MadSci Network: Physics |
Hi Conner, Glad to help. Here is my resume. If you email me your mailing address I will send you a free copy of my DVD full of really neat magnetic experiments you won't find anywhere else including several about NdFeB magnetic spheres. By the way, a magnetic sphere is an ideal dipole right up to the surface of the sphere. Try spinning such a magnet on a level surface like the floor. When you spin it one way it moves irregularly to the east and when you spin it the other way it moves to the west! It never moves north or south. The explnation lies in the fact that the earths field is mostly down at about 60 degrees and to the north. Fred Jeffers PhD About Fred Jeffers Dr. Jeffers received his BS degree from Michigan State University in 1960, his MS degree in 1964, and his PhD degree (in physics) in 1967, both from New Mexico State University. He began working in product R&D at the Bell and Howell Research Lab in Pasadena CA in 1967, and was there for 7 years. He then moved to Spin Physics/Kodak (later a division of the Kodak Research Labs) in San Diego CA, where he worked mainly in magnetics and magnetic recording research for 24 years. He retired from Kodak when the lab closed and worked with Iomega Corp. for 5 years until that lab closed. He is now working part time for Cummins Allison Corp. in Carlsbad CA and consulting. He has authored or co-authored three dozen highly cited papers, mostly in the magnetic recording field. Among these are the first papers published on the very important Metal-in-Gap (MIG) ferrite heads, and Soft Adjacent Layer (SAL) biased magneto resistive read heads. MIG heads were used in all Iomega floppy disk drives and are still used in all video tape recorders. SAL-MR heads were used in all computer-hard-disk drives for many years. They are still used in all linear data tape recorders. These heads were key enabling factors in the development and sale of many billions of recording products. He has been awarded 68 US patents with several more pending. He is an IEEE Life Fellow and was an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer in 1999-2000. He has written a popular book on “Magnetic Magic” titled Mondo Magnets and made a DVD of the same name.
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