Alumni Happenings Archived Updates

Jump to: 2011 2009 2008 2007   2011 Aug. 1, 2011. Andrew Sparks, B.S. 2000, and his wife, Angie, welcomed baby Rand Everett to the family. He was born on April 30, weighing 7 pounds and measuring 20 inches. He is the couple's second child. Andrew currently works as an optical engineer at L-3 Communications in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also studying toward his master's degree at the College of Optical Sciences through the Distance Learning program. July 1, 2011. The College of Optical Sciences is proud to recognize Kenneth E. Moore, Ph.D. 1991, as its 2011 Alumnus of the Year. He will be honored in a ceremony with other UA winners on Nov. 4. Moore was the founder and CEO of ZEMAX Development Corp., which recently merged with Radiant Imaging Inc. to form Radiant ZEMAX LLC, where he currently serves as chief technology office of optical engineering products. In 2010, he won the prestigious David Richardson Medal from the Optical Society (OSA), which recognizes significant contributions to optical engineering, particularly in the commercial sectors. As a graduate student, Moore was awarded the 1991–1992 Arthur G. and Beatrice DeBell Memorial Scholarship; as an alumnus, he and his wife founded the Kenneth E. and Michele L. Moore Endowed Scholarship. June 4, 2011. Keith J. Kasunic, Ph.D. 1997, who currently serves as a senior staff systems engineer at Lockheed Martin Corp. and an adjunct professor at CREOL, the College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida, is the author of "Optical Systems Engineering," released in April by McGraw-Hill Professional. Billed by the publisher as a practical guide to optical system design and development, it "emphasizes first-order, system-level estimates of optical performance." The text is currently available on Amazon.com.   May 2, 2011. James Carriere, Ph.D. 2004, shares news of his very busy year: "I married my girlfriend of three years in Temecula, Calif., on Oct. 10, 2010, followed by a wondrous honeymoon to Rome, Greece and Egypt with brief stops in Munich, Brussels and Kusadasi, Turkey. Then I accepted a new position at the beginning of the year as director of business development for Ondax, a company in the Los Angeles area that specializes in volume holographic gratings for various applications from wavelength stabilized lasers, Raman spectroscopic filters and ultrafast laser pulse stretching/compression." He invites anyone who wants to get in touch about business to contact him at jcarriere@ondax.com. May 2, 2011. Good news for Kenneth E. Moore, Ph.D. 1991 — his Zemax Development Corp. recently announced a merger with Radiant Imaging Inc., allowing both businesses to better serve existing markets and to develop new products to meet global demands. The new Radiant Zemax LLC will operate from a single facility in Redmond, Wash., in the short term. April 1, 2011. The College of Optical Sciences sadly shares news of the passing of Ronald C. Fronczek, M.S. 1975, who died on Sunday, March 6, 2011, after his bicycle was struck by a car. Ron, a veteran of the U.S. Army, studied with Orestes N. Stavroudis at OSC and then worked for 10 years at White Sands Missile Range. At the time of his passing, he owned a private optometry practice in Las Cruces, N.M. To read more about Ron, and to pay your respects in an online guest book, please see the Las Cruces Sun-News. March 1, 2011. OSC alumnus, adjunct professor and donor John B. Hayes, M.S. 1981, Ph.D. 1984, sent an update on his time since graduation: "After graduating from OSC in 1984, I joined Jim Wyant and two others as a part of WYKO. I worked at WYKO for about 15 years doing engineering and project management. I had a lot of fun working on a wide variety of projects that ranged from designing infrared and visible interferometer products, atomic force microscopes, factory metrology products for the disk drive industry to writing a lot of software and working with customers all over the world. OSC still uses the WYKO 6000 that I (along with a small team of engineers) designed in the late 1980s. After Jim and I sold the company to Veeco in 1997, I stayed on for another couple of years working on products for high speed metrology of disk drive components before I left to join OSC as a research professor. I spent my time at OSC working on new methods for vibration insensitive interferometry. That interest ultimately led to the creation of a new company called 4D Technology. Jim and I again became partners and we brought in two other talented engineers to join us as founders. At 4D, we developed a line of ultra-high speed phase measuring interferometer products that could acquire data in a microsecond making them very insensitive to almost all kinds of environmental vibration. One of our instruments (an ESPI system designed by Michael North-Morris, M.S. 1998, Ph.D. 2000, for NASA) could even grab data in few nanoseconds! Most of our products were designed for the metrology of aerospace optical systems and large telescopes. 4D interferometers have tested all of the major components for the James Webb space telescope, the HiRISE Mars orbiter, the Deep Impact spacecraft as well as virtually all of the large components for 6m and larger ground based optical telescopes located around the world. "After more than 25 years of working with optics, I decided to retire and pursue another passion — aviation. I've been a pilot for nearly 20 years and about a year ago I became a multiengine flight instructor and I'm currently working on my instrument and single engine instructor certificates. Shortly after I retired, I had an opportunity to fly a jet so I did my Airline Transport Pilot rating and got type rated in two different Citation jets. I have to say that the type rating process was as hard as anything I have ever done. Think of it as a two week long prelim — for 14 hours a day and you'll start to understand what I'm talking about. Fortunately, it you only have to go through it once for each type of jet you want to fly. "Along the way, I've had some once in a lifetime aviation related adventures. I got to fly a Citation from Florida to Paris by way of Greenland, Iceland, and Scotland. I also had a chance to be among only a few invited by Airbus to fly the new A380 level-D simulator in Toulouse, France. The level-D sims are so true to life that after training and certification, a captain can fly the real airplane for the very first time with a load of passengers! Another lucky event led to being invited to spend two days on the John C. Stenis nuclear aircraft carrier stationed about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego. I had to resist the urge to over-explain all the cool optical equipment I spotted on the carrier. The trap landing and catapult take off are certainly events I will never forget! Accelerating from zero to 140 knots in about two seconds is pretty amazing. "Over the years, I've founded and run two organizations for airplane owners. I am currently the president of the Citation Jet Pilots Inc., an organization focused on private owners of Citation jet aircraft. We represent owners worldwide and put on an amazing annual meeting for hundreds of attendees focused primarily on safety. As a part of those efforts, I've been very lucky to get to meet and work with some of the biggest names in aviation ranging from the heads of all of the large national organizations, the FAA, air show performers, major manufacturers and a bunch of really interesting folks who own and fly their own jets. Once, when I asked one of our members at a meeting what he did for a living, he responded, "Have you ever heard of Photoshop?" Yep, he's the guy who wrote the program! I've been fortunate to meet Edsel Ford, Harrison Ford, Tom Travolta, Steve Fossett, Bob Hover, Al Haynes and a host of other accomplished pilots and every one of them has an interesting story. I also use my airplane to transport cancer patients around the country for treatment and last year I participated in the world's largest private airlift of Olympians to the Special Olympics in Lincoln, Neb. Besides the jet, I also fly aerobatics in an Extra 