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JILA was honored to celebrate the legacy of the endowment given by Tom Baur of Meadowlark Optics and SPIE on October 7th at a JILA Donor Event, which also celebrated the work of JILA Fellow Cindy Regal, the first Baur-SPIE Professor of Optical Physics and Photonics. Speakers at the event included JILA Fellows Cindy Regal, Ann-Marie Madigan, Eric Cornell, Margaret Murnane, and Jun Ye, as well as Tom Baur and SPIE CEO Kent Rochford discussing the endowment. Both the Baurs and Dr. Rochford, representing SPIE, were given customized laser mirror mounts as a thank you for their generosity. Generous endowments like these allow JILA to give back to our community of graduate students and post-docs.

The National Science Foundation has renewed for five years and more than $22 million the cutting-edge Science and Technology Center on Real-Time Functional Imaging (STROBE). STROBE is developing the Microscopes of Tomorrow, and is a partnership between six institutions –– University of Colorado Boulder, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Florida International University, Fort Lewis College, and UC Irvine.

JILA Fellow Thomas Perkins has been awarded the 2021 Outstanding Postdoc Mentor Award. This award recognizes mentors who have gone above and beyond to support their postdocs. Perkins was nominated by postdoc David Jacobson, who praised Perkins' effort to help Jacobson apply and receive the prestigious NIH K99 “Pathway to Independence” Award.

JILA Fellow Graeme Smith also won the 2021 Outstanding Postdoc Mentor Award, being nominated by ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ postdoc Vikesh Siddhu and former ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ postdoc, Felix Leditzky. Leditzky said Smith “played an integral part in guiding me through the process and helping me achieve this career goal. I aim to pay forward the trust and support that I received from him.”

JILA Fellow Shuo Sun has been awarded an NSF Quantum Interconnect Challenges for Transformational Advances in Quantum Systems (QuIC-TAQS) grant. The grant's purpose is to support interdisciplinary teams exploring innovative and unique ideas for applying and developing quantum engineering, computing, and science in the specific area of quantum interconnection. Quantum interconnection is a part of quantum communications.

Jun Ye, fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and professor adjoint of physics at ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������, has been awarded the 2022 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his pioneering research on atomic clocks. Ye has been a physicist at JILA, a joint institute of NIST and ���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������, for more than 20 years.

Shuo Sun, assistant professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Kyle Luh, assistant professor of mathematics, and their fellow recipients will receive $5,000 in seed money for the 2021-22 academic year to enhance their research as they launch their academic careers. Each recipient’s institution matches the award, and winners may use the $10,000 grants to purchase equipment, continue research or travel to professional meetings.

Two physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado School of Mines have received a $1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to develop a first-of-its-kind quantum simulator that could be used to develop novel materials and, in the future, lead to the development of a high-performance quantum computer.

Fellow Adjoint of JILA and Retired/Emeritus Fellow of JILA, Peter Conti, has passed away. Conti died at the age of 87 due to complications from a car accident that occurred on June 12, 2021.

The Department of Commerce is proud to join the Nation in recognizing the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, also known as Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Observed annually in May, AANHPI Heritage Month is a time to reflect upon and celebrate the remarkable role of the AANHPI community in our Nation’s history. It also is a time to recognize all the many contributions and achievements within the AAHNPI community that have had a positive impact on our Nation.

���Ҵ�ý�ƽ������ astrophysicist Ann-Marie Madigan has taken home a prestigious prize in recognition of her research exploring the dynamics of objects in space—from stars circling black holes to icy dwarf planets in the outer solar system.