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The Spotlight Report

The Spotlight Report

By The Spotlight Report

The Spotlight Report is a podcast in which we discuss science, research, and other topics with the goal of educating and critically exploring different topics. Additionally, the human side of science is often under appreciated and not discussed, thus, it is a huge effort to capture and explore the less talked about joys and struggles of the sciences with a focus on the humanity that powers the cutting edge discoveries of our world. Take a listen and leave a comment!
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David Vega on Falloposcope Design and Biomedical Optics

The Spotlight ReportDec 03, 2019

00:00
58:60
Bill Green on Looking Up, Street Astronomy, and Light Pollution

Bill Green on Looking Up, Street Astronomy, and Light Pollution

NOTE: If you or someone you know has achromatic doublets they would donate to Bill for his street astronomy, reach out! Bill is looking for doublets and his contact info can be found at philly moon men, or you can comment below. This time we are joined by Bill Green, who was a founder of Philly Moon Men. Bill brought street astronomy to Philadelphia and found there was a lot of enthusiasm and wonder at simply looking up at the night sky. Bill discusses light pollution, how he does street astronomy, and how to spread awareness about light. Links: https://phillymoonmen.org/ https://www.celestron.com/

Feb 28, 202453:22
Donn Silberman on a Career in Optics, Education, and Outreach

Donn Silberman on a Career in Optics, Education, and Outreach

This week I spoke with Donn Silberman, who first entered optics in 1976 as a high school student, getting involved in astronomy. Donn shared his insights from his career in optics, in not only engineering but also sales and management. Additionally, he discussed founding the Optics Institute of Southern California and his outreach work. We talked about how he has fostered outreach to get others of all ages interested and involved in optics and how other can also join in on these endeavors. It was a pleasure to speak with Donn and to hear his continued enthusiasm and work to get more people interested in optics!


Relevant Links:

Donn's Bio at OSSC: https://ossc.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=239344&module_id=61827

Donn's Website (with links to other resources!): https://donn601.wixsite.com/opticsage

Donn's Talk at 2024 Photonics West: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/americom-optics_join-us-for-this-important-panel-discussion-activity-7151260300296556544-CYaH?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android

Feb 13, 202401:19:42
Dr. Eva Acosta on Visual Optics, Wavefront Coding, and Imaging through Cataracts
Dec 18, 202301:10:11
Heejoo Choi on Innovative Optical Designs

Heejoo Choi on Innovative Optical Designs

In this episode, I sat down with Heejoo Choi. Heejoo recently won the Kevin P. Thompson Optical Design Innovator Award He won the award for an innovative UV cross-dispersion space telescope and engineering of a laser-truss LBT metrology system. He is currently an assistant research professor at the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences and an Optical Scientist at the Large Binocular Telescope.

Heejoo discusses the motivations for why innovative designs were required in the LBT metrology system as well as the Hyperion cross-dispersion space telescope. He goes into what drove the design choices and how that impacted the system performance overall. These are both cutting-edge optical designs so I am sure the audience will have a lot to explore in both.

You can contribute to help support The Spotlight Report!

Youtube video version here.

Resources:

1. Andrew Rakich, Heejoo Choi, Christian Veillet, John M. Hill, Matthieu Bec, Yang Zhang, Trenton Brendel, Breann Sitarski, Michael Gardiner, Dae Wook Kim, Stephanie Rodriguez, "A laser-truss based optical alignment system on LBT," Proc. SPIE 11445, Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes VIII, 114450R (13 December 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2558013

2. Heejoo Choi, Isaac L. Trumper, Yi-Ting Feng, Hyukmo Kang, Joel Berkson, Haeun Chung, Erika T. Hamden, Dae Wook Kim, "Long-slit cross-dispersion spectroscopy for Hyperion UV space telescope," J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst. 7(1) 014006 (12 March 2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.7.1.014006 

 Link to read paper ungated

Sep 05, 202256:02
David Shafer on His Philosophy of Optical Design

David Shafer on His Philosophy of Optical Design

In this episode, I sat down with David Shafer. David has been creating incredible and cutting edge lens designs for decades; my first introduction to his work were his free slides he posted which looked like magic to me at the time. David discusses how he got into optics, his background in philosophy and how that guided his approach to optical design, and his optical design methodology. He also touches upon his insights about operating as a consultant, and how he created a successful career in optical design consulting. Overall this has been one of favorite interviews, David's experience and thoughts on optical design is incredible and I hope you enjoy the episode as well. 

