The first GMT mirror is completed and wrapped. Check out the article on the university website.

http://uanews.org/story/world-s-most-advanced-mirror-giant-telescope-completed

Dae Wook Kim (Assistant Research Professor) presented in the Faculty Research session: “SAGUARO: Open Source Data Analysis and Visualization Software Platform”.

Sara Landau-Lampen (Ph.D. student) will present in the Student Research session: “Current Advancement in the Implementation of the Sine Condition Test”.

Sophie Morel (M.S. student) will present in the Five-Minute Presentation session: “Estimation of Phase Error Caused by Dust Particle in Interferometric Measurement”.

According to OSA, “Software Configurable Optical Test System: A Computerized Reverse Hartmann Test,” was the top downloaded article in Applied Optics for the month of August! The paper written, by LOFT researchers Peng Su, Robert E. Parks, Lirong Wang, J. Roger P. Angel and Jim H. Burge, has been viewed 1,425 times since it was published in August 2010. The article can be accessed through OSA’s website using the link above, or through the Publications menu option on the LOFT website. For direct access, click here.

Edmund Optics wrote a press release to herald the recently published SPIE “Field Guide to Optomechanical Design and Analysis,” which was written by professor James H. Burge and alumna Katie Schwertz.

The LOFT group just released SAGUARO 1.4.3. Feel free to check out our video tutorials on SAGUARO 101 and to post individual modules to SAGUARO Garden. SAGUARO has 576 recorded downloads! Many thanks to the LOFT SAGUARO team.

Since LOFT group released the beta version SAGUARO in Sept. 20011, the first official release of SAGUARO 1.4 is now available. Many thanks to the LOFT SAGUARO team.

One of our LOFT group Ph.D. students Laura Coyle was named one of only 85 Philanthropic Educational OrganizationScholars in the country, notes UANews.

SAGUARO 1.3.1 includes updated module fixes for GenDataConvert, UnitConvert, and MapMaskTool. SAGUARO users can download previous versions or see the Change Log for detailed information under the Release Archive.

Tianquan Su, a Ph.D. student in James H. Burge’s laboratory, received the Wolfe Family Scholarship from the College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona.

July 21, 2011. Kevin Newman, B.S. in OSE 2011, and senior Kyle Stephens were part of a team selected for NASA’s Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program. Their crew, called ANGEL after the project title “Analysis of Gravitational Effects on Liquid Lenses,” was advised by Regents’ Professor J. Roger P. Angel and supported by the LOFT group.