MAY 1997 REPORT FOR

W. CHARLES SYMONS, III

During the month of April, the introductory study of the Finite Element Method (FEM) was completed. Consequently, a two-dimensional Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscope (NSOM) model was developed utilizing FEM. This model simulates a two-dimensional electromagnetic problem utilizing geometry information generated via a program entitled Ideas. At this point, this model is still a work in progress since only preliminary data has been obtained and the code has not been fully debugged. A short report is currently being written and should be available in HTML format next month.

In addition to the FEM model mentioned above, a Computational Sciences Brown Bag seminar was given during April. Furthermore, an internal grant was submitted to fund a new computerized laser dermatome project being developed in conjunction with our lab in ASTeCC.