Dr. Colin Tinsman’s experience in teaching physics, astronomy, and mathematics at the college level makes him especially well-prepared to engage our students and feed their many scientific passions.

Dr. Tinsman earned his Ph.D. in Applied Physics at the University of Michigan. While pursuing his degree, he was honored with a Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, which recognizes dissertations that are unusually creative, ambitious, and impactful. His thesis project involved designing a new type of thermometer for use at temperatures very close to absolute zero, and allowed him to work with the strongest (DC) magnet in the world, the Hybrid Magnet at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, FL. He also holds B.S. degrees in Mathematics and Physics from Lafayette College.

Dr. Tinsman has published several articles on physics, on topics including quantum oscillations of electrical resistivity; two-dimensional Fermi surfaces (both in Science magazine); and how magnetic fields change the flow of heat through bismuth, which is his favorite element. He has also presented at a meeting of the American Physical Society on the field-dependent thermal conductivity of strontium copper borate, a study supported by the Office of Naval Research.

He is particularly interested in demonstrating the interdisciplinary links between physics and mathematics, as well as putting physics in context with experiments, individual research projects, and simulations, and is the proud coach of our VEX Robotics Teams.