Dr. Mark E. Markes

Associate Professor of Physics

Date of hire: 1999

Mark Edward Markes was born in Enid Oklahoma in 1948. He received his Ph.D. in experimental condensed matter physics from Oklahoma State University in 1978. His advisor was the late William Leivo who had been a student of Nobel Laureate Otto Stern.

Before coming to UNK, he worked for two years as a research associate for Dr. Larry Halliburton in the Oklahoma State Physics Department. This work involved the study of radiation induced point defects in synthetic quartz. In 1980 Dr. Markes joined Kaman Sciences Corporation in Colorado Springs Colorado (now ITT Systems Division). There he was employed as a research scientist working on nuclear weapon EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse), SGEMP (System Generated Electro-Magnetic Pulse) and TREE (Transient Radiation Effects in Electronics). At Kaman Sciences Dr. Markes performed EMP and TREE analyses on the Trident nuclear submarine missle, the land-based Peacekeeper ICBM, and the B2 "Spirit" Stealth Bomber. This work also included radiation effects predictions for Under-Ground (Nuclear) Tests (UGTs) conducted during the 1980s at the Nevada Test Site. Other assignments involved modeling air ionization effects associated with Box Internal EMP (Box IEMP) and the radiation-induced transient darkening of optical fibers.

In addition, while living in Colorado Springs, Dr. Markes taught calculus-based physics at night for the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

Before joining UNK he was a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Material Science at Missouri State University in Springfield Missouri.

At UNK, in addition to general physics and physical science, Dr. Markes also teaches electronics, optics, thermodynamics, and Einstein's Universe (honors). His primary research interests are the interaction of charged particles in plasmas, plasmons in carbon nanotube arrays, and physics education research. He is also a UNK physics and pre-engineering advisor.

Publications

“I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”

Winston Churchill

Links:

• Oklahoma State University
• ITT Systems Division
• Nuclear Weapon EMP Effects
• University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
• Missouri State University
• UNL College of Engineering and Technology
• UNL Electrical Engineering
• First Solo Flight (1966)
• The Emily Reiser Memorial Website