Predicting Op Amp Failure using Schlieren Imaging
  • Dynamics of a Spherical Mass in an Air Stream
  • Kirlian Photography