A time to eat, drink & talk about science!
Celebrating 4 Years of Science on Tap!
Join us
Science
on Tap Series
Thursday, March 10, 2016*
5:30 pm
- 6:30 pm
Yanni's
will be offering Happy Hour Appetizers during SoT!
3109 Central Avenue NE
(505) 268-9250
Plasma Sculpture
Application of scientific understanding to artistic expression often gets overlooked when we consider the impact of science in society, but Carl Willis hopes to offer a compelling example of a successful science-art marriage through his work with “plasma sculpture.” The realm of gaseous electrical phenomena offers a rich palette of beguiling and beautiful visual effects that can be applied to kinetic sculpture and decorative lighting. Mr. Willis works as a nuclear engineer in his day job, but as a hobby, he experiments with high-frequency, dielectric-barrier discharges in exotic atmospheres sealed into electrodeless glass vessels. Understanding is enhanced through the use of a visible-light spectrometer. He will exhibit some of his efforts, and discuss the often-complex chemistry that is responsible for the observed effects in these plasmas. Want to see an "inert" noble gas pair up with reactive oxygen before your eyes? This Science on Tap discussion should be electrifying.
Carl Willis is employed as an engineer at Qynergy
Corporation in Albuquerque. His interests include particle accelerator
applications, radiation detection and measurement, and electrochemistry. He
obtained an MS in Nuclear Engineering from Ohio State (2005) and studied
physics and chemistry as an undergraduate at Guilford College (2003). In
addition to “plasma sculpture,” his avocational pursuits include “nuclear
tourism,” collecting radioactive items, and playing his small pipe organ.
*Change of date from Thursday, March 3 to Thursday, March 10 due to a prior commitment by Yanni's
