David Norwood
Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of North Texas, 1994
Polymer Characterization
Office:Pursley 117
Email:dnorwood@southeastern.edu
Phone: 985-549-3938
I am an experimental (as opposed to a theoretical) physicist, and my research is in
the very broad field of Polymer Characterization. As such, I am in that fuzzy area
in which physics overlaps with chemistry. It overlaps in both an abstract sense (when
a physicist who knows nothing about aromatics and phenols tries to apply his knowledge
in the field of chemistry) as well as a literal sense (when the aforementioned physicist
actually has to talk to and work with chemists).
I use primarily the techniques of light scattering and viscometry.
Polymer characterization is such an incredibly broad field that I should point out
that my work focuses largely on the properties of individual polymer molecules rather
than the properties of large aggregated or bonded populations. So instead of measuring
the bursting strength of a garbage bag, I might measure the properties of the polyurethane
molecules of which the bag is made.