You can contribute to help support The Spotlight Report!

Youtube video version here.

Discuss the episode here.

Resources: 

Aug 03, 202259:41
Graves on Creating a Science Startup
Jun 28, 202201:07:24
Bob Parks on the Point Source Microscope, Alignment, and Optics

Bob Parks on the Point Source Microscope, Alignment, and Optics

In this episode, Bob Parks discusses his background in optics. For those who are not aware, Bob has been a key figure in the world of optics, being a force to establish using an auto-stigmatic microscope for all sorts of alignment and assembly of optical systems (and that is only a small portion of his contributions). Bob explains how he entered optics, his early experiences at the Kodak company and how rich that experience was, his work on the Hubble Investigatory committee, and his work involved in creating the Point Source Microscope. We also explore recent innovations for using the PSM, and how computer generated holograms tie into these potentials. Bob is truly and incredible optical scientist, and was one of my favorite guests to interview. We only scratch the surface of topics I would like to discuss this episode but I highly recommend it.

After the end of the episode Bob shared a few more thoughts, which I am putting here. Bob Parks:"At the very end you asked me about advice for younger people and I mentioned diversity in interests. Another thing is being open to taking risks, much as you guys are. It is so much nicer to suggest a new adventure and have a yes response than no. And one other thing. As we talked about, science and engineering get you hard facts, and just one "right" answer. If a colleague gets a different answer, don't call them out, but ask what assumptions they made deriving their answer. That you differ is often that you have made different assumptions."

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REPLY

Contribute to help support The Spotlight Report!

Video version of this episode can be viewed here. Comment and discuss the episode here.

Resources:

1. Optical Perspectives Group LLC , Bob Parks optical engineering company. 

2. Alignment with Axicon Plane Gratings, by Robert Parks

3. Aligning Reflecting Optics with Bessel Beams, by Robert Parks

4. The Autostigmatic Microscope and How It Works, by Robert Parks

5. Hubble Space Telescope Secondary Mirror Vertex Radius/conic Constant Test Final Technical Report, by Robert Parks

6. A Canticle for Leibowitz, an excellent Sci-Fi book exploring meaning, ethics, and science.

May 22, 202201:13:32
Craig Ament on Thin Films, Entrepreneurship, and Founding Arizona Thin Films
Apr 07, 202201:09:24
David Aikens and Eric Herman on Modern Optical Drawings: The ISO10110 Companion
Mar 17, 202201:06:22
Dr. Shelby D V Ament on Computer Generated Holograms, Metrology, and Art
Feb 21, 202201:02:53
Erin McDermott on creating Odd Engineer, overcoming obstacles, and determination
Mar 18, 202101:23:26
Henry Quach on how COVID has affected graduate research.
Feb 01, 202101:01:22
Julius Muschaweck on Illumination and Education
Sep 30, 202001:28:38
Dr. Araceli Venegas-Gomez on Qureca, Quantum Optics, and the future of quantum industry

Dr. Araceli Venegas-Gomez on Qureca, Quantum Optics, and the future of quantum industry

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Araceli Venegas-Gomez. Araceli received her doctorate in Quantum Optics from the University of Strathclyde, and is the founder and CEO of Qureca, a company leading the way on creating and strengthening bridges between companies and the workforce in Quantum. We spoke in depth about how Araceli entered into quantum optics from being an aerospace engineer, why she created a quantum company, and what she views as the future of quantum industry and key skills needed by companies now. This was a very enjoyable conversation for me, and I learned quite a bit about an and field of quantum, which was previously very opaque and confusing. Dr. Venegas-Gomez's insight on the diversity of workforce needed for quantum, and the various avenues to enter the field were refreshing and eye opening to me for a field traditionally considered extremely esoteric and confined to the highest reaches of academia. Highly recommended.

