Biography
Mark J. Pearson came to Juniata Physics Department in 2003. He grew up in Birmingham, England where, before starting his academic career, he worked in industry for five years developing engineering software and training engineers on a CAD system at Cooper MacDonald and Partner, a structural & civil engineering company. He then attended Imperial College, London where he got his BSc in Physics in 1992 and PhD (Mechanisms of Red Blood Cell Aggregation & Methods for its Quantification) in Biophysics in 1996. Following this he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Bioengineering Department at Penn State University, studying the effects of red cell aggregation in the circulation, from 1996 to 2001. After this he joined the Juniata College community which he has been part of ever since. Over the years he followed his passion of experimentation by conducting various research and also his passion of teaching by developing “meaningful & applied” introductory, intermediate and advanced labs that aim to develop specific problem solving & experimental skills. He has also taught Modern Course, Medical Physics, Optics and Electronics. He particularly enjoys working with students on independent studies that in the past have included Optical Tweezers, Flow in Nailfold Capillaries, Velocimetry, Arduino’s & Raspberry Pi’s, AutoCAD and Robotics, Computational Physics, 3D Printing & Workshop Skills. He also oversees equipment in the department that involves repairing, replacing and developing/testing new equipment.