People

Ronald G. Driggers

R. Driggers is a Professor at the University of Arizona’s Wyatt College of Optical Sciences and works in the area of electro-optical and infrared imaging systems.   Previously, he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service as the Superintendent of the Optical Sciences Division at the Naval Research Laboratory in 2008.   Before 2008, he was the Director of the Modeling and Simulation Division at the U.S. Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) and a brief period as the Chief of the Electro-Optics and Photonics Division at the Army Research Laboratory.  Dr. Driggers received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Memphis in 1990, is the author of five books on Infrared and Electro-Optics Systems.  He was Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Optical Engineering (Taylor and Francis).  He was selected as the 2002 Army Materiel Command’s Engineer of the Year, 2001 CERDEC Technical Employee of the Year, and 2001 NVESD Technical Employee of the Year.  He is a retired U.S. Naval Reserve Officer and was selected as the 2001 Naval Engineering Duty Officer of the Year (William Kastner Award).  He is also a Fellow of the International Society for Optical Engineering, the Optical Society of America, and the Military Sensing Symposium.  He has been the Editor-in-Chief of SPIE’s flagship journal, Optical Engineering, and the Editor-in-Chief of the Optical Society of America’s journal Applied Optics.

Collaborators

Dr. Gerald Holst

Gerald Holst is an independent consultant for imaging system analysis and testing. He was a technical liaison to NATO, research scientist for DoD, and a member of the Lockheed-Martin senior technical staff. Dr. Holst has chaired the SPIE conference Infrared Imaging Systems: Design, Analy­sis, Modeling and Test­ing since 1989. He is author of over 30 journal articles and 6 books (published by SPIE and/or JCD Publishing). Dr. Holst is a member of OSA and is a SPIE Fellow. Dr. Holst has been collaborating with R. Driggers for over 30 years and has supported the infrared group for 5 years.

Dr. Holst has been working with Ron Driggers for over 30 years and has worked with the IR Group for the past 5 years.

 

Dr. Orges Furxhi

Dr. Orges Furxhi is a Principal with True Colors Infrared Imaging and an independent consultant. He holds a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Memphis. Dr. Furxhi is a co-author of the third edition of the Introduction to Infrared and Electro-optical System book, has authored or co-authored close to 50 research publications, and has five issued patents. Dr. Furxhi was a Principal Member of Technical Staff at Imec working with the Camera, Lidar, and Holography groups in the Sense and Actuate Department. Prior to that he was the R&D Manager of the Camera Systems and Computational Imaging team at Imec. Before joining Imec he was a Director of Engineering at St. Johns Optical Systems where he was responsible for camera product development. He has been a postdoc with the Duke Imaging and Spectroscopy Program at Duke University and with the Center for Advanced Sensors and the Center for Large Scale Complex Systems & Integrated Optimization Networks at the University of Memphis. As a postdoc he developed several Infrared, Millimeter wave and Terahertz imaging systems.

 

Dr. Kyle Renshaw

Dr. Kyle Renshaw is an Asst. Professor in CREOL, the College of Optics & Photonics, at the Univ. of Central Florida where he holds joint appointments in the Department of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. He conducts research in materials, components and technologies for imaging systems including detector, focal plane and lens technologies along with system architectures. He has authored over 20 journal articles, 15 conference papers and 6 issued patents. He is a member of the OSA, SPIE, and IEEE Photonics.

 

 

Recent Graduates

Dr. Robert Short (UCF)

Target Acquisition Performance Improvement with Boost and Restoration Filtering Using Deep-Electron-Well Infrared Detectors

Graduated 2020

Robert Short graduated from the University of Central Florida with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and M.S. in Optics & Photonics. His PhD dissertation work concerned the range performance impact of digital image filtering on certain types of LWIR sensors. Robert currently works at Leonardo DRS. His research interests include: sensor modeling & simulation, EO/IR systems, threat warning, and range performance modeling methods

Dr. Steve Butrimas (UCF)

EOIR, Lidar, and Radar imaging performance

Graduated 2020 
Co-Advisors: Driggers, Holst, Richardson, Pang

Steve Butrimas graduated from UCF with a BS in Physics and Electrical Engineering followed by a MS and PhD in Optical Sciences. His focus is on EOIR, Radar, and Lidar realtime simulation and imaging performance for high fidelity software and hardware in the loop applications. Currently he is working with Nvidia with a focus on autonomous vehicle simulation for camera, lidar and radar systems to meet the needs of sensor perception and vehicle hardware in the loop systems. Additional interests include IRST performance and realtime coherence simulations for AV applications.