Related Reading and Links:

  1. Qureca
  2. Building The Quantum Workforce Of The Future
  3. Quantum Optics and Quantum Many-body Systems- Andrew Daley's Research group at the University of Strathclyde
  4. The U.S. National Quantum Initiative: From Act to action
  5. A list of courses offered by Qureca in the fall, for anyone interested I strongly recommend reaching out (I for one may be looking into Quantum for everyone!):
  • Quantum for everyone (introductory course and quantum technologies overview).
  • Quantum Computing algorithms for Finance 
  • Finance introduction for quantum algorithms
  • Applications in Quantum Chemistry
  • Quantum and AI
  • QKD technology
  • Quantum computing hardware

Aug 14, 202057:50
Dr. Patrick Hagar on Material Chemistry, Films, Adhesives, and Finding Success and Innovation in Industry
Mar 12, 202001:15:58
Dr Kris Ford on Plasma Physics, Analytical Chemistry, and Life After Graduate School

Dr Kris Ford on Plasma Physics, Analytical Chemistry, and Life After Graduate School

This week Dr. Kris Ford sat down to talk about his dissertation topic on plasma physics, and his life after graduate school. Dr. Ford received his PhD in nuclear physics studying plasma diagnostic methods. After graduating, he has gone on to lead an analytical chemistry lab studying and classifying cannabis products. Dr. Ford shares interesting insight regarding receiving feedback that your dissertation topic may not be novel, how to complete a thesis, and what challenges exist in industry post graduation. 


We have also shifted to a new format with the podcast, and we have a new host! Please let us know what you think of the new format.


Related Reading:

Plasma (Wikipedia): a high-level overview of plasma physics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_%28physics%29

Pulse Plasma (UT Dallas): an older report on the uses and methods to pulse plasma. Probably outdated at this point. https://personal.utdallas.edu/~overzet/Puls_97/

Effective Altruism: the website for a group that supports effective altruism. Not necessarily meant as the definitive guide on it. https://www.effectivealtruism.org/

Peter Singer TED Talk on Effective Altruism: a brief TED talk discussing the merits and methods for effective altruism. https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_singer_the_why_and_how_of_effective_altruism

Why introductory chemistry lab is boring by Trevor Klee: an article discussing why intro chem lab is boring and may not serve us well when learning chemistry. Highly recommend. https://get21stnight.com/2019/12/27/why-introductory-chemistry-is-boring-a-long-term-historical-perspective/

Golijov: La Pasión según San Marcos: Lating/African contemporary classical music. Absolutely beautiful and highly recommend. https://www.amazon.com/Golijov-Pasi%C3%B3n-seg%C3%BAn-San-Marcos/dp/B0036OC9ME/ref=pd_sbs_15_1/135-5854595-2558859?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0036OC9ME&pd_rd_r=d55f40a5-bb93-495f-99ee-206472608ff3&pd_rd_w=F8snG&pd_rd_wg=yqtOp&pf_rd_p=bdd201df-734f-454e-883c-73b0d8ccd4c3&pf_rd_r=07CAMTV3BK24DAJN8K4T&psc=1&refRID=07CAMTV3BK24DAJN8K4T

Electrostatic Chromatography: an intro to electrostatic chromatography on Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophilic_interaction_chromatography

Conversations with Tyler: a podcast hosted by economist Tyler Cowen which covers a truly stunning array of topics. Recommend for just about anyone as there is almost assured a guest you will find interesting. https://conversationswithtyler.com/

Feb 04, 202001:31:03
Dr Heejoo Choi On Large Astronomical Optics
Dec 31, 201954:13
Henry Quach On 3D Printing
Dec 03, 201901:05:10
David Vega on Falloposcope Design and Biomedical Optics
Dec 03, 201958:60
Dr. Hannah Grant on Opportunities and Challenges in Silicon Photonics
Dec 03, 201901:02:08
Lisa Li on Vision, Computer Science, and Culture

