Basie S.
Private tutor in Buffalo, NY
Education
Ph. D. in Physics (Astrophysics) from Ohio University (2000). I studied cooling flow filament in galaxy clusters and supermassive blackholes at the nuclei of active galaxies. I don't know what a B looked on transcripts. My lowest grade was A- (A minus).
Experience
Fifteen years of experience teaching physics and astronomy at the university level: Freshman to graduate. I have taught a wide range of physics and astronomy courses from the Freshman to the graduate level. I regularly teach courses on thermodynamics, vibrations and waves, optics, electricity & magnetism, modern physics, classical & analytical mechanics, statistical mechanics, and quantum mechanics, in addition to a selected topics course on general relativity, particle physics and cosmology. I have also taught general astronomy courses and an introduction to astrophysics course for physics majors. At the graduate level, I have taught radiative processes, galaxies and cosmology courses. I have experience operating small telescopes, with a suite of research-grade equipment such as spectrographs, filters, and CCD cameras. Over the years, I have supervised physics senior projects with topics ranging from my research interests to quantum computing. The most recent projects were designing a magnetohydrodynamic drive, econophyiscs, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, design of a vertical-axis wind turbine, the physics of skiing, Alcubierre warpdrive, the physics of a bouncing ball, and designing hands-on demonstrations for modules in high school physics. Several years ago I did a video lesson as part of the MIT BLOSSOMS project to describe gravity assists to high school students. You can find the video and relevant material here: https://blossoms.mit.edu/videos/lessons/gravity_assist_or_stealing_planets_angular_momentum_and_getting_away_it. Additional material that I have written accompanies this letter. The lesson is intended to be a teaching duet with the classroom teacher. I have written every single word in the documentation related to the video, as well as my script. Research-wise, I am an active researcher. I have published research papers in the top journals in the field of astrophysics: the Astrophysical Journal, the Astronomical Journal, and Astronomy & Astrophysics. I have also refereed for the above-mentioned journals and for the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. I have also served on NASA proposal review panels. Most recently, I have reviewed proposals for the NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP). I obtained during summer 2019 a certificate from Teaching Science & Technology, Inc. (TSTI; www.tsti.net) on “Applied Smallsat/Cubesat Engineering Development” in which I learned about space mission analysis and design, end-to-end mission architecture, applied space systems engineering, and applied space program management. I am currently co-supervising a M. S. project on the design of a cubesat mission to study the dark ages of the Universe from the far side of the Moon, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Montepellier in France.
Availability
Any day at any time
Can Meet
Up to 1 hour away for no additional charge
Hobbies
Arduino Fix anything at home
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