At this event students from Years 10 to 12 share a table with two or three women who are either in a career in physics or engineering, or are at university as an undergraduate or a postgraduate. The students have a chance to ask questions about their careers and what study at university is like. Students are seated with students from other schools.
At each event there is an address by a prominent scientist, who talks about her area of interest at a level appropriate for the audience.
Date: 16 September
Closing date for bookings: 9th September
Venue: Morwell Campus, Federation University
Times: 9:30am to 12:00pm.
Speaker: Dr Samantha Alloo, Monash University
Bio: Dr Samantha Alloo is an imaging physicist in the X-ray Imaging Group at Monash University. She is interested in developing new ways to see inside materials and biological samples using X-rays, and in finding connections between different areas of physics and mathematics. Outside of research, Samantha has an equal passion for fitness. She works part-time as a fitness coach and regularly competes in challenging events, including HYROX competitions, where she has achieved several podium finishes.
Dr Alloo earned her PhD in Medical Physics from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, in 2024. Her research combines physics, mathematics, synchrotron experiments, software development and data analysis.
She is currently exploring how her “new maths’ can be used to develop new approaches to extracting more information from X-ray images and ultimately see things that conventional X-ray imaging cannot.
Title: Improving X-ray imaging with a piece of sandpaper and some new maths!
Abstract: By placing a simple piece of sandpaper into a conventional X-ray beam, we can dramatically increase the amount of information we can get from an X-ray image. The sandpaper creates a pattern of tiny bright and dark spots, called speckles, that land on the object we plan to take an image of. As the X-rays pass through an object, we can watch how this speckle pattern changes. By measuring different ways the speckles change, for example, whether they become dimmer, move, or become blurred, we can extract three different types of information about the object.
This means that, instead of getting just one image from a conventional X-ray, we can obtain two additional images called phase-contrast and dark-field images. These extra images can reveal things that are difficult or even impossible to see with conventional X-rays.
Phase-contrast images are particularly useful for seeing thin, low-density materials that are almost transparent to X-rays, and can distinguish different types of biological soft tissue, including fat and glandular tissue.
Dark-field images can reveal tiny structures that are too small to be individually resolved, such as the tiny air sacs (alveoli) in the lungs, which are invisible in conventional chest X-rays.
To create these two extra images, we need to work out exactly what happened to the X-ray speckles as they passed through the object. This is where my research comes in!
In this presentation, I will introduce first myself, and then my research; X-ray imaging with sandpaper, explaining how it can be used to capture phase-contrast and dark-field images, and how maths can be used to turn speckle measurements into useful X-ray images.
Fees:
The table below shows the fee structure. The fee includes GST
Category
Cost
First Teacher
No Charge
Second Teacher
$12 / $5*
per Student
$12 / $0*
* A discount was available for schools with a low ICSEA rank. Discounts could be applied for by emailing VicPhysics with subject ‘Girls in Physics Morwell discount’.
Fees
Two methods to pay are available,
by credit card or
by bank transfer, an email is generated with the details of the Vicphysics bank account.
Max number of students per school: To enable more schools to participate, there was an initial maximum of twelve (12) students per school. Booking:
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Program:
In conversations at the tables, students can ask questions about the guests’ careers, what studying at uni is like, etc. There is also a 44 min talk, followed by questions. After this there are two activities on Careers in STEM i) Quiz and Job Roles Analysis and ii) Case Studies analysis. A Q&A with a panel of guests rounds out the event.
Sponsors and Supporters
The Girls in Physics Breakfasts are organised by the Vicphysics Teachers’ Network and supported by funding from the Invergowrie Foundation.
