Welcome!

 
This web page belongs to Karl Peterson. 

I am a research assistant professor, and director of the Non-Conductive/Volatile-Phase Materials Characterization Facility at Michigan Technological University.  You can find me at: 

office: 
716 Mining and Materials 
Engineering Research Labs 
phone: 906.487.2423 
email: krpeters@mtu.edu 
address: 
1400 Townsend Drive 
Houghton, MI 49931-1295 USA

 Links to some stuff:

example of alkali-silica reaction
scanner based air void research
x-ray of ladybug
chewbacca action figure
 
My research focus is on the  use of microscopy as a tool for the study of portland cement concrete.  Our suite of labs is on the 7th floor of the M&M building, and overlooks the Portage Lake Canal.  In our labs, we have a variety of microscopes, including:  an OLYMPUS BX-60 System Microscope equipped for reflected and transmitted light petrography and epifluorescence, an OLYPMPUS SZH10 Zoom Stereo Microscope equipped with a motorized stage, an OXFORD/HORIBA XGT-2000W X-Ray Analytical Microscope, and a PHILIPS XL40 Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with an EDAX EDS detector and a TexSEM Laboratories Electron Back-Scatter Pattern Detector.  We also have a CreoScitex EverSmart Pro II High-Resolution Flatbed Scanner that can be used as a microscope for the study of flat-polished surfaces.

The use of flatbed scanners for the purpose of automated air void analysis of hardened concrete (ASTM Test Method C457-98 Standard Test Method for Microscopical Determination of Parameters of the Air-Void System in Hardened Concrete)  is one of my research interests, click here for a list of publications.  Some links to false-color images of polished concrete slabs collected with a flatbed scanner are included here: limestone, blast-furnace slag, and natural gravel.