Dae Wook gave a Tech Talk “Innovations in giant optics powered by kid’s toy” at the Hack Arizona (Hackathone) at midnight in the UA library. “It was truly a unique and nice experience.”

“To detect fainter and more distant objects in the cosmos, astronomers need bigger telescopes. And bigger telescopes – several of which are currently under construction around the world – rely on ever bigger mirrors to collect that incoming starlight. The University of Arizona’s Buddy Martin and Dae Wook Kim describe how they engineer these gargantuan mirrors with painstaking precision. Imperfections are not tolerated: if one of their 27-foot mirrors were scaled up to the size of North America, the tallest mountain would be one inch high and the deepest canyon would be one inch low.”

Maggie Villiger

Editor

The Conversation US

The POW 2016 Spring workshop series (1/11-1/12) has been successfully presented with more than 30+ participants from academia and industry. Four modular workshops have been offered including various hands-on lab sessions.