300L. I don't compete — I just fly for fun at a fairly low level of difficulty. Still there is nothing like dancing through the sky, upside down, straight up, or in a loop. "Finally, for all of you who knew me during my days at OSC or who I have run into on Mount Lemmon, yes, I am still climbing rocks. Although I still have my home in Tucson, I mostly live in Bend, Ore., now with my wife and twin 10-year-old boys. So, when I'm not flying, consulting, playing with the kids or working on one of my organizations, I'm at Smith Rocks climbing. On a good day, I can still get up a 5.11 though it's not always pretty. Life was certainly never dull during my time at OSC and I've been fortunate that it has stayed that way ever since!" Jan. 31, 2011. Yuan Luo, M.S. 2007, Ph.D. 2008, who serves as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, helped MIT's George Barbastathis and colleagues at SMART create the invisibility cloak voted number four on the Physics World list of the top 10 breakthroughs of 2010. Jan. 31, 2011. Congratulations go to Mauro Pereira, Ph.D. 1992, who was recently elected as an SPIE Fellow — coming full circle from his days as the recipient of an SPIE graduate student grant. Mauro is now a professor at the Materials and Engineering Research Institute at Sheffield Hallam University. Jan. 31, 2011. Recent alumna Melissa "Missy" Stout, B.S. 2010, sends along the following: "After graduating, I got offered at job at Exotic Electro Optics as a project and materials engineer. My biggest responsibility currently is working with a crystal growth engineer to better understand how to grow germanium for the optical windows EEO makes, but I also participate in various material evaluations, and I'm the company trainer on our handheld XRF machine." Jan. 31, 2011. Ray Wilson, Ph.D. 1971, has made quite an impact on Illinois Wesleyan University, where he serves as associate professor emeritus of physics. Not only did he help to build the reputation of the physics department and the Mark Evans Observatory, but his short course on the physics and ethics of nuclear disarmament is particularly well regarded. Jan. 31, 2011. Alumna Ping Zhou, M.S. 2006, Ph.D. 2009, who now works as a metrologist for Professor James H. Burge, was the University of Arizona nominee for the CGS/UMI Distinguished Research Award in physical sciences and engineering. Hers was the top dissertation among more than 1,000 UA physics and engineering theses.   2009   Bob Breault, OSC Ph.D. 1979, Offers a Free ASAP Tutorial to OSC Students and Faculty. January 5, 6, and 7. What: Introduction to ASAP Tutorial for UA OSC Students and Faculty. When: Jan 5-7, 2010 (Winter Break), 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. Where: Breault Research Organization, 6400 E Grant Rd. Suite 350. An Introduction to ASAP Tutorial has been scheduled January 5, 6, and 7, 2010, for students and faculty of the College of Optical Sciences who would like to take the same course completed each year by hundreds of optical engineers in industry. Course Information: The $1,200 enrollment fee will be waived for current UA faculty, graduate students, and senior undergraduates. The course will be held during the last week of Winter Break to better fit the schedules of students and faculty. Attendees will have their own ASAP workstations for hands-on examples and class exercises. Every attendee who completes the course will receive an official certificate of completion. Register now if you're interested. Seating is limited to 16 participants. To register, email your information to tutorials@breault.com Jan 5-7 course and your UA affiliation noted. Schedule: http://www.breault.com/training/training-schedule.php Course Overview: http://www.breault.com/training/training-overview.php   November 19, 2009 — Feenix Pan, OSC M.S. 2000 and Ph.D. 2002, is the Founder of Door-2-Math Her mission is to work with math-challenged youngsters to re-build their math confidence and help them to get and stay ahead of their peers. Her goals are to improve her students' overall confidence, help them acquire a solid math foundation, develop efficient study habits and critical thinking skills, learn effective test-taking techniques, and ultimately achieve higher math grades. At this writing, Feenix has worked with more than 100 students — she personally teaches each one — and is drawing rave reviews from her students and their parents.   November 19, 2009 — Greg Sanger, OSC M.S. 1970 and Ph.D. 1976, sent a note to let us know that he has decided to retire from Spectra Sensors, Inc. and start his own consulting business in Chico, California. Both Greg and Betsy are thrilled and say they have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.   November 5, 2009 — Kevin Thompson, OSC Ph.D. 1980: When you have a moment, check out Idle Diffractions: Musings on the Past, Present, and Future of Optics, a fascinating blog by Kevin Thompson, OSC Ph.D. 1980. Kevin's posts spotlight optical design, emerging optical technologies, industry hot topics, and optics history. He covers such subjects as the Large Binocular Telescope, solar energy technology, rare optics books (he donated a collection of antique books to us some years ago), virtual reality (with photos by Jannick Rolland, another OSC alumn), our antique optics collection (John Greivenkamp and Kevin were classmates) and the possibility of a Keplerian telescope appearing in a Jan Brueghel painting some five years before Kepler reported it. Kevin is with ORA, Optical Research Associates (the company that sponsors the Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition mentioned above) and is a long-time OSC Industrial Affiliate representative. He participated in our 2009 Fall Industrial Affiliates Workshop last week. His colleague at ORA, Diane Lieu, brought the blog to our attention — thank you Diane!   October 22, 2009 — Jim Palmer, OSC M.S. 1973 and Ph.D. 1975, and Barbara G. Grant, OSC M.S. 1989: The Art of Radiometry by James M. Palmer and Barbara G. Grant. Estimated Publication Date: December 15, 2009. SPIE Press. ISBN: 9780819472458. Vol: PM 184. 393 pages. Hardcover. To check out the table of contents, read the first chapter, and order now for holiday delivery, please visit http://spie.org/x648.html?product_id=798237 Here's what SPIE has to say: The material from this book was derived from a popular first-year graduate class taught by James M. Palmer for over twenty years at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences. This text covers topics in radiation propagation, radiometric sources, optical materials, detectors of optical radiation, radiometric measurements, and calibration. Radiometry forms the practical basis of many current applications in aerospace engineering, infrared systems engineering, remote sensing systems, displays, visible and ultraviolet sensors, infrared detectors of optical radiation, and many other areas. While several texts individually cover topics in specific areas, this text brings the underlying principles together in a manner suitable for both classroom teaching and a reference volume that the practicing engineer can use. The level of discussion of the material is suitable for a class taught to advanced undergraduate students or graduate students. Although this book is not a theoretical treatment, the mathematics required to understand all equations include differential and integral calculus. This text should be foremost in the toolkit of the practicing engineer or scientist working on radiometric problems in areas of optical engineering, electro-optical engineering, systems engineering, imagery analysis, and many others, allowing the technical professional to successfully apply radiometric principles in his or her work.   