Dr. Heath Gemar (UCF)

Spectral Dependence of Deep Subwavelength Systems in Midwave Infrared

Graduated 2021
Co-Advisors: Renshaw, Driggers, Yetzbacher

Heath Gemar graduated from Missouri State University with a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics and a M.S. in Material Science after completing a thesis on FTIR spectroscopy of hot exoplanets.  He is pursuing research at Naval Research Laboratory investigating the spectral characteristics of nano-apertures in metallic films. Additional projects and interest have included polarization measurements, coherence measurements, lidar implementation, IR systems, IRST, and more.

Dr. Robert Grimming (UCF)

UCIR Spectral Sensors (MultiUAS/MultiSensor)

Graduated 2022
Co-Advisors: Renshaw/Driggers

Robert Grimming is a retired Army Officer and a PhD graduate from CREOL at the University of Central Florida.  He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and M.S. in Optics from the University of Central Florida.  While in the Army, he served as an EOD Company Commander and a Nuclear and Counter-Proliferations Officer.  Throughout his career, he has taught as part of the faculty at the United States Military Academy, Valencia College in Orlando, FL, and the Laser-Photonics Magnet at Wekiva High School in Apopka, FL. 

Robert Grimming’s current research is in longwave infrared (LWIR) imaging with uncooled microbolometer systems.   He has participated on research projects at CREOL including LWIR applications for autonomous vehicle navigation and machine learning, multiband LWIR image enhancement, and atmospheric measurements with uncooled LWIR camera systems.

Dr. Derek Burrell (UA)

Speckle Mitigation in HEL Targeting Sensors

Graduated 2024
Co-Advisors: Driggers/Spencer

Derek Burrell earned his B.S. in electrical engineering from Michigan Tech before graduating from UCF CREOL with an M.S. in optics and photonics. He previously held internships in fiber-optic communications and automotive-lighting simulations and just finished his UA Ph.D. offsite at the Directed Energy Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory. In addition to trade studies of electro-optic and infrared systems, his research interests include beam control and imaging through turbulence. Recently, he is been developing techniques for phase compensation and active target tracking, with an emphasis on mitigating laser speckle in applications involving wavefront sensing and coherent imagery.

Dr. Jennifer Hewitt (UCF)

NIR/HSI Imaging Systems for Invasive Species Detection

Graduated 2024
Co-Advisors: Renshaw/Driggers

Jennifer received her BS in Physics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and received her MS in Optics and Photonics from the University of Central Florida. She has completed her PhD in Optics and Photonics from the University of Central Florida, and is sponsored by the Air Force Research Lab as a SMART Scholar. Her research incorporated experimental data from human vision perception tests to inform sensor design to detect invasive Burmese pythons in NIR.

Dr. Lindsey Wiley (UA)

Targeting and ISR Performance of Extended SWIR

Graduated 2024
Co-Advisors: Driggers and Brady

Lindsey Wiley earned her B.A. in Physics from Colgate University, where she performed undergraduate research on quantum entanglement as a means to diagnose disease, which first introduced her to the field of Optics. Prior to that, she performed elemental analysis of airborne particulate matter to determine sources of ambient air pollution, connecting her passions for the environment and human health with research. She has completed her Ph.D. in Optical Sciences at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences in the Infrared Systems group. Her work includes developing a telescope testbed for long range target sensing to assess the range performance of various reflective bands under challenging atmospheric conditions.

Dr. Patrick Leslie (UA)

MultiDrone/MultiSensor/Unattended Ground Sensors

Graduated 2024, Currently Postdoc as Co-Leadership of Group
Support: Army Research Laboratory (ARL) / University of Memphis / University of Arizona

Patrick Leslie began his academic career at D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY where he graduated with a Biology / Pre-med bachelor’s in science.  After graduation, he worked at Corning Incorporated in the Applied Optical Research directorate he studied optics. The focus of his research at Corning was light-matter interactions between CO2, UV nanosecond, and ultrafast lasers and their interaction with glass / glass-ceramics.  Leslie started his Master’s in Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona with the hope to create a deeper understanding of the field of optics and a more encompassing view of its applications.  He currently works in the Infrared Systems group at UA studying the thermal signatures of power lines and the range performance comparison of the infrared bands.

