Lander University Community Lecture Series

Mirror, Mirror in the Lab

Tuesday, October 12th
5:30 p.m. - Reception
6 p.m. - Faculty Talk
The Arts Center of Greenwood
120 Main Street

Join us Tuesday, October 12, at 5:30 p.m. at The Arts Center of Greenwood for the debut of our Lander University Community Lecture Series, with "Mirror, Mirror in the Lab" presented by Lisa Brodhacker, Ph.D., Lander Professor of Chemistry, and Andrew LaCroix, Ph.D., Lander Lecturer of Chemistry.

Lisa Brodhacker and Andrew LaCroix will describe their contributions to astronomy through their research at Lander University. Traditional glass telescope mirrors are heavy, labor-intensive, and expensive to produce. The mirror must be ground, polished, and figured through an arduous process, and a two-meter mirror costs approximately one million dollars. An alternative method using precision convex molds is even more expensive. Spin-cast epoxy mirrors provide a lightweight, cost-effective alternative, but they are subject to thermal expansion that obscures focus. 

The Lander mirror team is taking a new approach to spin-cast epoxy mirrors through the use of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are extremely small pieces of material—measuring nano (10-9) meters in size. Certain types of nanoparticles possess a negative coefficient of thermal expansion—which means that when heated, they shrink, which is opposite of what the epoxy does. By synthesizing these peculiar nanoparticles and tailoring their surface chemistry to react with the epoxy, the team aims to cancel out the positive coefficient of thermal expansion of the epoxy and produce a mirror that shows no expansion upon heating and no shrinkage upon cooling. Dr. Brodhacker and Dr. La Croix’s research has received funding and interest from the American Chemical Society, NASA-JPL, NASA EPSCoR, Honeywell and Raytheon.

Alumni, Lander University community members, and donors are asked to RSVP below as we will have light refreshments and a cash bar available.

    Faculty Presenter Bios

    Lisa Brodhacker is a Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Physical Sciences at Lander University. She earned her PhD from the University of South Carolina and has been working with the epoxy mirrors for over 15 years. Her love of teaching brought her to Lander University where she puts much energy into developing her Organic Chemistry class. However, she has learned that teaching students also happens outside of the classroom; and those learning opportunities have become the most rewarding not only for the students but for her as well.

    Andrew La Croix is a Lecturer of Chemistry at Lander University. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Lander and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University, focusing on nanoparticle and organic ligand synthesis. While he enjoys polishing his teaching abilities in the classroom, he is currently branching out into student-focused research. Other milestones for this fall include celebrating a first wedding anniversary with his wife, Amy, concurrently with the birth of their first child.