CSI:

EXPLORING THE SCIENCE OF BALLISTICS
 
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Dr. Michael Courtney
Dr. Amy Courtney
 

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Contact Information

BTG
P.O. Box 24
West Point, NY 10996

email: Michael_Courtney@alum.mit.edu

 

   meet our scientists

              Principal Investigator                Ballistics Testing Group

Ballistics Research link

 

Click here for full curriculum vitae

and list of publications

Education:

PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Experimental Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 1995 

Thesis: Rydberg Atoms in Strong Fields, A Testing Ground for Quantum Chaos Finalist for APS Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research

BS, Louisiana State University, Summa Cum Laude in Physics, LSU University Medal, 1989

         

Experience:

Ballistics Testing Group - Principal Investigator

  Western Carolina University - Physics Professor and  Director, Forensic Science Program

Lorain County Community College - Physics Professor

     Cisco Systems/Aironet Wireless Communications - Engineer - ATE Development

Department of Physics, MIT

Department of Chemistry, Brookhaven National Laboratory

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University

 

 

 

Personal:

Better Physics Through Farming:

I spent a decade running a small farm business and became sort of a poster child for new methods in entrepreneurial farming.

My wife and I profitably raised sweet corn, apples, grapes and other small fruits, sheep, and cattle.  Success was based mostly on marketing and on offering value-added products rather than production efficiency.

However, we ran into some severe production problems due to a local deer population of 75-100 deer per square mile.  These deer were also causing substantial forest damage (preventing regeneration), causing up to 1000 accidents a year in our county, and causing (on average) 5-10 deaths a year in deer-vehicle collisions in the state.  To manage the local suburban deer population and protect our crops, we had to shoot as many as 50 deer per year.  

For several years we dealt with the deer in a perfunctory pest control manner, enjoying the venison and sharing with a large number of  families in the community.  But as we became aware of some interesting research questions in the field of ballistics, we recognized a unique opportunity.

 

 

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