October 22, 2009 — Yakov Sidorin, OSC M.S. 1995 and Ph.D. 1998, now a practicing patent attorney in Tucson, invites you to a seminar on The Nuts and Bolts of Protecting Inventions - Pragmatic Strategies and Traps to Avoid. The date is November 5, the time is 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and the place is the law offices of Quarles & Brady LLP at One South Church Avenue, Suite 1700, Tucson. Material covered: Most decision makers in the technology industry are familiar with general intellectual property topics and why they are important. What they may not know as well is what a business can do, on a day-to-day basis, to ensure that intellectual assets are protected. Topics of discussion will include the importance of documenting the invention process, what can and cannot be safely disclosed to the public, and common mistakes made during the patenting process. The presentation is organized by intellectual property attorneys of Quarles & Brady LLP. There is no fee to attend the seminar and lunch will be served. With questions please contact Yakov at 520-770-8753 or at yakov.sidorin@quarles.com    September 24, 2009 — Glen, OSC M.S. 2003, and Donna Jannuzzi, OSC M.S. 2004, send greetings and a photo of their sons, Gabriel, age 3, and Nathaniel, age 12 months. Glen and Donna are in San Diego, working at General Atomics, Aeronautical Systems. Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.   August 25, 2009 — John Greivenkamp, OSC Ph.D. 1980:: From Rich Donnelly, Managing Editor, SPIE Newsroom. Video: John Greivenkamp and the Telescopes at O+P. http://spie.org/x36662.xml August 13: OSC T-Scope Exhibit Debuts at SPIE. Thank you, SPIE, for the wonderful display of our antique and historical optics collection at Optics + Photonics at the beginning of the month. John Greivenkamp tells us that SPIE used 14 display cases for our collection and graciously set aside quite a lot of space for for us. Rumor has it that the display was very well attended and received many favorable comments. This year marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first telescopic observations, so the SPIE exhibit consisted mostly of telescopes. Portions of the collection, which was developed by John Greivenkamp, may be viewed on-line at http://www.optics.arizona.edu/antiques/ (Click on the thumbnail for a larger image.) July 30: Antiques Roadshow: The OSC Version. Next week, while you're at SPIE's Optics and Photonics, please take a moment to visit our exhibit of antique and historic optics — selected portions of our collection are on loan to SPIE's O&P during this International Year of Astronomy and the quadricentennial anniversary of Galileo’s first telescopic observations. The goal of the exhibit is to show the development of telescopes and binoculars from relatively early instruments to later instruments that represent what we recognize as the modern form. In an e-mail interview for an SPIE magazine article, John Greivenkamp, who curated the collection with research assistance from David Steed and Website development assistance from Brian Wheelwright, explained why the collection was developed: "As we work to advance optical technology, I think that it is incredibly important to understand the roots of our technology. Almost everything we do has evolved from the work of those that came before us, so understanding the past allows us to better appreciate the technology of today and tomorrow. This is a great opportunity to see a number of historic pieces related to the development of the telescope and to appreciate the materials, quality, and pride of workmanship that went into making these instruments. They are much more than just telescopes and optical instruments." OSC's still-growing collection includes antique and historic telescopes, microscopes, lenses, and cameras. There are numerous examples of each including refracting and reflecting telescopes from a variety of makers. Some are included to demonstrate the advancement of the optical technology and others are included because they are unusual or beautiful. The instruments, primarily from England, France, Germany, and the United States, have received some local attention recently and represent work by the world’s most respected instrument makers from the 17th to the mid-twentieth centuries. The collection is open to visitors Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Portions of the collection may be viewed on-line at www.optics.arizona.edu/antiques/   July 30, 2009 — You're Invited to an Alumni Reception. In conjunction with SPIE's Optics and Photonics, OSC alumni and Industrial Affiliate members are invited to an evening reception on August 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, America’s Cup Room, One Market Place, San Diego, California. If you’re planning to attend the conference, please visit us in booth 705. Contacts: Luz Palomarez, Executive Assistant to the Dean, lpalomarez@optics.arizona.edu or Will Rivera, Director of Alumni and External Relations, will@optics.arizona.edu   July 30, 2009 — Focus is on the Little Things. Nikon Research Corporation Knows Smaller is Better With Electronic Devices. By Dan Sorenson. Published in the Arizona Daily Star on July 18. Say "Nikon" and most people hear "camera," but Nikon Research Corporation of America has a local presence that often has more to do with your laptop than your camera. A small group of optical engineers — most of them Ph.D.'s from the University of Arizona's College of Optical Science — work out of NRCA's modest office and lab in a quiet Rancho Vistoso business park in Oro Valley. They can't tell anyone much more than that, because their work often has to do with product development, often involving patented features, said Eric Goodwin [OSC B.S. 2002, M.S. 2004, and Ph.D. 2007], one of the three UA optical engineering Ph.D.s working there. Some times those developments involve Nikon's famous camera lines, but more often they have to do with the less public side of the giant Japanese company that has to do with the equipment used to make chips — the silicon "brains" that do the magic in everything from computers to pacemakers, iPods and a million other electronic devices. A great part of that always smarter, usually cheaper and more desirable gadgetry is a result of miniaturization. The more brain power that can be squeezed onto the ever-shrinking silicon brains, the smaller and smarter the devices become. The lines in today's chip circuits are so fine as to make a human hair look like a sewer pipe. If you could see the smallest details — individual conductive paths — it would be like using Google Earth to zoom into Tokyo from, say, the Moon, or maybe Mars. The tiny chips have millions of those lines linking electronic circuits embedded in the silicon. They are made in a process related to photography, where the drawn circuits are shrunk and etched into the chips. Nikon, says NRCA CEO Tom Novak, is the second-largest maker of the equipment used in creating those chips. Any error in the optics used to make the circuits causes flaws. "Most of our business relates to the semiconductor side," said Novak in a phone interview from the Nikon research unit's U.S. headquarters in Belmont, Calif. "We do have some camera (projects), but most relates to the semiconductor side." He said Nikon maintains an operation here because of the research, training and other resources available at the UA's College of Optical Sciences. "It's definitely because of the University of Arizona," said Novak. "It's world renowned. As far as I'm concerned it's the Number One optical university. … We wanted to be in close proximity to the professors and students. We use them as advisors from time to time." Novak said the NRCA's low profile in the Tucson area and his reluctance to discuss specifics of research here is deliberate. "There's a lot of competition in our business; we have to be careful what we say. There's guys looking at every word to try to figure out what we're doing," Novak said. "Nikon has ideas and we'll test them out (here)," said Novak. "And we'll try to prove whether it makes sense, or how feasible it is. We rarely do anything for final design. We'll do proof of concept. And normally, Nikon in Japan will do final" product development. But things here are going well enough that NRCA is doubling the size of its Oro Valley operation, expanding into a space next door, roughly doubling its space, Goodwin said. Novak said there will be enough space for visiting Nikon engineers from Japan and for a classroom for customer training. Contact reporter Dan Sorenson at 573-4185 or dsorenson@azstarnet.com.   