Lisa Li on Vision, Computer Science, and Culture

This week we spoke with Lisa Li, who is a Ph.D. student at the College of Optics as University of Arizona. She completed her MSc at Newcastle University, where her thesis, title ‘Colour constancy modelling with a biologically-inspired neural network structure’ was jointly done between the Computer Science and Neuroscience departments, under advisers Prof. Marcus Kaiser and Prof. Anya Hurlbert. Lisa briefly discussed her past work at Newcastle. Additionally, she comments about the cultural differences she witnessed between graduate schools, and some of the unique experiences she has encountered as a woman in the sciences. Lisa Li shed light on a fascinating field of science which we all have intuitively experienced and provides valuable insight on how to navigate a career in the sciences! As always, we thank our guest Lisa Li and we eagerly look forward to our listeners comments! References: 1) Dr. Marcus Kaiser Dynamic Connectome Lab: https://www.dynamic-connectome.org/ 2) Dr. Anya Hurlbert Academic Profile: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/ion/staff/profile/anyahurlbert.html#background 3) Cell Q&A with Dr. Hurlbert and Matt Ridley 4) Introduction to Neural Networks: https://www.explainthatstuff.com/introduction-to-neural-networks.html 5) Youtube video on Neural Networks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvQwE2OhL8I 6) Neural networks and back propagation explained in a simple way: https://medium.com/datathings/neural-networks-and-backpropagation-explained-in-a-simple-way-f540a3611f5e 7) National Geographic’s ‘The Dress’ : https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/science/blue-or-white-dress-why-we-see-colours-differently.aspx 8) What #theDress reveals about the role of illumination priors in color perception and color constancy :https://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/file_store/production/242764/A390CDB3-9ADA-442C-96FB-7877D8745520.pdf 9) Guggenheim’s Piet Modrian Profile: https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/3014
Dec 03, 201948:04
Dr. Maham Aftab on Modal Integration
Dec 03, 201950:48
Round Table 2: What is your reason for doing?

Round Table 2: What is your reason for doing?

In this round table we discuss the idea of equity and meaning behind a degree, specifically a higher education degree in optics (which I will come back to). The central question is whether or not there is a problem with the amount of work, or quality of work, behind the same degree between two people. It is assumed that this is an actual occurrence (with many anecdotal pieces of evidence offered). The conversation transitioned and two clear view points arose. On one hand, the idea that you determine the value of your degree, and outsiders values should not meaningfully impact your reason for a degree or how you go about achieving the degree. The counter view was that to some extent the college and its alumni affect one another, such as a alumni can promote or dissuade groups from hiring from your college or academic group, thus impacting your future employment. A final undercurrent throughout is the idea that there is some, undefined, threshold that students should achieve before they can graduate, although due to how hard it was to pin down this seems to be a likely culprit for why comprehensive exams, orals, and defenses are so hated; making a test that everyone agrees defines some threshold beyond which you are an expert is extremely difficult.
Finally, I realized after listening again we entirely missed the mark by considering a wider scope, namely, outside of higher education, or optics, etc. This topic bears coming back to which we will hopefully do soon.

Note: Image Credit Jeremy Perkins
Dec 03, 201901:10:39
Nirantha Balagopal on Industry, Optics, and Math
Dec 03, 201901:04:52
Discuss, don't Lecture-Optics Roundtable No. 1
Dec 03, 201901:10:40
Dr. Edward LaVilla on Visual Optics, Inspiration, and the Spirit of Learning
Dec 03, 201959:37
Dr. Shuang Wu on Biostatistics

Dr. Shuang Wu on Biostatistics

This week we spoke with Dr. Shuang Wu, who received his doctorate in research relating to embryonic stem cell work. He decided to slightly alter his research focus and began working on bio-statistics. Dr. Shuang Wu shares his insights on what bio-statistics means for the average person, the nuances in statistical work with applications in biological systems, and the ethical consequences of bio-statistics work in the real world.
Dec 03, 201901:08:07
Spencer on Podiatry
Dec 03, 201901:02:34
Dr. Abdullah Zafar on plasma diagnostics for nuclear fusion
Dec 03, 201901:05:15
Dr. Kris Ford on Plasma Research and Nuclear Engineering

