ACTIONS 1999INTERACTIONS 1999
Facelift for Freshman Physics Labs
by Barry Luokkala
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Barry Luokkala is senior lecturer and coordinator of the undergraduate laboratory program in physics. He received both the B.S. and M.S. degrees in physics at the University of Pittsburgh, and has been at Carnegie Mellon since 1980. In addition to teaching our freshman Experimental Physics course on a regular basis, he has also developed and taught two new courses: Basic Experimental Physics, a laboratory course designed specifically for students in the pre-health professions program, and Science and Science Fiction, a mini-course for freshmen in the Mellon College of Science. |
The undergraduate physics laboratories on the second floor of Doherty Hall received a much needed face lift during the summer of 1998. In addition to a fresh coat of paint, the project included a new ceiling, new lighting and electrical distribution, as well as refinishing of the maple block lab benches (originally installed around 1918). The total cost of the project was approximately $150K. A portion of the funding came from the annual budget of the University Educational Facilities Committee, headed by Reinhard Schumacher, with additional funding from the Office of the Provost.
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| Figures: Undergraduate laboratories: January 1910, October 1998 | |
Doherty Hall was originally called the School of Applied Science, one of the Carnegie Technical Schools. The photograph dated January 1910 shows the physics laboratory as it appeared less than two years after completion of the original building, c. 1908. Note the pipe organ on the balcony above the entrance door in the background of the photo.
The first major change to the building was an addition built onto the east end in 1949-50. At about the same time, the balcony in the physics laboratory was replaced by a third floor, and the single open lab space was subdivided into the three separate rooms that exist today. The photo dated October 1998 shows a portion of the largest of the three rooms after completion of the 1998 renovation. The main entrance door to the lab is still the original, and can be seen in the left background behind one of the pillars that supports the third floor.
The department also opened a museum of scientific instrumentation, a permanent display of interesting laboratory equipment from the first 50 years of the university. Housed in the newly remodeled Doherty Hall labs, the collection features a number of pieces of equipment that were acquired for use in the original laboratories prior to 1910.