July 30, 2009 — Mauro Pereira, OSC M.S. 1989 and Ph.D. 1992, now a Professor at Sheffield Hallam University's Materials and Engineering Research Institute, sends greetings and information about an upcoming conference: The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Terahertz and Mid Infrared Radiation: Basic Research and Applications (TERA - MIR 2009). The workshop will be held from November 3 to November 6, 2009 at the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Physics in Turunç-Marmaris, Turkey. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: Interaction of MIR or THz radiation with living biological material, Applications of MIR and THz to medical diagnosis MIR and THz imaging, Detection of explosives and dangerous substances, Last mile communication, Integration of THz and MIR with optical fibers, Out of the box methods for MIR and THz generation and detection, Lasers without inversion, Nonlinear MIR and THz optics, Difference frequency and other nonlinear methods of generation of THz radiation, Millimeter wave and microwave generation and detection – bridging the gap to THz, Quantum Cascade Lasers, Quantum Cascade Detectors, and Intersubband Transport and Optics. For more information, please visit http://www.smmo.org/TERA-MIR2009   July 1, 2009 — Jennifer Turner-Valle, OSC M.S. 1995 and Ph.D. 1998, will join our faculty as an Associate Professor this October. Her expertise is in optical engineering. Jennifer's dissertation, Nonlinear Multilayers as Optical Limiters, was done under the direction of Angus Macleod. Jennifer, it'll be great to have you back again.   June 18, 2009 — Eustace Dereniak, OSC M.S. 1970 and Ph.D. 1976: The SPIE 2009 election for officers and board directors will be held from June 1 to July 22. SPIE members who are eligible to vote will receive an e-mail message from SPIE with instructions on the electronic voting process. At SPIE, members vote for one vice-presidential candidate. The person elected will serve four consecutive years in each of the four different capacities that comprise the presidential chain: vice-president, president-elect, president, and immediate past-president. This year, SPIE has two excellent candidates for vice-president: Christopher Progler, with Photonics, Inc., and our own Eustace Dereniak. If you'd like to see a brief resume and a partial list of Eustace's many qualifications for the SPIE position, please visit his Web site at http://www.optics.arizona.edu/faculty/Resumes/Dereniak.htm Although there are currently no College of Optical Sciences faculty members or alumni in SPIE's presidential chain, OSC faculty members and alumni have a long tradition of service to SPIE, At the moment, the SPIE Board of Directors (completely separate from the presidential chain) includes two OSC faculty members, Jennifer Barton and Donis Flagello, and one alumnus, David Wick, OSC M.S. 1992 and Ph.D. 1997, now with Sandia. Tucson's optics community is further represented by Kathleen Perkins, formerly with Breault Research Corporation and now with OpticsReport, and there are quite a number of OSC faculty and alumni currently serving on SPIE Committees. Over the years, OSC faculty and alumni have made it a priority to serve SPIE in leadership and governance capacities and we would like to keep this tradition alive by electing Eustace to SPIE's presidential chain. So — one more time — SPIE will e-mail those eligible to vote with instructions on the electronic voting process. You can vote any time between June 1 and July 22. (Vote for Eustace☺)   Chanda (Bartlett) Walker, OSC M.S. 1996 and Ph.D. 2002: Dale Stuart Walker, husband of Chanda (Bartlett) Walker, died suddenly on May 3. In addition to his wife, he is survived by their four children: Jaden Sean age 9, Alexandra Bartlett age 7, Raleigh Gwendolyn age 5, and Trevan Tyce age 2. Mr. Walker's obituary is on-line at http://earthmanfunerals.com/obits/Obit.html?id=104028 At the end of the obituary there are links to send condolences to the family and to sign the guestbook or write a tribute.   April 9, 2009 — Meredith, OSC M.S. 2004 and Ph.D. 2008, and Matthew Kupinski: Matt and Meredith were married on March 21 at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Congratulations. We wish you a long and happy life together.   March 26, 2009 — Director of Alumni Relations Duties Assigned. Will Rivera, Director of Development since January 2004, was recently assigned Alumni Relations duties as part of his responsibilities and is now a direct contact for OSC alumni. Alumni are encouraged to contact Will with questions or comments related to alumni relations or development activities. Will can be reached by telephone at 520-626-8754 or by e-mail at wrivera@optics.arizona.edu     March 26, 2009 Just Arrived — OSC Caps and Alumni Shirts   These distinctive caps are perfect for keeping the Arizona sun out of your eyes — they're solid black with the OSC rainbow diamond embroidered over the bill in front and the words "Optical Sciences" arching across the back. Our high standards are reflected in the high quality of the cap: it's made of 100% cotton twill with six venting eyelets and an adjustable Velcro closing in back for a custom fit.   Alumni, now you can keep your cool and identify yourself as a member of one of the world's most elite groups — College of Optical Sciences Alumni — when you wear one of our amazing red polo shirts with OSC's signature rainbow diamond embroidered on the left front and the University of Arizona's red and blue block A on the right sleeve.   The polo shirts come in a good range of sizes in both masculine and feminine versions. They're exactly what you'd expect from the world's best optics school: they're made of high performance 100% cotton pique, with a two-button placket, banded cuffs, a taped back neck seam, an even hem, and vented side seams.   Prices: $12 for the cap and $25 for the shirt, with an additional charge for shipping.   To purchase: please contact Luz Palomarez in the Dean's office by e-mail at luz@optics.arizona.edu or by telephone at 520-621-6997 ext. 1.     February 26, 2009 — Jacobus (Jim) Oschmann, OSC M.S. 1983. Jim has been named vice president and general manager of Ball Aerospace & Technologies' Antenna & Video Technologies group. He will lead the strategy, acquisition, and execution of programs for tactical defense needs that apply antenna, radio frequency, and video technology. Jim was recently named an SPIE Fellow for his achievements in astronomical telescope design and lasers. Congratulations, Jim.   February 26, 2009 — Mitch Ruda, OSC Ph.D. 1979. From Mitch Ruda. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) held their 81st Scientific and Technical "Oscar" Awards Ceremony recently at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Unlike the televised Oscars, this is a formal dinner ceremony and the winners are announced in advance. I'm happy to report that I was there with one of our clients as he received the Academy Award for Technical Achievement.   Steve Hylen is a cinematographer, director and the technology guru behind SmARTlens, a company dedicated to the advancement of the photographic art. Several years ago he approached Ruda & Associates with an idea for an on-camera special effects device. We worked with Steve, helping him bring his ideas to reality. The result was the Hylen System. You can learn more about it at: http://www.hylensystem.com/ His system is now part of Panavision's suite of camera equipment, leased out to the motion picture industry.   In his acceptance speech he graciously thanked his wife Katie, Randall Abney president of SmARTlens, Panavision and, of course, yours truly. So, I'm now one of those people who makes these awards ceremonies go on for a long time.   Steve's contributions were on the Oscars web page before the ceremony. Now that they've updated it, I have yet to find it! However for those of you that are interested, go to: http://www.oscars.org/awards/scitech/index.html I've attached photos of the event, including Jessica Biel ("The Illusionist" and many others) who handed out the awards.

