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| Watt's Up
College of Optical Sciences News for April 23, 2009
Students | Staff | Watt's Happening | Employment | OSC Store | Subscribe
Complete an MS Entirely On-Line
Today's Colloquium. April 23. 3:45 p.m. Meinel 307
Aephraim Steinberg, University of Toronto, will present The Good News is Reality Exists. The Bad is It's Even Stranger Than People Thought. Poul Jessen is the host.
Abstract: The title is taken from a March 5th report in the Economist about quantum physics experiments done in our lab in Toronto, as well as one in Osaka. While I'm not sure our experiments prove that reality exists (nor what it would mean for reality not to exist), I agree that it's stranger than people thought. And if you want to do research in quantum mechanics, that's not the bad news, it's the good!
When we learn quantum mechanics, we learn about "collapse" and the projection postulate, and perhaps about von Neumann's theory of quantum measurement. Yet the possibilities of quantum measurement are now known to be much richer than this. "Weak measurements" allow us to study postselected systems, conditional upon some future measurement. "Generalized measurements" (or POVMs) are in fact a more accurate description of any real-world device, and can be used to unambiguously discriminate non-orthogonal quantum states (at a price, of course). Quantum state and process tomography (although not quantum measurements in the usual sense of the term) have grown into important toolboxes for quantum information, and controversial disciplines in their own right. Finally, the realization that measurement is nonlinear has led to a new paradigm for creating effective photon-photon interactions such as those needed for quantum logic gates.
I will discuss a number of our experiments on quantum measurement, including weak measurements of particle trajectories in Hardy's Paradox, ongoing plans to measure the tunneling time of Bose-condensed atoms through an optical barrier, and the reconstruction of angular-momentum Wigner distributions for nonclassical "triphoton" states we generate using measurement-induced nonlinearity.
Friday's OSC Community Speakers. April 24. Noon. Meinel 410
This is the last Community Speakers event of the academic year.
Michael Runkel and Christopher J. Stolz will present National Ignition Facility: The Worlds Largest Optical System. The Community Speaker series is sponsored by our SPIE/OSA Student Optics Chapter. Abstract: The National Ignition Facility (NIF), a 192-beam fusion laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was completed in January 2009 and demonstrated 1MJ of 351 nm laser light to target chamber center in March 2009. This facility was constructed to achieve fusion ignition in a quest for determining a pathway to fusion energy. The facility contains 7,456 meter-scale optics for amplification, beam steering, vacuum barriers, focusing, polarization rotation, and wavelength conversion. A multiphase program was put in place to increase the monthly optical manufacturing rate by up to 20× while simultaneously reducing cost by up to 3× through a sub-scale development, full-scale facilitization, and a pilot production phase. In order to manufacture the high quality optics at desired manufacturing rate of over 100 precision optics per month, new more deterministic advanced fabrication technologies had to be employed over those used to manufacture previous fusion lasers.
Next Week's Colloquium. April 30. 3:30 p.m. Meinel 307
Anthony Siegman will close the Spring Colloquium series with Optics with Gain. Colloquium will resume shortly after the beginning of the Fall semester in August.
Rui Zhang is Named OSC's Outstanding Graduate Student for 2009
This award includes a cash prize and a certificate. An award celebration will be scheduled at a later date. Congratulations, Rui.
Brian Wheelwright is Selected to Receive an S. Jack McDuff Scholarship in Engineering
The Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding engineering senior who demonstrates excellence in scholarship, character and promise and who is enrolled in a qualified engineering discipline.
Jack McDuff graduated from the University of Arizona in 1951 with a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering. He is a longtime UA supporter and is highly active in several campus organizations, including the College of Engineering’s da Vinci Circle board, the UA Alumni Association, and the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
At OSC, Brian is perhaps best known for his work in photographing, cataloging, and arranging the OSC/Greivenkamp antique optics collection. You can see Brian's work on our Web site at http://www.optics.arizona.edu/antiques/ or in one of the many display cases gracing our hallways and public areas.
Congratulations, Brian.
