Summer Research at Coe

Special Summer Series: Elizabeth Hoover de Galvez from the library's reference department, shares her observations of summer research at Coe. This summer she is working with Dr. Feller's materials science group.

It is May 12.  Spring classes and commencement have passed and May term is about to start. The library looks very empty, not only due to fewer students, but also because the artwork throughout the library has been taken down in preparation for the library renovation, which will get underway soon.

This will be my first full summer on campus and I am looking forward to learning about all of the research that happens at Coe during the break from classes.  The summer research program which I've heard the most about at Coe is the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, funded by the National Science Foundation. I've been browsing the national REU website, and it looks like Coe is unique as one of only four institutions in Iowa to host REU students (alongside the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa).

Coe has seven REU projects which undergraduates from around the country can apply to spend their summer working on:

• Acoustics of free reed instruments: J Cottingham
• Biochemistry of sea worm cement: M Dean
• Experimental and computational materials science: S Singleton
• Materials Science: S Feller
• Molecular Biology: P Storer
• Particle Detector Development: U. Akgun
• Optics: M Affatigato

Last summer, I began working at Coe in time to attend the final presentations given by the REU students and was surprised by what I heard.  I never would have guessed that musicians might study how a drum vibrates depending on where the surface is hit or that physicists would be involved in the creation of glass.  So far as I can recall, my physics classes in high school and college didn't cover current research, instead focusing on equations and laws written up in textbooks.  

One of the things I am most excited about at Coe is that undergrads are encouraged to participate in research during the summer after freshman year or even earlier.  This summer, I hope to be able to get into the labs to observe first-hand the work being done and to get to know some of the students doing research at Coe.  

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a...Japanese balloon bomb?

Japanese fire balloon of mulberry paper reinflated at Moffett Field, CA after it had been shot down by a Navy aircraft January 10, 1945
Photo credit: US Army

Just a few months ago, a couple of forestry workers in British Columbia came across a 70 year old inactive Japanese balloon bomb.

Balloon bombs? Yup, they're exactly what they sound like. Balloons made to carry bombs.

Also known as "fire balloons", the Japanese used these as a weapon in World War II. A hydrogen balloon was attached to an antipersonnel bomb - one created specifically to harm humans. They were a cheap weapon designed to make use of the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean and drop those bombs on American and Canadian cities.

Because they solely relied on the wind blowing a certain direction, they were relatively ineffective as weapons, and most landed without harming anyone.

Several have been found from Alaska to Michigan over the years, but a piece of one that landed in Washington has found its way to Coe! It's part of the B.D. Silliman Collection in the archives; Silliman, an alumna of Coe who was an interrogator at the Nuremberg Trials.

Along with the piece of the balloon bomb are Hitler's medical records, interrogations of Nazis and German army insignia. If you're interested in viewing some of the collection, come on down to the archives!

Interested in a little more info about the balloons? This NPR article is a great read.

Happy Birthday, Grant Wood!

Fruits of Iowa: Boy Milking Cow, 1932

Grant Wood was born on this day in 1891 in Anamosa, and then moved to Cedar Rapids when he was ten. Specifically, he moved into the house at 318 14th St NE, which is across the street from Coe! 

Photo Credit: Mound View Neighborhood Association

In high school, Wood befriended Cedar Rapids native artist and Marvin Cone, and the two were close throughout their lives. Wood taught painting at the University of Iowa School of Art while Cone taught here at Coe for over 40 years. 

You can view many of Wood's paintings (as well as Cone's) in the galleries on the first and second floor of the library! Click here to learn more about other paintings on Coe's campus!