2008

August 21, 2008 — Nathan Hagen, OSC Ph.D. 2007, currently a post-doc at Duke University, is UA's nominee for the 2008-2009 Western Association of Graduate Schools Innovation in Technology Award. The award is given for a thesis or doctoral dissertation that addresses the development of an innovative technology and its utilization for the creative solution to a major problem.

Eustace Dereniak nominated Nathan for the award on the basis of his dissertation, Snapshot Imaging Spectropolarimetry, which describes "the development of a creative and highly innovative technology that has widespread applications, including use in the detection of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) often used in unconventional warfare as well as biomedical applications....[His] research has highly significant application, not only for IED detection, but also in its applications in the astronomy sector (Maui, Hawaii, tracking of satellites), medical applications in fluorescence spectroscopy, in microscopy, and in agriculture spectral analysis."

The Western Associate of Graduate Schools (WAGS) and University Microfilms International (UMI) sponsor the award together. WAGS' membership includes accredited graduate schools in the U.S. and Canada. It focuses on mutual problems among member institutions and cooperates with other agencies by dissemination of information, improvement of standards, encouragement of research and assistance to schools in the beginning stages of graduate education.

Each university can nominate only one candidate for the award. Congratulations, Nathan.

August 21, 2008 — Amy Phillips, OSC M.S. 1985, returned to Optical Sciences a few weeks ago to take up a newly created position: Technology Transfer License Specialist.

Amy received her B.S. in physics and mathematics at UA in 1979 and followed it up with the M.S. in Optical Sciences under the guidance of Phil Slater. Her early professional credentials include work on laser head designs for optical disk drives at Optotech and designing and implementing tests of optical materials' response to radiation at Kaman Sciences.

For the past eight years she has been an independent contractor with a client list that included Sextant Labs, UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, and — most frequently — an intellectual property firm in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her work for them ranged from evaluating the technical worthiness of patent portfolios, identifying possible licensing targets, and testing for unlicensed use of patented technology.

"The experience," she said, "Taught me how to read detailed technical documents in 'legalese' and how to distinguish good technology with strong patents from good technology with unenforceable patents."

While working for OSC, Amy expects to serve as a liaison between OSC and UA's Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) as they process OSC's patents and licensing agreements.

Amy explained, "Ultimately, the goal is to increase the licensing activity associated with Optical Sciences. The added revenue from licensing agreements helps to diversify activity from State and Federal funding sources, and in a broader sense, it's important in showing the value of Optical Sciences in translating University research into economic activity for the benefit of Arizona and Tucson.

"I encourage you to have early discussions with me and others in OTT about strategies for positioning your research if you think it has IP potential or are interested in learning more about commercializing your academic research. Sooner is better than later!"

Amy's office is in Meinel 724. She can be reached by telephone at 626-1698 or by email at aphillips@optics.arizona.edu

By the way, Amy's husband, Ed Beshore, currently with LPL, was an OSC employee in the late 1970's. He worked on the imaging software for the Pioneer Project and his office, coincidentally, was the same one that Amy has now.

August 15, 2008 — Harald Giessen, M.S. 1994 and Ph.D. 1995, now with Universität Stuttgart, returns to OSC to present a special seminar: Three Dimensional Metallic Metamaterials: Coupling Matters! Abstract: Metallic metamaterials are nanostructures with dimensions around 1/10 of the wavelength of light. They have proven to possess electric as well as magnetic resonances at light frequencies. Metamaterials are believed to be the key to superlenses as well as optical cloaks. In order to achieve such visionary goals, three-dimensional nanostructures have to be conceived. My talk will discuss the problems associated with the fabrication of such structures [1] as well as the underlying basic physics. Interaction of electric and magnetic dipoles plays a crucial role in understanding the optical properties [2], and tailoring the coupling is the key issue that needs to be addressed. Phenomena such as EIT (known from atomic physics) can occur and pave the way to sensing applications with metamaterials. Harald was recently elected Fellow of OSA.