History in the Making
SWOSC: Southwestern Optics Student Conference. June 15-18. Albuquerque, New Mexico
Be a part of the first Southwestern Optics Student Conference (SWOSC) to be held this June in Albuquerque NM.
Our SPIE/OSA student chapter (SOCk) has teamed up with student chapters from University of New Mexico, the University of Colorado, and Texas A&M to organize SWOSC 2009. This will be a unique opportunity to meet and collaborate with students from other universities. In addition, representatives from companies and government labs will be in attendance, so students will have the chance to participate in panel discussions and present their research in a professional environment. Plus, group excursions are scheduled to give attendees time to explore the Albuquerque area.
Abstracts are due by May 15 and the registration deadline is June 5 (abstract submission is not required to attend). SOCk is planning to organize travel and registration for UA students as a group, so please contact Stefano Young (syoung@optics.arizona.edu) if you have questions or would like to register for SWOSC. The conference website is http://www.unm.edu/osa/swsc/
Thank you, SWOSC Planning Committee
Mt. Lemmon Camping Trip Photos
Last weekend's camping trip to Rose Canyon Lake on Mt. Lemmon -- sponsored by SOCk, our SPIE/OSA Student Optics Chapter, was a great success. The photos are from Kasia Sieluzycka and Melissa Zaverton -- thank you.
He’d Really Rather Be Sailing
(Please click on the thumbnails for larger images.)
He has been a staff member in Optical Sciences for 8 years and has been with UA for 9 years. Bob first began with Steward Observatory where he worked at Kitt Peak for a year before joining us at Optical Sciences.
His background is varied. He retired from the Air National Guard as a Master Sgt. after 20 years of active duty and 7 years reserve time. As a reservist he was a medic, and for 16 years he worked as an Aircraft Weapons Systems Technician and the last 4 years as a Quality Assurance Aircraft Maintenance Inspector.
But his claim to fame is his family of twelve children, 8 boys and 4 girls, and a “lovely, very patient, strong, courageous and resourceful wife of 41 years. She was my high school sweetheart; I couldn’t have made it without her.” Bob said, “I’ve done two very smart things in my life; I married the lady that is still with me after all these years and I had the family that we have. All the rest is up for grabs.”
“Life is about relationships and experiences. Our relationships help form our character, and if we allow it, help us to realize who we are as true spiritual individuals. Our experiences, realized by our decisions in life, form our destinies.”
Bob would really rather be sailing. He’s a licensed sailor and every summer he and his two brothers rent a 42-foot sailboat and head for the islands.
Eventually, Bob and his family will be moving up to Washington State where he looks forward to a rural lifestyle with a little acreage. His best memories when growing up were the times he spent on his grandfather’s ranch in Mexico so it has long been his dream to leave the city for a simple lifestyle he said, “with nature as my backdrop.”
Hector Garcia will be taking over Bob's responsibilities. Hector, welcome to OSC. Bob, we wish you a long and happy retirement.
Happy Birthday and Best Wishes for a Wonderful Year
April 27
Sarmad Albanna (salbanna@optics.arizona.edu)
April 28 Manijeh Razeghi (razeghi@eecs.northwestern.edu)
April 30
Samuel Goldstein (samg@email.arizona.edu)
May 2
John Reagan (reagan@ece.arizona.edu)
OSC Calendar
April 23 PhD Final Oral Exam. 10:00 a.m. Meinel 701. Ralph Hamilton Shepard III will present Metamaterial Lens Design.
April 24 OSC Community Speakers. Noon. Meinel 410.
April 24 OSC Sports Friday.
April 30 Bob Bourland's Retirement Luncheon at Molina's Midway
April 30 PhD Final Oral Exam. Ying Li will present Impact of Macrobend Loss on the Bandwidth of Standard and Bend-Insensitive Multimode Fiber.
April 30 OSC Colloquium. 3;30 p.m. Meinel 307.
May 4 Ice Cream Social. 3:30 p.m. Meinel 3rd floor lobby.
May 6 Last day of classes
May 7 Reading day. No classes.
May 8 First day of final exams.
May 15 Last day of final exams.
May 15 and 16 UA Commencements.