Dr. Kris Ford on Plasma Research and Nuclear Engineering

Dr. Kris Ford sat down to discuss plasma research, higher education, and motivation. At the time of this interview, Dr. Ford was a Ph.D. candidate in nuclear engineering, specifically plasma research. He discusses the intricacies of his current work, including the ultra high precision fabrication capabilities and the statistical uncertainties related to the methods used. Further, we explore the motivations and challenges of remaining mentally healthy when engaged in high demand work, and some approaches to overcome the challenges associated with such a situation. References: 1) 4-START:Fourth State Applications Research Group (Research group Mr. Ford is currently part of): http://www4.ncsu.edu/~scshanno/index.html 2) Mindset: The new psychology of succes by Dr. Carol S. Dweck: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B000FCKPHG&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_QcAQAb3FR107Y 3) Vasimr plasma engine: http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/conferences/humans-to-mars/vasimr-plasma-engine-earth-mars-39-days/ Note: Photo Credit: Kris Ford. An oxygen plasma is created, which should have a cylindrical shape due to the powering coil shape. Ionization occurs in the power deposition region. In this case, an ‘orb’ forms however, a phenomenon currently unexplained.
Dec 03, 201901:13:52
Dr. John Koshel on Illumination, the Century of Light, and Academics
Dec 03, 201957:03
Oliver Spires on Optical Fabrication
Dec 03, 201901:05:14
Dr. Cooper-Sood on using Ketamine for Pain Management in Sickle Cell Anemia Patients
Dec 03, 201901:11:28
Dr. Chris Summitt on Optic Chip Interconnects

Dr. Chris Summitt on Optic Chip Interconnects

Dr. Chris Summitt talks about a new fabrication process of a polymer out-of-plane optical coupler by gray-scale lithography. Dr. Summitt discusses the motivation for optical chip interconnects, the limitations on fabrication methods, and his novel technique and results. Additionally, he comments on the fit of graduate school for students, as well as sharing some techniques for maintaining a healthy balance while a student.

As always we look forward to your feedback and comments!
Dec 03, 201901:25:41
Hannah Grant on Characterizing Silicon Photonic Switches
Dec 02, 201956:17
Neil Momsen on SPECT Imaging
Dec 02, 201901:12:45
Dr. Christine Bradley on Spectropolarimetric Observations
Dec 02, 201901:02:58
Dr. Chase Salsbury on the Unspoken Challenges of Graduate School
Dec 02, 201901:05:18
Dae Wook Kim on Large Optics
May 01, 201747:25
Graves on Infrared Deflectometry
Apr 24, 201743:53
The Large Optics and Fabrication Group
Apr 10, 201722:00
Trumper on Instantaneous Phase Shifting Deflectometry

Trumper on Instantaneous Phase Shifting Deflectometry

We sit down this week with Isaac Trumper to discuss his new work on an instantaneous phase shifting deflectometry system he developed and deployed on an iPhone. His work allows for dynamic metrology of optical surfaces in an extremely low cost form.



Background:

Deflectometry is a specific method used to optically measure a surface shape. The concept is based on a simple principle, if a candle is lit and we hold it at a known position in front of a reflective surface, also at a known position, and then move our eye until we see the candle, we can calculate the slope of the mirror. By doing this for all points on a mirror, we can integrate the surface slopes to arrive at a surface profile. If instead of a candle we upgraded to a screen, we can now display very complex images to illuminate the entire mirror surface at once, allowing us to calculate all the surface slopes without moving our source. A source image used commonly is a sinusoidal pattern, which is phase shifted a number of times. This pattern is presented in the x and y orthogonal directions to obtain x and y slope maps, which allows for the calculation of a complete surface map. One previous limitation to this method is that the screen had to display each phase shifted sinusoid consecutively. This is no longer the case, as Isaac Trumper recently has proven that the phase shifts can be encoded into different color channels, red, green, and blue, of the screen. This allows for three simultaneous phase shifted sinusoids to be presented at once. Additionally, using Fourier transform techniques, Trumper was able to encode the x and y sinusoid patterns simultaneously, allowing for one screen to be showing a total of 3 unique patterns in the x direction, and 3 unique patterns in the y direction; i.e. 6 multiplexed channels at once. This allows for a single display and image capture to entirely capture all the required information to completely solve for the surface profile of your optic under test.

For a complete description of the work done, please see Isaac Trumper’s recent paper, located at
www.loft.optics.arizona.edu/documents/journal_articles/oe-24-24-27993_DKim.pdf .
Mar 19, 201757:26