Panel Discussion: How can students prepare for careers in the optics industry?
featuring Valentina Doushkina (N2 Imaging), Paige Lawson (Lightworks), and Don Pearson (Davidson Optronics), moderated by Scott Rowe
co-sponsored by the OSSC, the Cal Poly Pomona Career Center, and the Cal Poly Pomona Department of Physics and Astronomy
followed by a presentation on
Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA): Overview and First Science Results
Dr. Eric Becklin
USRA SOFIA Chief Scientific Advisor
UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a 2.5-meter infrared airborne telescope in a Boeing 747SP, has obtained its first science with 4 optical and infrared instruments. An overview of the telescope and performance will be presented. The operation of the FORCAST 5 to 40 micron camera, the GREAT heterodyne spectrometer in the 110 to 240 micron region, the HIPO occultation visible photometer, and the FLITECAM1 to 5 micron camera will be mentioned. The first science infrared images and spectra reveal several discoveries and show the potential for determining how massive stars form in our Galaxy. A very successful occultation of Pluto with HIPO will be described. Future plans and upgrades will also be discussed.
About our speaker: Eric Becklin has more than 45 years of experience in infrared astronomical observations and instrumentation. Research topics have included our galactic center and its massive black hole, dust debris clouds, galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, astrobiology, formation of massive stars, and searches for low mass stars, brown dwarfs and extra-solar planets. He was involved in the design and construction of the 3-meter NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) at Mauna Kea, and served as its first director. He was also the principal investigator (PI) for two successful experiments which flew NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory into the shadow of the Sun during a total solar eclipse to measure the Sun's far infrared and sub millimeter emissions. Becklin also played a pivotal role in infrared instrumentation for both the Hubble Space Telescope (NICMOS) and the Keck Observatory (NIRSPEC), and was a PI for investigations conducted by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) and Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). Presently, Becklin is Chief Science Advisor on SOFIA.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Panel discussion: 5:00pm (Co-sponsored by the Cal Poly Pomona Career Center and the Department of Physics and Astronomy)
Reception: 6:00; Dinner: 7:00; Talk: 8:00
Meal $30:00 for registration by April 1, $35 for registration after
Free for OSSC student members who register by April 1, $10 for student members who register after
800-KWEST-76
Exit the 57 at Temple or the 10 at Kellogg. Enter campus from Temple at University Drive.
Parking in the Kellogg West lot is free
Please Register by Tuesday April 1, 2014