On Campus
April 21 Biomedical Engineering Seminar. 1:00 p.m. Keating/Bio5 103. Alan Kehlet, retired NASA and aerospace industry executive, will present Project Mercury: First Step to the Moon.
April 24 Physics Colloquium. PAS 224. At 2:15 a Physics graduate student will make a presentation. At 3:00 p.m. guest speaker Professor Greg Landsberg of Brown University will present Large Hadron Collider: First Data and Future Discoveries.
April 29 Mathematical Physics Seminar. 1:00 p.m. Math 402. Our own Marvin Girardeau will present Rotating Ground States of a 1D Gas of Fermionic Atoms with Strong Attractive Interactions on a Mesoscopic Ring.
Optics Community Events
AOIA Mixer. Solon Corporation, 6950 S. Country Club Rd. 5:30 p.m. RSVP to Sara Brown at sbrown@breault.com Speakers: RD Castillo Mastech, Bob Horn Adhocbiz, Gordon Goodyear, Steve Rosenberg Tucson Magazine, Fred Weber SA Labs Inc, Tom Shambo SBDC, Bill Austin Life Cycles, Walter Tighe Sustaining Edge Solutions, Inc., Barry Soloway Management Pragmatics LLC, and Martin Kelber Modular Systems Group. LLC. The anchor speaker, Tom Hunt of Northern Trust, will show alternatives ways to finance. No charge for members, $10.00 fee for guests and non-members.
Manufacturing Engineer. Exotic Electro-Optics. Location: Southern California. Exotic Electro-Optics, Inc. (EEO) is an Optical Fabrication facility that supplies state-of-the-art infrared crystals, optical components, coatings and assemblies for aerospace, defense and commercial markets. Description: Process Documentation: Responsible for building and maintaining manufacturing process documentation for use by production personnel in the performance of their jobs. Mfg Process documentation includes Work Order Release (WOR) packages including Mfg Process Plans (Routers) and Bills of Materials (BOM’s), and RCN, ECO, and NOR change order documentation. The WOR packages must delineate the required steps in sufficient detail to successfully fabricate, coat, assemble and test EEO products as defined by customer and EEO specifications. In addition, Mfg Engineering is responsible for maintaining and updating support documentation including Standard Manufacturing Procedures (SMP’s), Ispecs, manufacturing drawings and special processes. Process Development and Process Control: Leads development and implementation of new mfg processes, tooling, and test fixtures. Manufacturing processes developed are robust against product specifications and support quoted cost. Key process variables are identified, characterized and controlled sufficiently to consistently result in acceptable quality and cycle times. Process variables reduction is continuously engaged. Estimating: Supports quoting activities by evaluating technical requirements, identifying exceptions, and preparing cost estimates for customer quotes. Education: Minimum BS degree in engineering or related discipline, preferably in industrial or mechanical engineering OR equivalent experience (minimum 10 years) working as a mfg engineer in an optics fabrication environment. Contact Information: Paige Lawson, plawson@exotic-eo.com Phone: (951)926-7672 www.exotic-eo.com
Optical or Mechanical Lab Tech or Engineer. Part Time. Optical product development company seeks skilled optical engineering lab person to setup bench-top optical parts, assemble prototypes, and take data measurement, in a variety of optics applications, both illumination and imaging. We are a small business in optical product design and engineering, with ongoing commercial projects. Skills and resources sought: Mechanical Experience: o 5 years minimum professional work experience. Mechanical design in SolidWorks required, 5 years desired. Your own copy of SolidWorks, a plus. Ability to check & follow mechanical drawings. Ability to inspect parts against drawings. Optical Lab Experience: Minimum 6 years of hands-on lab experience - good with tools etc. Able to clean and handle optics, familiar with optical lab hardware. Opto-mechanical experience desired. Basic soldering skills necessary. Data gathering and excel plotting familiarity needed. LED and Laser Diode familiarity a plus. Your own PC and good computer skills. Work space to do off-site work, but flexibility to come in to our lab. Basic knowledge of electronics - a plus. Good phone skills for talking with vendors (vendor experience a plus) Good attitude: set your own hours, be your own boss, get the work done. This is an independent contractor position. The hours you’ll need to complete the work vary, but we need 5 to 30 hours per week typically, so flexibility in your availability is needed. This is an excellent income opportunity for professional contractors looking for additional work, pros returning to school for advanced degree, part-time employed, or semi-retired. Rates are competitive, and depend on experience. Location: central Tucson, Az. Send resume and short note to optwork@gmail.com
