Mitch Powers
Visiting Assistant Professor
Physics
Contact
Address
Room 207
300 North Washington St.
Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400
Education
PhD Kent State University
BS University of Wisconsin - Madison
Academic Focus
Discotic liquid crystals, soft matter simulations and order through disorder
Teaching
My teaching philosophy is based on the belief that students learn best when they are able to connect their personal experiences with the subject matter being taught. Sometimes that means exploiting existing experiences, like looking at the many ways that newtonian mechanics show up in their everyday life. Other times it requires building new experiences, like learning electronics through hands experiments and gadgeteering. In any case, my students can expect lessons that seek to engage them holistically and help them to see the world through the eyes of a physicist.
Research
My current research is focused on studying liquid crystal with unusual phase behaviors and trying to understand the relationship between molecular structure and function in these systems. I use a mix of experimental and computational techniques in order to study the properties of these systems, their phase behavior, structure and dynamics with DSC, SAXS and simulation.
Current projects are focused on a small group of tail-free discotic liquid crystals based on fluorinated triphenylene and their ability to self-assemble into a columnar mesophase. We are examining the properties of these materials in comparison to more conventional discotic liquid crystals, with an emphasis on how the lack of long tails affects the dynamics of these molecules and the role played by hydrogen bonds between molecules from neighboring columns that would typically be absent.