Alumnus Dr. Joe Rice of NIST Gives Next Physics Careers Seminar on Nov. 11

The Fall 2016 Physics Careers seminar series continues on Friday, November 11, 2016 with alumnus Dr. Joe Rice of the National Institute of Standards and Technology:

Time: 11 a.m. on Friday, November 11, 2016 (refreshments served at 10:30 a.m.)

Location: 204 Loomis Laboratory (Interaction Room)

Title: From Superconductors to Satellites: Physics as a Hobby

Speaker: Dr. Joe Rice, Physicist, National Institute of Standards and Technology

Abstract: As a grad student at Illinois I grew un-twinned crystals of high-Tc superconductors that were used in many interesting pure science experiments during the first few exciting years after discovery of this material. I switched to applied superconductivity as a National Research Council (NRC) post-doc at NIST in Boulder, Colorado, and made novel infrared detectors from high-Tc superconductors. This acted as a stepping stone into my career as a physicist at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD, where I have since developed several novel systems for electro-optical instrument calibration, validation, and performance evaluation of instruments used in satellite remote sensing of Earth. For example, I contributed to the development and calibration of the NIST Advanced Radiometer (NISTAR), which is a NASA/NOAA spaceflight instrument launched in 2015, for absolute measurement of the optical-infrared radiance of the sunlit face of the Earth from an L-1 orbit. In this talk I will describe some of these instruments, focusing on techniques to accurately measure the amount of light – on an absolute scale - across the optical-infrared spectrum. I will discuss how I’ve discovered that a paid career in Physics is but one aspect of a larger Hobby in Physics, where one realizes that a PhD in Physics empowers one to read the wider literature on their own as a hobby throughout their career – without payment other than the joy of deep mathematical understanding of the wonders of nature. Along the way I will point out opportunities for undergraduate students and post-docs to work at NIST through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program (https://www.nist.gov/surf/surf-gaithersburg) and the NIST/National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associateship program (http://nrc58.nas.edu/RAPLab10/Opportunity/Opportunity.aspx?LabCode=50&ROPCD=506851&RONum=B7541).

Bio: Dr. Rice is Group Leader of the Remote Sensing Group in the Sensor Science Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. This group establishes the detector-based scale for radiant power responsivity through cryogenic electrical substitution radiometry, and disseminates the scale to the remote sensing community. The group also establishes and disseminates measurement scales for optical/infrared properties of materials and performs supporting theoretical analysis. From 1992 until 1994, Dr. Rice was an NRC post-doctoral research associate at NIST in Boulder, Colorado. He obtained PhD and MS degrees in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992 and 1989, respectively, and a BS degree in physics from Iowa State University in 1987.

Note: Joe may be available to meet with students to discuss opportunities at NIST and for NRC postdoctoral fellowships. If you would like to meet with him on Friday, Nov. 11, please send me an e-mail, slcooper@illinois.edu, and I'll try to arrange a meeting.

You can see the rest of the Fall 2016 Physics Careers Seminar series here: http://physics.illinois.edu/events/seminars.asp?cal=4014