JILA News
Three JILA Fellows have been named 2018 Fellows of the American Physical Society. The three new Fellows鈥擜ndreas Becker, Heather J. Lewandowski, and James K. Thompson鈥攚ere聽nominated from varying divisions of APS. Andreas Becker was nominated by the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular & Optical physics for his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of atoms and molecules in intense light fields, including seminal theoretical studies of attosecond dynamics, photoionization, complex electron dynamics in simple systems such as H2, and a better understanding of high-harmonic generation.
The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT)聽announced last week聽that JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski will receive the association鈥檚 Homer L. Dodge Citation for Distinguished Service to AAPT. Lewandowski鈥檚 dual research areas are in fundamental experimental molecular physics and Physics Education Research (PER). Within PER, Lewandowski studies how the structures of upper-level labs for undergraduates can best transition students into research lab environments.
JILA Fellows Dr. Tom Perkins and Dr. Konrad Lehnert both received medals from the Department of Commerce last night at the Ronald Reagan Amphitheater in Washington, D.C. Dr. Perkins received the Gold Medal, which is the highest honorary award given by the United States Department of Commerce, or DOC. Perkins was recognized for creating the world鈥檚 best atomic force microscope tailored to biological measurements. This device can 鈥済rab鈥 onto biological molecules, such as proteins, and measure the tiny forces involved in their folding and unfolding.
JILA鈥檚 favorite degenerate, the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC), has a new home: the International Space Station. This new acheivement is "multi-mega-awesome," according to JILA Fellow聽Eric Cornell. BECs became a staple for measuring quantum phenomenon when they were experimentally realized in 1995 by JILA Fellows Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman at the University of Colorado Boulder, and by Wolfgang Ketterle at MIT.
JILA Fellow and NIST Physicist Ralph Jimenez received the 2017 Arthur S. Flemming Award for outstanding public service as a Federal employee. Jimenez was one of 12 honorees across all parts of the Federal government to receive the Flemming Award this cycle. Jimenez was a winner in the Applied Science and Engineering category for his聽pioneering research聽on combining microfluidics, ultrafast lasers, biochemistry and molecular biology to dramatically accelerate the creation and characterization of specialized biomolecules to serve as sensors within living cells.
Fellow Tom Perkins has won a 2017 Governor鈥檚 Award for High-Impact Research. Perkins will receive the award from Governor John Hickenlooper at an event sponsored by the CO-LABS consortium at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on October 5, 2017. This year鈥檚 ninth annual event will honor Colorado鈥檚 top scientists and engineers for projects having a significant impact on society.
Ana Maria Rey has been appointed a NIST Fellow as of August 21,2017 by the Acting Director of NIST. JILA is a research and training partnership between the University of Colorado and NIST, and Ana Maria is one of the several JILA Fellows who are NIST employees. Ana Maria was named a NIST Fellow in recognition of her world-leading program in quantum theory, her pioneering work in quantum many-body physics, and her continuing powerful collaborations with experimentalists at JILA, at NIST, and across the world.
Leah Dodson won the Miller Prize at the 72nd International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy, held June 19鈥23 in Urbana, Illinois
Ralph Jimenez received a Department of Commerce Bronze Medal for Superior Federal Service at a ceremony held in mid-December 2016. The Medal is the highest honor presented by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Willie E. May presided over the awards ceremony, which was held concurrently at NIST's Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Boulder, Colorado, campuses.
Deborah Jin passed away September 15, 2016, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was 47. Jin was an internationally renowned physicist and Fellow with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Professor Adjunct in the Department of Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, and a Fellow of JILA, a joint institute of NIST and the University of Colorado.