Optical Engineer or Opto-Mechanical Engineer. Part Time. Optical product development company seeks skilled and experienced Optical Engineering or Opto-Mechanical Engineer to aid in optical engineering and product development. We are a small business in optical product design and engineering, with ongoing commercial projects. Skills and resources sought: Engineering Experience: 5 years minimum optics related professional work experience. Ability to review & understand mechanical drawings and optical drawings. Ability to inspect parts against drawings. Optical Lab Experience: Minimum 6 years of hands-on lab experience - good with tools etc. Able to clean and handle optics, familiar with optical lab hardware. Opto-mechanical experience desired. Data gathering and excel charting familiarity needed. LED and Laser Diode familiarity a plus. Your own PC and good computer skills. Work space to do off-site work, but flexibility to come in to our lab. Basic knowledge of electronics - a plus. Good phone skills a must, for talking with vendors. Good attitude: set your own hours, be your own boss, get the work done. This is an independent contractor position. The hours you’ll need to complete the work vary, but we need 5 to 20 hours per week typically, so flexibility in your availability is needed. This is an excellent income opportunity for professional contractors looking for additional work, pros returning to school for advanced degree, part-time employed, or semi-retired. Rates are competitive, and depend on experience. Location: central Tucson, Arizona. Send resume and short note to optwork@gmail.com
Electronics Engineer / Opto-Electronics. Part Time. Optical product development company seeks skilled and experienced Electrical Engineering or Electro-Optical Engineer to aid in high power LED & Laser Diode driver development. We are a small business in optical product design and engineering, with ongoing commercial projects. Skills and resources sought: Engineering Experience: 4 years minimum High Power LED or Laser Diode driver. Related professional work experience: Ability to design circuits and generate schematics and Gerber files. Ability to troubleshoot circuits. Optical Lab Experience: Minimum 6 years of hands-on Analog and Digital electronics design & prototyping experience. o Data gathering and excel charting a plus. Microprocessor and controller familiarity a plus. Your own PC and good computer skills. Work space to do off-site work, but flexibility to come in to our lab. Good phone skills a must, for talking with vendors. Good attitude: set your own hours, be your own boss, get the work done. This is an independent contractor position. The hours you’ll need to complete the work vary, but we may need 5 to 15 hours per week, so flexibility in your availability is needed. This is an excellent income opportunity for professional contractors looking for additional work, pros returning to school for advanced degree, part-time employed, or semi-retired. Rates are competitive, and depend on experience. Location: central Tucson, Arizona. Send resume and short note to optwork@gmail.com
Optical Engineer. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Job # 008253. Job Title: Engineer (249.0) This is a Flexible Term (at will) appointment, not to exceed six years. Lab employees and external candidates may be considered for this position. Nature and scope of job: Laser Systems Engineering & Operations (LSEO) of the Engineering Directorate has an opening for an Optical Instrumentation Engineer to support the NIF Optical Metrology Group of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) Project. The group is responsible for ensuring the operation, maintenance, and upgrading of large optic metrology tools located at LLNL and at NIF optic vendor sites around the country. In particular, the successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring maximum productivity and data fidelity from a variety of laser-based optical metrology tools including 24” interferometers, photometers, phase measuring microscopes and automated optical microscopes. A significant portion of the work scope will entail fielding new metrology tools as required by the NIF project. This will include participation in concept evaluation, design, prototype testing, fielding and support of these instruments. Some travel to off-site vendors may be required. The successful candidate will also be responsible for the evolution of in-house metrology data analysis programs and will report to the Group Leader for Metrology and Optics Processing within LSEO. Essential Duties: Maintain and enhance the measurement capabilities of large aperture, precision metrology instruments used in the production of NIF optical components, particularly Large Aperture Interferometers, Large Area Conditioners, Laser Glass Damage Testers, and Photometers. Evaluate, design, test, field, and support new large optic metrology instruments