Alois J. Adams

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Al Adams received his doctorate in physics from the University of Florida in 1976. He spent 4 years as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He has been with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock since 1980.

Dr. Adams' teaching and research interests center on optics and laser measurement systems. Since joining the faculty in Applied Science he has taught courses in instrumental optics, electro-optics, advanced optical detectors, engineering measurement techniques, fundamentals of lasers and laser safety, signal processing, and basic electronics. He currently serves as the Radiation Safety Officer for the ASD, the chair of the university and departmental safety committees and as of the 1998-99 academic year the Graduate Coordinator for ASD. He is the director of the Applied Optics Laboratory (AOL) and the Arkansas Physics Lending Library (APLL). Current research projects in the AOL include laser sources for spectroscopy, particulate analysis, optical probes for Arkansas industries, and science education. The APLL is an NSF-funded physics teacher enhancement project which serves as the pivotal component in an extensive secondary science outreach program directed by Dr. Adams.

Current student research projects under Dr. Adams cover a broad application area. Low power semiconductor diode lasers are being adapted for use in low-cost Raman Spectroscopy analyzers suitable for industrial process monitoring or biomedical tissue characterization. A pulsed solid state laser is being used to analyze solid materials, making use of a technique called Laser-Assisted Plasma Spectroscopy. Previous particulate analysis work has centered on biological aerosols and single particle trapping mechanisms for elemental analysis; research today is focusing on real-time image processing techniques for monitoring surface contamination in cleanrooms at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The AOL has served as the site for the development of a waveguide refractometer for on-line measurement of vegetable oils during chemical processing. Today spectral measurements of rice plants are being used to assess deleterious effects of chloride in irrigation waters.

Dr. Adams is working with high school physics teachers in Arkansas, developing portable laboratory modules which will serve as the collection for a lending library. Teachers spend four weeks at UALR during the summer gaining valuable laboratory experience and increasing their skills with computer-based instrumentation and advanced optical and electronic equipment. Considerable emphasis is placed on the graphing calculator and its use in physics instruction and in combination with calculator-based laboratories.

Most Recent Publications:

A. P. Chouinard, A. J. Adams, A. B. Wright, and M. K. Hudson. Multi-length Opacity Study of |Hybrid Rocket Plume II, 34th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Jet Propulsion Conference, (1998).

A. J. Adams, and D. L. Herden. Spectral Reflectance of Rice Seedlings. Precision Agriculture and Biological Quality, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 3543, (1998).

M. K. Hudson, A. P. Chouinard, A. J. Adams, C. B. Luchini, and J. D. Willis. American Institiute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 32th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, AIAA 96-2833, (1996).

H . Sun, S. Menhart, and A. J. Adams. Development of a Tunable Grating External Cavity Strong Feedback Semiconductor Laser with Real Time Wavelength Monitoring and Control. Optical Engineering, 34:2993-2998, (1995).

C. F. Cole, G. M. Hill, and A. J. Adams. Automated Refractive Index Measurement of Catalyst-Laden Edible Oils Undergoing Partial Hydrogenation. Journal of American Oil Chemist Society, 71:1339-1342, (1994).

H. Sun, S. Menhart, and A. J. Adams.On the Calculation of Spectral Linewidth Reduction of External Cavity Strong Feedback Semiconductor Laser. Applied Optics 33:4771-1775, (1994) .

ajadams@ualr.edu