June 26, 2008 — OSC Alumni Dinner in Taipei. Earlier this month, at the 6th International Conference on Optics Design and Fabrication in Taipei, Taiwan, Jim Wyant had dinner with a number of OSC alumni who also attended the conference. Front row, left to right: Rong-Seng Chang, Ming-Wen Chang, Cheng-Chung Lee, Jim Wyant, Yi-Chun Chen. Back row, left to right: Chao-Wen Liang, Chiayu Ai, Chang Kwon Hwangbo, Lon A. Wang, Kenji Konno, Philip Lam, Allen Miao, Chien Chou. Please click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

May 29, 2008 — Peter H. Smith, M.S. 1977. At Commencement on May 17, in addition to conferring an honorary doctorate on our Nicolaas Bloembergen, UA also honored OSC graduate Peter H. Smith with an Alumni Achievement Award. Peter Smith, is world-renowned as the principal investigator of the Phoenix Mars Mission. A few days ago, the spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars where it will conduct science experiments for three months as part of NASA's search for life in our solar system. In his nearly 30 years at UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Peter Smith has participated in many of the seminal space missions to explore the solar system, most notably by his involvement with Mars instrumentation. Beginning with the Imager for the Mars Pathfinder, he also build cameras for the Mars polar lander, Pioneer Venus, and Pioneer Saturn missions. He also initiated nearly a decade of study of outer-planet atmospheres, particularly for Jupiter, Titan, and Saturn, using the Hubble Space Telescope, was the project manager for a descent camera for the Juygens Probe that returned the first close-up images of Titan's surface, and managed the building of the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera.

April 17, 2008 — Carl Maes, M.S. 2002 and Ph.D. 2003, OSC's Associate Dean for Academic Programs, has accepted membership on the College of Optical Sciences Development Board. The goal of the Development Board is to generate revenue to directly support student and faculty needs in keeping with the mission of the college.

April 10, 2008 — Entrepreneurs Michael and Traci Pate (They have a double connection to OSC: Mike received an M.S. from us in 2001 and Traci is a former member of our office staff.) have new products they would like to share with us: a fisheye resolution test target and a line of standard and custom fisheye lenses for MCOS and CCD imaging. Their company, Optical Short Course International, Inc., based in Corvallis, Oregon, delivers optical engineering training in a variety of formats: eBooks, DVDs, Webinars, Live Courses, and Custom Courses at their clients' facilities. For more information, please visit their Web site at www.oscintl.com.

March 13, 2008 — Mark Sartor, M.S. 1992 and Ph.D. 1999, has just returned from Afghanistan where he was contracted as a subject matter expert to support the Army. He writes: "I traveled to Bagram, Afghanistan to help the Army install a new video processing system I helped conceive a few years ago. The system, called PSDS2 (Persistent Surveillance Dissemination System of Systems, has helped to save the lives of many soldiers. While both the travel and work were strenuous and stressful, I found it very fulfilling, and I was honored to serve the many fine and often heroic service people over in Afghanistan. Although I have worked on a number of state-of-the-art systems for the US military, this is the first time I had the honor of putting it into the hands of those who would use it and actually observe how it helps our troops. (Similar systems were also put in Iraq.) The war in Afghanistan is called Operation Enduring Freedom, and was a direct response to the events of 9-11. There is a multinational force coalition that provides military and humanitarian support to the country, and these military and civilian people go into the country every day both to help rebuild the country (schools, bridges, roads, infrastructure, etc.) and to provide security to a war-weary population. Unfortunately, the American press usually only reports when stuff gets blown up or people are killed, and they miss a lot of the good that goes on, especially in Afghanistan, which often takes a second seat to Iraq. "While over there, I also got involved in a humanitarian project called Operation CARE, which is involved in helping the Afghan children and mothers. I sent word back to my family and they helped to collect over 4000 pounds of formula for the babies and mothers in Afghanistan. We recently shipped it all over there and are awaiting photos from the distribution. They are now collecting school supplies and clothing for the next drive. Here are a few links if you are interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF9Ue0nUH88 http://www.spiritofamerica.net/cgi-bin/soa/project.pl?rm=view_project&request_id=144 http://www.bagram.afnews.af.mil/photos/index.asp?page=29 I have been speaking at various schools on technology and science careers, and where my work in optics has led me including my recent trip to Afghanistan. Through the last 25 years my optics education and work have led to some experiences that I suspect some of your students might find interesting (work on Star Wars, B2 Bomber, Night Vision and Image Fusion for the Army, an Automated Machine Vision product, UAV systems, Iris ID, 3D Visualization, Hemispherical Vision for vehicles, etc.). A talk would be more experiential than technical (lots of pics), and would also discuss the business aspects of our field; however I could manage to through in some equations if absolutely necessary! I can usually tailor the time up or down to suit the slot. My goal overall is to get our youth excited about careers in science in general and our field specifically, and that you can do some pretty cool stuff with an education in optics. Title might be something like…Optics can take you anywhere!" Editor's Note: Mark's message was sent from New Jersey. He can be reached via email at msartor@rdisllc.net

March 7, 2008 — Elka Ertur Koehler, OSC Ph.D. 2000 and M.S. 1993, will present A Scientist's Perspective of Congress. Elka Koehler, who served as an AAAS Congressional Fellow in Washington DC, will present her experiences and perspectives of the legislative process from a scientist's point of view. This prestigious fellowship is designed to demonstrate the value of science-government interaction, and to bring technical backgrounds and external perspectives to the decision-making process in Congress. Working as a special legislative assistant in policy areas requiring scientific and technical input gave her the unique opportunity to learn firsthand how the federal government operates and to help make decisions that result in national public policy. While serving as a science advisor to Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT) during her leave of absence from Raytheon, she performed background research for legislation, drafted bills and amendments, prepared questions for witnesses at Senate hearings, and wrote Senate floor statements, oversight letters to the administration, speeches, and position papers on science and technology related issues. She will briefly discuss some of the science related issues the Congress continues to deal with, including the state of the U.S. innovation infrastructure in the face of globalization.

