A LOFT group member was accidentally spotted at the SPIE AR/VR/MR conference. Surprise? The conference was very successful and impressive. So many interesting and challenging optical design and configuration problems/topics are waiting for talented optical scientists.

One of our LOFT peer, Dae Wook Kim, shares his thoughts and happiness with his research, work, and teaching at The University of Arizona. If you are interested in, please, check out his interview article in the Ginat Magellan Telescope Organization (GMTO) Newsletter or this Article. (Photo Credit: Damien Jemison at GMTO)

It has been another exciting and productive year 2018 with all the LOFT peers. Total 13 publications have been added to the Publication section. Please, enjoy the invaluable academic contributions from the LOFT group colleagues to our optics and astronomy society. Thank you!

The SAGUARO 1.6.6 is released today.
The startup errors and some modules bugs are fixed.
You can see the details in the ChangeLog file.
Thank you, SAGUARO team.

Click below to download.

http://www.loft.optics.arizona.edu/scripts/saguaro_download.php?v=1.6.6

Here is a Popular Mechanics article “The Deep Space Eye in the Desert” introducing the Giant Magellan Telescope project. It features our LOFT group member Dae Wook’s comments.

Joel Berkson is working on the NASA Space Grant internship program for 2017-2018. He is a University of Arizona Junior majoring in Optical Sciences and Engineering. He works with Dae Wook Kim from the College of Optical Sciences on “Deflectometry-based Simultaneous Alignment System for Segmented Optical Systems.” Congratulation Joel!

From the openNASA website (https://open.nasa.gov/explore/datanauts/):

“Reach higher and explore deeper. Whether you’re a software engineer or coding newbie, join our NASA Datanaut community to engage with each other and subject matter experts to solve data challenges. It really IS Rocket [Data] Science.”

The work of LOFT group member Maham Aftab, from the 2016 Datanauts class, was featured on the NASA Datanauts website:

https://open.nasa.gov/blog/datanaut-experience-9-nasadatanauts-share-why-you-should-apply/

“As part of the AISPIRE (American Indian Student-Parent Involved Research Experience) after school program collaboration with San Simon Day School on the Tohono O’odham Reservation, CIAN (Center for Integrated Access Networks) recently co-hosted a special San Simon Family STEM Night.

On May 2^nd, 2017 CIAN, WiO (Women in Optics), SOCk (Student Optics Chapter), and College of Optical Sciences students and staff visited San Simon Day School on the Tohono O’odham Reservation to celebrate the inaugural San Simon STEM Family Night. The event was hugely successful with Tohono O’odham students and parents in attendance. Students presented their science fair projects, a number of which were featured and received awards at SARSEF. University participants presented optical demonstrations including virtual reality glasses, a laser radio transmitter, and much more. There was also a rocket launch demonstration by the students and a tribal dance celebrating the students and parents’ culture.” – CIAN website blog post: https://blog.cian-erc.org

LOFT group member Maham Aftab was responsible for the virtual reality (VR) demonstration. She used Google Cardboard headsets, with two VR apps set up on smartphones – a Moon surface explorer and a roller coaster ride. Students of all ages and their parents were keen to see and experience the VR demo. Maham also showed an ‘opened-up’ model of a basic VR-type headset that uses a cardboard box (housing), simple off-the-shelf lenses and generic adhesive materials. Students took a great interest in learning how the demo worked and the possibilities VR offers.

The headsets were generously lent by the University of Arizona Science & Engineering library and cellphones by fellow LOFT group member Isaac Trumper and Optical Sciences student Amanjot Gill. The VR apps are available for free on the App Store and Google Play.

For a simple DIY tutorial of how to make a VR headset, check out the link:
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-make-a-vr-headset-out-of-a-pizza-box/

CIAN is looking for volunteers for EASIS (Expect Academic Success in STEM) optical science summer camps at OSC. For more information check:
http://www.optics.arizona.edu/news-events/news/quicknews/cian-call-summer-volunteers
or contact  Ameé Hennig at amee@optics.arizona.edu

LOFT group members shouldn’t miss this great talk (Invited_Talk_Peter_Zygo) by Peter from ZYGO. If you have any question regarding the talk, please, contact Dae Wook Kim (dkim@optics.arizona.edu).

Peter is a Physics PhD working in precision optical measurements, and is currently the Executive Director of R&D at ZYGO and head of an R&D Team comprised of 7 PhD scientists. ZYGO R&D works on the invention, concept demonstration and development of new optical instruments. Peter is a fellow of the SPIE and of the OSA, has published 150 technical papers, tutorials and book chapters on a wide range of topics, and is an inventor for 132 issued US patents for optical instrumentation. As R&D Group Leader and a Principal Scientist, Peter has contributed to every ZYGO metrology product line since 1992.

There is an exhibition of art in the Kuiper Space Science building from Feb. 11th-12th 1-5PM, and the opening night is Feb. 10th from 5-9PM.

The Art of Planetary Science is an annual art exhibition run by UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory that celebrates the beauty and elegance of science. Some pieces are from actual science data and one of Xiangyu’s art-pieces (LOFT group student) will also be presented during those days.

Here is the link to the official website: https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/art