as required by the project. Oversee metrology process improvement to increase productivity and quality at NIF optics. Document instrument performance and changes to operating procedures, analysis methods, codes and measurement techniques with reports and memos. Prepare and teach operator training, including safe operating procedures of systems fielded at vendor sites. Maintain a close interface with a wide variety of programmatic and project elements to ensure effective teamwork and end-user communication. Direct the work of others in order to successfully complete assigned projects. Essential skills, knowledge, and abilities: BS in Physics, Optics, Engineering, or related discipline or equivalent level of demonstrated knowledge. Experience in computer hardware and instrumentation. Experience with common optical metrology techniques including interferometric measurements, photometry and ratiometry. Working knowledge of programming languages such as IDL, IgorPro, C, LabView as well as standard Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Working knowledge of a variety of Windows operating systems from NT through XP. Experience working in a broad scope team environment that includes scientists, engineers, technicians, designers at vendors sites and within the NIF Project. Demonstrated ability to document work in presentations, reports, memos and papers. Demonstrated effective interpersonal and communication skills. Desired skills, knowledge, and abilities: MS in Physics, Optics, Engineering, or related discipline. Extensive hands-on experience with optical metrology measurements in a production environment. In-depth knowledge of instrument troubleshooting and data analysis techniques. Demonstrated experience and fluency in IDL and LabView programming. Extensive hands-on experience with Windows-based PCs, ability to troubleshoot and repair hardware and software and networking issues. Working knowledge of pulsed and CW, flashlamp and diode-pumped Nd:YAG, Nd:YLF lasers and visible diode lasers. Knowledge of non-linear optical processes (frequency conversion), laser damage processes and diffraction theory. Special requirements: Pre-Placement Medical Exam: A job related pre-placement medical examination may be required. Anticipated Clearance Level: L (Position will be cleared to this level). Applicants selected will be subject to a Federal background investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or matter. In addition, all L or Q cleared employees are subject to random drug testing. Pre-Employment Drug Test: External applicants selected for this position will be required to pass a post-offer, pre-employment drug test. Apply online at: https://jobs.llnl.gov/psc/jobs/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/s/WEBLIB_LL.VIEW_JOBS_LL.FieldFormula.IScript_View_Jobs_LL?KEYWORD=008253& Visiting representatives from LLNL will be on campus this Thursday and Friday, 23 & 24 April and will be conducting some interviews. To find available interview times and to sign up, please contact Allison Huff at allison@optics.arizona.edu.
Short Courses | On-Line Classes | Clothing | Mugs
Students: When you graduate and leave OSC, your subscription to Watt's Up automatically expires. If you would like to continue your subscription, you may add (and later remove if you wish) your name to our Watt's Up listserv by visiting http://www.optics.arizona.edu/helpdesk/listserv.htm
Cathy Alexander Information Specialist Coordinator College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona |
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Rui Zhang, OSC PhD candidate and
Graduate Research Assistant, was nominated for the award by his
advisor, Hong Hua, who wrote: "Rui has demonstrated excellent
scholastic ability and research promise. Since Spring 2006, Rui has
been working on a project to develop a bright and lightweight
polarized head-mounted projection display (HMPD) system. The
overall system involves complex polarization management schemes,
optical engineering issues, display-human visual system interface,
as well as human factors. He managed to develop a prototype system
with outstanding performance. So far he has co-authored with
me three articles in Applied Optics and Journal of Optical Society
of America (JOSA) and made two conference presentations. We also
filed a patent disclosure based on his work which was recently
converted to a US patent application. Outside of the curriculum, Rui
actively participates in community activities. He was recognized by
the Associated Students of the University of Arizona as a club
leader in 2007 due to his contributions to the Association of
Chinese Students and Scholars."
Brian Wheelwright, a Junior in the
Bachelor of Science in Optical Sciences and Engineering degree
program, has just been selected to be the first University of
Arizona student to receive a recently-established S. Jack
McDuff Scholarship.
April
30