Dr. Joshua Follansbee (UA)

Active Imaging

Support: US Army RCTTO/UCF
Co-Advisor: Driggers and Spencer

Joshua Follansbee earned a BS in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame. Here, his research focused on optimization of reconstruction and control loops for the Fresnel Wavefront Sensor. He is currently working towards a PhD at the University of Arizona, where his work focuses on drone detection in the reflective bands, including the eSWIR, as well as drone-mounted sensors and surface reflectivity characterization.

Dr. Luke Somerville (UA)

Superband Optical System Targeting Performance
Support: N/A
Advisor: Driggers

Luke Somerville earned his B.S. and M.S. in optical engineering from the University of Arizona. Luke’s master’s research produced a study of the capabilities of the Night Vision Integrated Performance Model (NV-IPM) and its applications for infrared system analysis. His dissertation is focused on quantifying the targeting (long range target discrimination) performance of superband infrared optical systems, especially compared to traditional infrared targeting solutions. In addition, Luke works as an optical engineer at Raytheon specializing in optical design and analysis.

Brian Kellermeyer (Masters UA)

Cryogenic vs. Non-Cryogenic Performance of Optical Systems

Graduated 2024
Advisors: Driggers and Hall

Brian Kellermeyer earned his B.S. in Optical Sciences and Engineering in 2019 from the University of Arizona Wyant College of Optical Sciences. Currently, Brian is employed at US Army C5ISR Center Research and Technology Integration Directorate (RTI) supporting the development of infrared sensor payloads.  Brian has also completed a M.S. in Optical Engineering through distance learning as of 2024.  The focus of this degree centers around cooled hyperspectral systems that utilize in-dewar optics to minimize SWaP.

Shane Jordan (Masters UA)

Comparison of Scene Contrast in MWIR and LWIR

Graduated 2024
Advisor: Driggers

Shane Jordan earned his B.S. and M.S. in optical engineering from University of Arizona. His research aims to compare the intrinsic scene contrast of MWIR and LWIR for pilotage and other applications.

 

Sara Margala (Masters UA)

Emission Characteristics of Infrared Materials

Graduated 2024
Advisor: Driggers

Sara Margala graduated with her B.S. in physics from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Her experience includes internships at the University of Missouri and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as well as a position at Northrop Grumman. In addition to completing her M.S. in Optical Science through the distance learning program, she is currently employed by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab where she studies the optical properties of different materials.

 

 

Current Students – Doctoral

Jonathan Wade (PhD UA)

Strap-down Pilotage Sensors
Support: US Army Research Lab
Advisor: Driggers

Jon Wade holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Memphis. He further pursued his academic career at the same institution, completing a M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. During his master’s program, Jon focused his research on the characterization and calibration of hyperspectral imagers, which formed the basis of his thesis. Jon’s past experience includes internships at NVESD, where he contributed to the evaluation of broadband and spectral imagers. During these internships, he conducted studies on repeatability and reproducibility, as well as measurements of sensor characteristics.

Jordan Rubis (PhD UA)

Drone-Based Imaging / Sensor Performance in DVEs
Support: Office of Naval Research / University of Memphis
Advisor: Driggers

Jordan Rubis earned her B.S. in Engineering Physics with a concentration in Electro Optics from the University of Tulsa. This program was completed with a capstone project that was focused on the optics of cone photoreceptors. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona. Her work in the Infrared Group has focused on analyzing the effects of motion blur on drone-based imaging systems and imaging through degraded visual environments (DVEs) such as smoke, fog, and dust.

Eric Mitchell (PhD UA)

Targeting Long Range Holography: Speckle and Scintillation
Support: US Army Space and Missile Defense Command
Co-Advisors: Driggers, Spencer

Eric Mitchell earned his B.S. in Physics from Montana State University before obtaining his M.S. in Optical Sciences from the UA Wyant College of Optical Sciences. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. remotely at the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, AL. Previously, he held internships where he studied LIDAR technology and advanced coherent imaging techniques. While pursuing his M.S., he was apart of the Adaptive Optics group where he studied co-phasing methods for segmented beam propagation systems. Presently, he is working in the field of beam control for High Energy Laser (HEL) applications. His interests include adaptive optics and active imaging technology. His current area of research centers around active target tracking and wavefront sensing in deep turbulence conditions.

