Roberta L Koch

Roberta teaches physics, engineering, and astronomy courses at UW-Platteville Main Campus and UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County. She earned her degrees from Illinois Institute of Technology. Her research emphasis was in thin film superconductors. Pulsed Laser Deposition was used to fabricate high Tc thin films consisting of YBCO film on a flexible Ni-based alloy (Hastelloy tape) substrate with a YSZ buffer layer. Quality and texture of the films were studied using SEM, XRD and by means of Phi-scans and pole figures. Prior to teaching at UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County and at UW-Platteville Richland, she taught physics and mathematics at Herzing College and worked with a research group from UW-Madison at the W.M. Keck Laboratory as a Research Specialist involved in imaging studies, running a 3T MR scanner (GE SIGNA).

The following is a list of teaching formats used in her classes: • Standard face-to-face • Distance Education: Streaming Point-to-Point between (2) campuses • Distance Education: Streaming video with up to (3) or more receiving sites • Online • Accelerated (3) week courses • Hybrid courses (½ live & ½ online) • Accelerated Hybrid courses (½ live & ½ online)

Some of her most recent research projects include: • Advanced Photon Source (APS)- Argonne National Lab: Analyzed data obtained from XAFS experiments. Performed extensive research on MAX phases - Ceramics with metallic properties. Took samples and using diamond tools obtained a powdered form of materials. Performed XAFS experiments using x-rays to probe the physical and chemical structure of samples in a solid form at an atomic scale. Ran several scans to obtain data for analysis. • Participated in some photoemission experiments at UW-Madison Synchrotron Radiation Center. Ti3SiC2 and Ti3AlC2 samples were fabricated. Photoemission spectroscopy (PES) was used to determine the binding energies of electrons in these samples and to study the energy levels of atomic core electrons. Ran several different trials using these samples to gather data for analysis.

Roberta is also an engineering advisor for the Platteville Engineering Partnership (PEP) Program.   Students can earn mechanical engineering, industrial and systems engineering, and electrical engineering degrees through UW-Platteville Engineering Partnerships (UW-PEP or PEP). Our unique delivery model includes online courses with hands-on lab experiences. Students complete most course work near their homes with limited travel to complete labs for courses that have a lab component.  For more information about this program:  Engineering Partnerships | UW-Platteville (uwplatt.edu)