Physics & Astronomy Associate Professor Adriana Banu, Accelerator Lab Manager Scottie Pendleton, and students prepare the medical electron linear accelerator.
James Madison University’s new physics laboratory has just opened a world of opportunities for research and career development says Professor Art Champagne, the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Physics at UNC-Chapel Hill and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Champagne encouraged researchers at a two-day conference, hosted by the JMU Physics & Astronomy Department, to explore the latest opportunities found at the Madison Accelerator Laboratory (MAL), which opened just in time for the fall semester. MAL features a medical electron linear accelerator, a 140 keV x-ray imaging machine and standard particle detection instrumentation. Additionally, the lab is capable of performing low energy experiments for a wide variety of purposes and disciplines, including but not limited to nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, materials science, geology, biology, and archaeology. Read More