January 31, 2008 — Peter Smith, OSC M.S. 1977, a Senior Research Scientist with UA's Department of Planetary Sciences and PI on the Phoenix Mars Mission, will present a special lecture titled Uncovering the Mysteries of the Martian Arctic on Tuesday, February 5 at 7:00 p.m. in UMC's DuVal Auditorium. NASA's current mission to the Red Planet is being managed and led at The University of Arizona. The Phoenix Mars Mission, scheduled to land on May 25, will study the history of water and search for complex organic molecules in the ice-rich soil of the Martian arctic. It is the first Mars mission to be led by a public university. The lander will probe farther north than any previous mission to Mars. The UA has been involved in every mission to Mars starting with Mariner 4 in 1964 — and many other planetary missions — and the Phoenix mission continues that rich exploration tradition. Peter Smith's proposal for a NASA Scout Mission was awarded in 2003. Previously, he has been project manager and co-investigator for the UA's HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is on the science team for the Mars Exploration Rovers, and was principal investigator for the successful Imager for Mars Pathfinder in 1997. He is a graduate of Tucson High School, received a bachelor of science in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree in optical science from the UA. He has been a member of the UA faculty since 1978. The lecture is free and open to the public. DuVal Auditorium is located at University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell Avenue. Parking is available in the parking garage immediately east of UMC for $1.50 per hour. For more information or to request disability related accommodations, please email amarx@email.arizona.edu or call 626.8121.

January 17, 2008 — Alumni Reunion in San Jose: Jim Wyant, OSC Dean and Professor, sends a message to all OSC alumni: Alumni, you are all invited to attend the College of Optical Sciences' Alumni Reunion Reception at SPIE’s Photonics West in San Jose, California on Tuesday, January 22, at 5:30 p.m. The reception will be held in the Grande Ballroom of the Sainte Claire Hotel, a five-minute walk from the San Jose Convention Center. As always, your families and guests are welcome. There is no need to RSVP, but if you have questions, please contact Barbara Myers at bmyers@optics.arizona.edu or 520-621-8418. We look forward to seeing you in San Jose.

January 17, 2008 — Steven Saxe, OSC Ph.D. 1985, sent the following note and video link: "Finally, I can talk about what I've been working on - we just went public at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and made it to YouTube! Google "3M Mobile Projector" and check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YOjhYKpSEk. I've been with 3M since 1985, working on and managing a wide variety of optical and projection new product development projects, in addition to some assignments in marketing and new business development. The latest is the 3M Mobile Projection Engine, a tiny video projection module designed to be integrated into mobile and handheld devices. I manage an incredible group of people, who are really the ones responsible for this world-changing new product. On the personal front, my twin boys Connor and Jacob are now juniors in high school, as hard as that may be to absorb. My wife Coral and I have been married for 29 years; she has several published novels and is working on another one now. We have a dog and a cat and a nice suburban house in Minnesota. I play electric bass and sing in a couple of bands, when my travel schedule permits, and enjoy photography. My son Jake and I are planning a weekend getaway to Tucson next month, so I hope we'll have time to stop by and say hey to everyone.

2007

November 29, 2007 — Michael A. Pate, M.S. 2001, President and Founder of Optical Short Course International, Inc (OSCI) sends the following message: Recently, I traveled with my wife and OSCI Office Manager, Traci, to London to teach our popular course again, Applied Digital Projector Design with Zemax® to an outstanding group of optical design and illumination design engineers from Europe’s leading companies. We have also enjoyed teaching this course in the U.S.A., Asia, and in-house at companies worldwide using Zemax®, FRED, and LightTools™. Editor's Note: Both Michael and Traci Pate have OSC roots: While Michael completed his M.S. in Optical Sciences, Traci served on OSC's staff in the Travel and Purchasing Office.

Robert Breault, Ph.D. 1979, is the President and Founder of Breault Research Organization, known as BRO, an OSC Industrial Affiliate at the Principal Partners. level. BRO is an optical engineering firm of global reach and reputation. Their products include optical software, optical engineering services, and ASAP software training. This year, our good friends at BRO have created a special ASAP course for OSC and would like to fill it up.

From Michael Stevenson, Director of Marketing at BRO and a former OSC student. \

WHAT: Special Introduction to ASAP Tutorial for UA's College of Optical Sciences

WHEN: January 7-11, 2008 (Winter Break)

WHERE: Breault Research Organization, 6400 East Grant Road, Suite 350

This is your chance to take the same Introduction to ASAP Tutorial that BRO gives to hundreds of engineers in industry each year. But this class has a few added features:

• It has been added to the schedule Jan 7-11 to give UofA faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates a chance to learn about ASAP over the Winter Break.

• The $2,000 enrollment fee is waived for current UofA faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.

• Students in this class will be some of the first to see the forthcoming ASAP 2008 V1R1 release with enhanced polarization modeling, optimization routines, new HTML help, and much more!

• Each student will sit and work on his or her own ASAP workstation in BRO's Roland Shack Tutorial Room. Space is limited! Only 5 seats remain.

• Register now if you are interested.

• To register, please contact Mary Turner at mturner@breault.com, or simply fax the registration form (link below) to BRO with the Jan 7-11 course noted. Indicate payment as "promo class".

Schedule: http://www.breault.com/training/training-schedule.php Course Overview: http://www.breault.com/training/training-overview.php Registration Form ("Intro... USA PDF"): http://www.breault.com/training/training-register.php Kind Regards, Michael Stevenson, Director of Marketing mstevenson@breault.com Breault Research Organization, Inc. http://www.breault.com 6400 E Grant Road, Suite 350, Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.0500 voice x189. 800.882.5085 toll-free. 520.721.9630 fax.

November 29, 2007 — Carl Maes, Ph.D. 2003. From Jim Wyant. I am happy to tell you that Carl Maes has accepted the position of Associate Dean of Academic Programs for Optical Sciences. Carl has a B.S. in physics from the Air Force Academy, an M.S. in Physics from USC, and a Ph.D. in Optical Sciences from here. His M.S. thesis was on Aberrated Point Spread Functions and Beam Quality for Optical Systems with Annular Pupils and his advisor was Vini Mahajan. His Ph.D. dissertation was on Transverse Mode Properties of Lasers with Gaussian Gain and his advisor was Ewan Wright. Carl spent approximately 20 years in the Air Force including six years teaching, advising students, and doing research at the Air Force Academy, four years doing research at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland AFB, and five years as a program manager and project officer at the Space and Missile System Center in Los Angeles. Most recently he has been teaching in UA's physics department. Carl will start at Optical Sciences on January 2.

