November Meeting
A bit late posting this here, but it did go out on the mailing list.
Flash Physics Simulations
by James Battat (Ph.D candidate in Astronomy, Harvard University) and Aaron Gibralter (’07, Physics concentrator)
“We developed a suite of interactive simulations for an introductory physics course in mechanical systems at Harvard University under the Presidential Instructional Technology Fellowship (PITF) Summer Program. With the use of computer simulations, it is possible to teach students about the behavior of complex mechanical systems without trudging through complicated differential equations. We found several canned animations demonstrating physical phenomena on the web, but we noticed a surprising lack of full interactive physics simulation engines. We aimed to fill that void by developing a virtual physics lab using Flash.
“We’ll tell you about our class-based project, demo our simulations, and explain how various components of our software (e.g. a graphing package) could be useful to other projects. ”
715pm at the NEIA Annex:
The address is 303 Boylston. Its just a few minutes west of the main campus. The meeting is on the main floor when you enter.
The closest T stop is Brookline Hills. Go up the steps, turn right and walk towards Boylston. Take a left on Boylston and the building will be on your left.
Parking on Boylston is a mix of public and resident so check the signs.
There is a shuttle (clearly marked NEiA) that runs back and forth, so you can always still come to the main campus and catch the shuttle to the new location