Good News Item 1/2003

Adaptive Optics for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer - Contract

The Magdalena Ridge Observatory (MRO) is a joint endeavor between a New Mexico university consortium and the Department of Defense led by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. The project will enable scientists and engineers to determine how to increase sensitivity for ground-based interferometers. The university consortium includes New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, New Mexico State University, New Mexico Highlands University, the University of Puerto Rico, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The Electro Optics Research Lab at NMSU has contracted to provide adaptive optic analysis and hardware development for the MRO interferometer. The contract start date is January 2003, the duration is two years, and the effort will support 2 graduate students.

Good News Item 9/2002

Air Force Research Laboratory Grant

Dr. David Voelz and Dr. Michael Giles were awarded a grant by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) entitled "Imaging and Beam Projection Analysis and Sensor Development." The three-year grant began in September 2002. The award amount for the first year was $70,000.

This program will establish a research group for laser applications at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Electro-Optics Research Laboratory (EORL). The program will result in laser-based sensing and beam projection technologies of interest to the Air Force and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The program will also provide student training in technologies of interest to the Air Force. NMSU will develop technologies in four specific application areas: 1) polarization sensitive laser imaging, 2) space-based relay mirror, 3) active (laser) and interferometric imaging, and 4) ultra-lightweight optics metrology and control.

National Imagery and Mapping Agency Grant

Dr. David Voelz and Dr. Michael Giles were awarded a grant by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) entitled "Electro-Optical Polarization-Sensitive Imaging: Phenomenology Studies." The two-year grant began in September 2002. The award amount is $100,000 for the two years.

For electro-optical Earth-imaging systems that are sensitive to polarization, scene modeling and simulation is a key area requiring improvement. Several groups in the Department of Defense and NASA are developing polarization phenomenology models. The Electro-Optics Research Lab (EORL) at NMSU will assist these efforts by providing field data to anchor the simulations. To accomplish this, a visible polarization imager will constructed and calibrated. In addition to measuring test samples, data will be collected and analyzed from a variety of scenes in order to improve our understanding of the data components are the most critical. Image and information display approaches will be developed throughout the project.

Dr. Michael Giles and Dr. David Voelz of The Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Elctro-Optics Research Lab, were awarded a $240,000 DURIP (Defense University Research Instrumentation Program) grant effective May 14, 2002.

This grant money will be used to purchase several specialized instruments for our optics research laboratories in Goddard Annex including the following: a high-speed deformable mirror system, two high-speed and high-resolution liquid crystal phase modulators, a high-resolution wave front sensor system, and a phase-measuring interferometer system.

This new equipment will significantly increase the research capabilities of the electro-optics /photonics group in the areas of beam forming, imaging, wave front measurement and control, and optical metrology.

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Last updated 07/02/03