November 8, 2007 — Abdeq Abdi, Ph.D. 2005, sends the following: I am a Post Doc Research Fellow at the newly established Purdue Univ. Water Institute on the Calumet campus, 25 miles from Chicago and Lake Michigan. I started the optical sensor simulation research program, and am currently developing fiber optic sensing hardware and software with application in water borne detection of chemical contaminants. My accomplishment is seeing parts of my previous research work appear in four articles within one year and in four major journals. Also, I started Saada Optical, LLC in 2004 and renamed it GageBoy, LLC in 2007. It is still work in progress but I am getting there! Word to the wise: It's better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big one. All other combinations cancel!

November 8, 2007 — Jim Palmer — Ph.D. 1975. Jim Palmer's Legacy Continues: An OSC alumnus, Jim received his Ph.D. in Optical Sciences under the direction of Bill Wolfe. His dissertation, titled A Solar Flux Radiometer for the 1978 Pioneer-Venus Mission, documented his design of a flawless instrument carried onboard a Venus probe that monitored the atmosphere of that planet to investigate its greenhouse effect. After nearly 30 years in storage, Jim's backup spaceflight-ready solar flux radiometer and spare radiometer light pipes are on display in Meinel 450, the James M. Palmer Junior Teaching Laboratory. Drop by and take a look at them when you have a chance.

November 1, 2007 — Arthur Gmitro, Ph.D. 1982, is a Professor of Radiology and Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. In recognition of his excellence in teaching and genuine personality, a group of Art's former and current students honored him with a commissioned painting by local artist Anna Lemnitzer. Asked about what this meant to him Art said, "It's a great honor to be recognized in this way by my current and former students and to be part of the outstanding academic tradition of the College of Optical Sciences". The painting, Cañón Magnifico, includes a representation of Art and intrigues the viewer with two views of the canyon. It hangs on the 4th floor gallery of the College's new West Wing, where it overlooks Christopher Reis' beautiful Desert Flower sculpture and the College's collection of antique optical instruments.

November 1, 2007 — Jack Jewell, M.S. 1981 and Ph.D. 1984, is scheduled to present our Colloquium next week, November 8.

November 1, 2007 — Cheng-Chung Lee, Ph.D. 1983, is a Professor at Taiwan's National Central University and Chair of the Department of Optics and Photonics. He has posted an announcement of three faculty openings in the Optics Employment section of this newsletter.

November 1, 2007 — Michael Lefebvre, M.S. 1984, checked in with us last week as he and his family were fleeing San Diego's wildfires. This week he sends greetings from Northern California where they are staying with his parents before preparing to head home. He said, "The desert was good; albeit for only two days. It starting snowing ash Thursday night as the onshore flow pushed the smoke inland. We decided that the bay area would better serve our health and we made it to Morgan Hill (east of Santa Cruz and south of San Jose) lafter an 8 hour road trip! As we drove from the Coachella Valley out to the Grapevine on I-5, we passed all the major fires. It looked like a bomb had gone off - the mountains were completely obscured and visibility was about 2 km. Unbelievable! Our home needs cleaning up but was unharmed, as were most of my family and friends, so we are among the very fortunate."

October 25, 2007 — Van Hodgkin, M.S. 1989 and Ph.D. 1994, is a government scientist at the U.S. Army's Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, aka the famous Night Vision Lab. He was

recently honored with a 2006 NVESD Employee of the Year award for technical excellence for his contributions to the Army's 3rd Gen FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) programs in the area of phenomenological modeling and analysis.

October 25, 2007 — Michael Lefebvre, M.S. 1984, likes to jump out of perfectly functioning airplanes: "I am employed by QinetiQ-North America in San Diego developing multi-spectral imagers and custom laser illuminators for aerial reconnaissance and land-mine detection. When not at work, I’m busy with my wife, Maggie (UA – class of 85) and our three kids, Jackie (17), Elle (9) and Cole (5). Additionally, I am ever passionate about exquisite bicycles, trail running, scuba and skydiving. P.S. My mother-in-law is also a UA alumnus! (Class of ’62)." The photo shows Michael in the foreground, skydiving with his "brother" Angel Polo, a UCLA EE who designs Blue Tooth Technology. Editor's Note: On Tuesday morning, Michael sent an e-mail letting us know that the San Diego fires were close to their home so he and his family were evacuating to Palm Springs. From his perspective: "It is surreal beyond belief, but we have each other, our important documents, our dog Dulce, and some great photos." Michael, please keep us updated on how you are all doing.

October 25, 2007 — Lionel Liebman, B.S. 1996, e-mailed the following while decompressing from a trip to Kansas State University. "Steph and I have been living in Plano, Texas since 1996. We have three children now: Sadie, 13; Josie, 11, and Gabe, 7. Steph is a CPA/CFE and currently Director of Corporate Audit at EDS. We will celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary next month! We originally moved to Dallas because I took a job with the optics design group at Texas Instruments' Defense Systems and Electronics Group. Raytheon acquired DSEG and I left and took a job in 1999 as principal optical engineer at an Israeli startup pre-ipo fiber optics company: LaserComm. When the telcom market melted down in 2002, I went to Lockheed Martin as an electro-optics designer for LADAR systems. Over the last 5 years, I've become the resident optics design and fiber optics technology subject matter expert and have 5 filed patent applications - primarily in areas of fiber optic transceiver technologies. This year I moved into a new role as business development manager for applied research. In addition to our careers and our kids various activities, I do some optics consulting on the side and Steph and I also own a web-based company Liebman Development Group. Here's our latest website: www.lliebman.qhealthzone.com. Go Wildcats!"

October 18, 2007 — Prateek Jain, Ph.D. 2006, wrote to let us know that he's having a grand time working for Pelco in Fort Collins, Colorado. Pelco is one of the world's largest manufacturers of video security equipment.

October 18, 2007 — Mauro Pereira, M.S. 1989 and Ph.D. 1992, is a full professor of Materials Sciences at UK's Sheffield Hallam University. (Chair on Theory of Semiconductor Materials and Optics.) Check out his bio at http://www.shu.ac.uk/research/meri/electronic/m_pereira.html

October 18, 2007 — Philip McCulloch, B.S. 2005, sends the following: "My wife, Nicole, and I just had our first child: Hannah was born on September 19. After graduation I went to work for Santa Barbara Remote Sensing where I worked on the radiometric calibration of the next generation weather imaging satellite sensor program, VIIRS. The company was closed down a year later by Raytheon and now I am the only Optical Engineer for Michigan Aerospace Corporation in Ann Arbor, Michigan."