Tag: optics

Koshel on Illumination, the Century of the Photon, and Academics


Rothko_Green on Blue_UniversityofArizona_MuseumofArt[Rothko, Green in Blue: http://artmuseum.arizona.edu/events/event/art-lab-presents]

This week we sat down with Dr. John Koshel, the Associate Dean as the College of Optical Sciences here at the UofA. Dr. Koshel has a long background in optical sciences, ranging from laser based research in graduate school at Rochester to illumination engineering in industry, and most recently as a researcher and Associate Dean. We discuss what illumination engineering is, his current research, the century of the photon and what we can expect in the future from optics, and his perspectives on graduate school and research. We really enjoyed speaking with Dr. Koshel and think that our listeners will get an enormous amount of knowledge and wisdom from this episode.

Relevant material to this episode:

Century of Optics: https://www.osapublishing.org/books/bookshelf/osa-century-optics.cfm

As always, we look forward to your feedback! Please comment or email us at thespotlightreport@gmail.com.

Nerenberg on Bose-Einstein Condensates and Creativity in the Sciences

BEC_DrZachNewman_Defense (Dr. Zach Newman, Dissertation)

This week we sit down with Samuel Nerenberg, a doctoral student whose work focuses on Bose-Einstein Condensates as well as other quantum optic phenomenon. Sam discusses what defines a BEC, the difficulties involved with creating such a state of matter, and what his group is studying in their behavior. Additionally, we discuss the idea of creativity in fields traditionally considered bereft of human expression, namely mathematics and physics. Tune in for a great discussion and we look forward to hearing your feedback as always!

Resources mentioned in this weeks episode:

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.2631

Summitt on Optical Chip Interconnects

summitt

In this week’s episode, we sit down with Dr. Chris Summitt to talk about a new fabrication process of a polymer out-of-plane optical coupler by gray-scale lithography. Dr. Summitt discusses the motivation for optical ship interconnects, the limitations on fabrication methods, and his novel technique and results. We additionally discuss the fit of graduate school for students as well as learn some of Dr. Summitts secret techniques for maintaining a healthy balance while a student.

As always we look forward to your feedback and comments!

Grant on Heuristic Characterization of Si-Photonic Switches

SiPSwitchChip

This week we sit down with Hannah Grant, whose work focuses on Silicon Photonics. Most recently she has developed and demonstrated a heuristic characterization of Si-Photonic switches. While the technology is extremely impressive, without a way to characterize optical switches limits their viability. We discuss her recent work, the scope and uses of Si-Photonics, and the need for a characterization of optical switches.

For a more detailed description of Hannah Grant’s most recent work, please see: https://doi.org/10.1364/PS.2017.PTu3C.1

For background on photonics and Si-Photonic please see:

Photonics: Optical Electronics in Modern Communications by By Amnon Yariv and Pochi Yeh

Momsom on SPECT Imaging

momsom

This week we sit down with Neil Momsom, a graduate student whose research focuses on biomedical imaging applications. Neil explains the working concept for a SPECT imaging system. There is discussion covering the system components, theory, noise, and statics. Neil sheds some light on a device we take for granted in medical procedures but which is extremely complex both in the hardware and data processing.

As always, please leave your feedback and comment on todays episode.

Bradley on Spectropolarimetric Imaging Observations

christine

This week we sit down with Dr. Christine Bradley to discuss her doctoral work on spectropolarimetric imaging, which was used to map the polarimetric BRDF of various Earth based zones, an alternative way to thinking about this is a mapping of the reflectance of various common zones on Earth. Dr. Bradley discusses some of the challenges she faced in her work and and outcome of her research. Additionally, we get to hear some excellent tips about getting through research and dissertation writing.

We hope you enjoy this weeks podcast, and as always we encourage our listeners to comment on this weeks episode.

Salsbury on the Unspoken Challenges of Graduate School

salsbury

This week we sit down with Chase Salsbury and have a candid conversation about some of the common challenges graduate students face, particularly ones that are not often spoken of outside of grad students. This is a topic that we think is extremely important to talk about and we hope you enjoy the podcast. As always if you have comments or feedback please let us know!

Dr. Dae Wook Kim on Creating Extremely Large Optics

DKim_Profile

Dr. Dae Wook Kim is the head of the LOFT group at the College of Optics at the University of Arizona. While his original background was in astronom, he came to the University of Arizona and completed his PhD in optical sciences. His dissertation covered computer controlled surface figuring for fabrication of complex large extremely large optics. From there, Dr. Kim has contributed to a wide range of academic research projects as well as fabrications of various optics, including the 4.2 m DKIST primary mirror. We sit down with Dr. Dae Wook Kim to learn about his current deflectometry and fabrication research projects, what he finds most exciting in optics right now, and what projects he hopes to do in the future.

To learn more about Dr. Dae Wook Kim’s recent work, we recommend reading his recent publication in Business Insider discussing how the world’s largest mirrors are created. The publication can be found at:

TheConveration_BM_DKim_2016Jan