A “bed of nails.” A marshmallow in a vacuum. A laser and a balloon.

All are demonstrations expected to grasp eyes on March 17 when Professor Dr. Michael Young gives the “Annual Faculty Lecture,” one of City College’s highest honors.

“Surprising, shocking, un-deserved, but flattered,” said Young, describing the honor.

Selected for outstanding teaching and dedication to service, the annual faculty lecturer is chosen by a committee of previous recipients to present a scholarly topic of general interest.

“The idea of this lecture grew out of visits I do with the elementary school,” Young said. “What can I do conceptually without math that will be entertaining, but educational?”

Young’s theme will be about “Kinetic Theory,” the movement of molecules.

“I want to… use that as an opportunity to show that, one, physics can be fun and, two, how just a few ideas explain a universal phenomena,” Young said.

Young has taught everyone from kindergartners to sophisticated engineering students. He hopes to use that experience to captivate “the non-science” people with his lecture.

“It’s one thing that’s hard to get across to people… It’s physics, not math,” Young said. “Physics uses math the same way a writer uses a computer. The real physics is that conceptual thing.”

Young said embracing this “creative side” of physics, coupled with his background, makes his job feel like a perfect fit.

Because of his teaching history and experience growing up in public schools in Los Angeles, Young feels he can understand diverse student populations.

His students agree.

“He loves what he does,” said Mario Rodriguez, one of Young’s students. “He is an amazing professor and he shows it in every lecture and every lab. It’s just easy to see.”

Working in the classroom, however, is not what Young always envisioned.

“I look back on it and I realize I didn’t do well in middle school because I didn’t like to sit,” Young said.

But his laboratory classes showed Young that physics was hands-on.

“It’s active—I’m an active guy,” Young said. “I would take things apart, put things back together, drop them on the floor and put them back together again.”

Young attributes his energy and “infectious passion” to his role models. His character in and out of the classroom reflects these traits.

“Year after year, Mike engenders an amazing amount of respect, loyalty and enthusiasm from his students,” said Jodi Simpson, a fellow physics professor. “His nomination was completely student driven.”

Student Rodriguez says he thinks the lecture “will be promising.”

“I’m looking forward to the experiments and the explosions,” he said.