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    A picture of the person

    Robert (Bo) Polak

    Associate Professor
    Campus:
    Kent
    Office Hours:
    1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Monday (105 Smith) 11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon Wednesday (105 Smith)
    Contact Information
    Email:
    rpolak@kent.edu

    Biography

    Bo Polak is a graduate of Kent State and Cornell University.  He performed his dissertation research under Dr. Carl Franck and Dr. Oleg Lavrentovich studying surface effects on binary liquid mixtures and liquid crystals.  After graduating, he worked as a display engineer at Motorola, working on the transition from black and white to color displays and platforming displays for usage across multiple cellular phones.  He also began teaching introductory physics at College of Lake County.  After leaving Motorola, he became a lecturer at Loyola University Chicago, teaching a wide variety of undergraduate physics courses and laboratories and performing research with undergraduate students in physics education and ecology.  He also acts as a consultant working with Johnson Controls and, most recently, Akhan Semiconductor.

    His current research interests include studying aquatic electric barriers to prevent the passage of invasive species and developing easily accessible experiments for introductory physics courses.  He is always interested in working with undergraduates on his research.

    Education

    Ph.D., Physics, Cornell University (1999)
    B.S., Mathematics, Kent State University (1993)

    Publications

    • Robert Polak, Michael R Harris, Kiet A Nguyen and Anthony Kearns, Determination of the Coefficient of Thermal Expansion by Measuring Frequency of a Heated Music Wire, The Physics Teacher 62, 142 (2023).
    • Robert Polak, Michael R Harris, Kiet A Nguyen and Anthony Kearns, Experimental verification of the temperature coefficient of resistivity, The Physics Teacher 61, 283(2023).
    • Rachel M. Egly, Robert D. Polak, Zalia A. Cook, Harrison D. Moy, Jonathon T Staunton and Reuben P Keller, Effects of Electric Barriers on Aquatic Invasive Invertebrates, Front. Ecol. Evol., (2021)
    • Jonathan Bougie, Asim Gangopadhyaya, Sherita Moses, Robert D. Polak, Gordon P. Ramsey, and Weronika Walkosz, A first-year research experience: The Freshman Project in Physics at Loyola University Chicago, American Journal of Physics 88, 734 (2020)
    • Robert D. Polak, Adam R. V. Davenport, Andrew Fischer and Jared Rafferty, Determining Young’s modulus by measuring guitar string frequency, The Physics Teacher 56, 122 (2018).

      Awards/Achievements

      • 2024, Distinguished Teaching Award, College of Arts and Sciences, Kent State University
      • 2020, Master Teacher Award, College of Arts and Sciences, Loyola University Chicago
      • 2018, Master Teacher Award, College of Arts and Sciences, Loyola University Chicago

      Mailing Address

      800 E. Summit St.
      Kent, OH 44242

      Contact Us
      • 330-672-3000
      • info@kent.edu

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