Philip Blackburn

Scientific Equipment Specialist/ Adjunct Faculty

Education and Experience

While working on a B.S. in Physics at Stephen F. Austin State University, I began full-time employment with SFASU in 1983 as an electronics technician for the College of Sciences and Mathematics. In that position, I am responsible for maintaining and repairing the various scientific instruments within the College. I finished my B.S. in Physics and Mathematics in 1986 and my M.S. in Physics in 1993. My area of research for the M.S. degree was in the field of X-ray Diffraction. I performed an X-ray diffraction study on a group of amorphous Ni-Zr-Ga alloys. After completing the course work for the M.S. degree, I began teaching the electronics courses for the Physics Department.

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Interests

I am very interested in surface mount technology. I design and build radio tracking transmitters for wildlife applications. For the Biology Department at SFASU, I have built transmitters for mud snakes, coachwhips, buttermilk racers, black rat snakes, possums, raccoons, golden mice, and horned lizards. I am especially interested in building very small transmitters. This involves working with the most state of the art components available. The smallest transmitter that I build has a mass of .25 grams. Comparatively, the mass of a penny is about 2.5 grams. All of the transmitters are soldered by hand using a microscope.

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Course Regularly Taught

• Physics 110