Amy Hermann (PhD UA)

Multisensor Reasearch
Support: US Army Research Lab
Advisors: Driggers

Amy Hermann earned her BS in Physics and Statistical Science from Southern Methodist University, where she contributed to research on photonic ring-resonator filters for OH-suppressed near-infrared astronomy. She also completed an undergraduate internship at Montana State University, where she worked on vibration compensation for off-axis digital holography. At the University of Cambridge, Amy tested large mosaic gratings for the ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona.

Angus Hendrick (PhD UA)

Characterization and applications of the eSWIR band
Support: RCTTO/Siva Labs/SMART Scholar
Advisors: Driggers

Angus earned his BS in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Penn State University in 2022. After a stint in the LOFT group, Angus joined the IR Systems group in December 2023. His work since has focused on characterizing and applying the eSWIR band, with his current project focused on its potential in aerial IRST applications.

Josh Teague (PhD UA)

Active Imaging Performance
Support: JDETO GOAT
Co-Advisors: Driggers, Furxhi, Akbulut, Spencer

Joshua Teague earned his BS in Optics from the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics in the Spring of 2023. Joshua’s undergraduate research focused on the usage of high-powered lasers in affordable water purification techniques, and the development of fiber-kerr resonators. Currently, Joshua’s research in the IR group focuses on characterizing and optimizing the performance of several range-resolving active imaging modes.

Peter Dean-Elander (PhD UA)

Laser Speckle, Active Imagery
Support: JDETO 
Co-Advisors: Driggers

Peter Dean-Erlander is a first year doctoral student at the University of Arizona Wyant College of Optical Sciences. Peter received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Optics from the University of Rochester in 2021 and 2022, and worked two years as an infrared lens designer for L3 Harris Sonoma Electro-Optical before rejoining academia at UA. His research interests are in active and passive multiband imaging, laser speckle, and lens design.

Chance Lawrence (PhD UA)

Infrared Imaging Research
Support: US Army Research Lab
Co-Advisors: Driggers

Chance Lawrence earned his B.S. in Statistics and Data Science and Astronomy from the University of Arizona. There, he was involved in satellite communication research as a NASA Space Grant intern and contributed to ground station development for the CatSat CubeSat project through multiple internships at Rincon Research Corporation. His undergraduate work focused on microwave antenna holography, satellite data analysis, and X-band receiver design. His current research centers on applying GPU-accelerated computer vision techniques to aerial imaging, including optical flow analysis for pilotage systems and the application of the dynamic minimum resolvable temperature (DMRT) metric to dynamic pilotage performance models. His future research interests include pivoting toward drone detection efforts using gimbal-mounted and wide field-of-view (FoV) long-wave infrared (LWIR) systems.

Alfred Moore (PhD UA)

Sensor performance in degraded visual environments
Support: Office of Naval Research
Advisors: Driggers

Alfred Moore earned his B.S. and M.S. in optical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. His master’s thesis covers the design of hybrid conventional metalens optical systems for the longwave infrared. Prior to starting college Alfred served as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician in the U.S. Army. Alfred’s research interests include designing optical systems for operation in extreme environments.

David Radulski-Bloom (PhD UA)

Event-Based Sensing, Active-Imaging, Laser Dazzle
Support: Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane Division
Advisors: Driggers

David Bloom earned his B.S.’s in Physics, Mathematics, and Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisville. After a short stint at Indiana University working on Neutron Optics with Dr. Michael Snow, he joined the scientific staff at the Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane Division, where he has been employed as an optical physicist since. As part of the NSWC Crane PhD Fellowship, David has been stationed in Tucson, AZ since August 2021. His research activities have included development and construction of pulse characterization devices for ultrashort pulses in the LWIR, studies on supercontinuum generation in the NIR/eSWIR/MWIR, development of novel characterization techniques for event-based sensors, and most recently the exploration of active imaging with event-based sensors.

 

 

Current Students – Masters

DeErick Jerome Smith (Masters UA)

 

 

Current Students – Undergraduate

Julian Vock (Undergraduate UA)

Julian Vock joined the infrared research group in February 2024. He is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree in Optical Engineering with a minor in Systems Engineering, with an expected graduation in May 2027. His work with the group involves data collection in the lab, as well as land-based and airborne field testing. He has also contributed to the development and design of infrared camera systems.

 

Patrick Nagle (Undergraduate UA)