May 142013
 

On Saturday, May 11, 2013 New Mexico Tech (NMT) held its 2013 Commencement ceremony at the NMT campus. MRO’s Optics Instrumentation Engineer, Alisa Shtromberg, received her Master’s in Physics with an emphasis in Instrumentation from NMT. A former Mechanical Engineering student, Stephen Jimenez, also received his Master’s in Materials Engineering.

Alisa Shtromberg joined MRO in 2006 after graduation with a B.S. degree in Astrophysics from NMT. As the MROI Instrumentation Optics Engineer she is the lead on the Automated Alignment System project under the supervision of Dr. Colby Jurgenson. Ms. Shtromberg completed her M.S. on the development of the Automated Alignment system, under the supervision of Dr. Colby Jurgenson and Dr. Michelle Creech-Eakma. Shtromberg was also this year’s recipient of the Marvin Wilkening Award from the NMT Physics Department and the 2013 Graduate Student Association Appreciation Award.

Stephen Jimenez joined MRO in 2009 as a Mechanical Engineering mhttp://kestrel.nmt.edu/~mce/ajor and worked on the Delay Line subsystem, design of anchoring systems for optical tables, and design of NESSI instrument components. Jimenez is now holding a position as a Mechanical Engineer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The 2013 Commencement ceremonies can no longer be viewed online. To learn more about our Distance Learning program visit: http://www.nmt.edu/distanceed/index.php.

Alisa Shtromberg receives her M.S. degree from NMT Vice President of R&ED & MRO PI, Dr. Van Romero

Stephen Jimenez received his M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering

Alisa Shtromberg receives the 2013 Graduate Student Association (GSA) Student Appreciation Award from GSA President, Gus Tolley.

May 062013
 

On May 3rd, 2013, MRO’s graduate research students, Tyler McCracken and Alisa Shtromberg received the Marvin Wilkening Award which is presented by the New Mexico Tech Physics Department and is awarded on an annual basis. The Marvin Wilkening Award was established by the  New Mexico Tech alumnus, Larry Boucher (1968, B.S. in Physics; 1981, M.S. in Physics), in honor of Professor Emeritus Marvin Wilkening and is given to the graduating physics student who has demonstrated excellence in experimental physics. The award consists of a certificate  and a technician’s tool kit valued at $950.

Tyler McCracken is a graduate student in the physics department at New Mexico Tech pursuing a Ph.D.  He received his B.S. from McMurry University in 2008.  In 2009 he joined Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI) and is performing his research on the development and implementation of the fringe tracker (ICoNN) under the direction of  Dr. Colby Jurgenson and Dr. Michelle Creech-Eakman. Tyler McCracken is due to complete his Ph.D in August 2013.

Alisa Shtromberg joined MRO in 2006 after graduation with a B.S. degree in Astrophysics from New Mexico Tech. As the MROI Instrumentation Optics Engineer she is the lead on the Automated Alignment System project under the supervision of Dr. Colby Jurgenson. Ms. Shtromberg is also due to complete her M.S. in Instrumentation from the Physics Department on May 11, 2013 under the supervision of Dr. Colby Jurgenson and Dr. Michelle Creech-Eakman.

Tyler McCracken accepts the Marvin Wilkening Award for excellence in experimental Physics from NMT Physics Department Chair, Dr. Ken Eack.

Alisa Shtromberg accepts the Marvin Wilkening Award for excellence in experimental Physics from NMT Physics Department Chair, Dr. Ken Eack.

Alisa Shtromberg and Tyler McCracken after they receive the Marvin Wilkening Award from the New Mexico Tech Physics Department

May 022013
 

Official Press Release from NMSU’s Patricia Hynes

Heather Bloemhard staff photoNew Mexico Space Grant Consortium Graduate Fellowships and Undergraduate Scholarships

On April 16, 2013, New Mexico Space Grant Consortium awarded 26 Fellowships and Scholarships to students across New Mexico totaling $210,000. Heather Bloemhard, of Gloucester, VA, and PhD student at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, was awarded $ 10000 for research entitled “Ground-based Characterization of Exoplanets.”

New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NMSGC) is a member of the congressionally funded National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program which is administered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NMSGC Fellowships and Scholarships are competitively awarded based on application information, faculty recommendation, GPA, the research project, and its alignment to NASA.

Mar 012013
 

On the evening of Thursday, February 28, 2013, Interferometer Support Scientist / E&PO Coordinator Dr. Daniel Klinglesmith, Optics Instrumentation Engineer, Alisa Shtromberg, and Graduate Students Tyler McCracken and Heather Bloemhard participated in the Math & Science Night event at Sarracino Middle School.

Ms. Shtromberg, Ms. Bloemhard and Mr. McCracken set up three activities which included a Michelson interferometer where kids could align two beam spots to make fringes, an infrared laser with infrared viewing targets, and a white light set up to look at how they can manipulate it with different types of optics. Dr. Klinglesmith had a demonstration set up to show how craters formed on places such as the Moon. His demonstration included the use of all purpose flour topped off with cocoa powder and throwing rocks (i.e. asteroids) into it to see how the craters were formed.

The students along with their parents were very engaged and interested in learning about properties of light and how it can be applied to science or everyday use. Check out some of the photos from the event below.

Graduate Student Heather Bloemhard explaining to a group of kids about fringes at Sarracino Middle School Math & Science Night

Graduate Student Tyler McCracken explaining fringes to a student.

Dr. Dan Klinglesmith demoing the concept of asteroids and craters to a couple of students

Feb 222013
 
Senator Martin Heinrich visited the campus of New Mexico Tech today. He was accompanied by three staffers and his engineering background was in evidence as he asked insightful questions about the science of the interferometer. New Mexico Tech President Dr. Daniel Lopez, Vice Presidents Dr. Peter Gerity and Dr. Van Romero as well as MRO’s Program Director Dr. Ifan Payne, Project Scientist Dr. Michelle Creech-Eakman, and Instrument Development Engineer Alisa Shtromberg had the pleasure of presenting a video  overview of Magdalena Ridge Observatory in general and the MRO Interferometer in particular.
The Senator enjoyed lunch while exploring the new engineering smart lab in Cramer where he used the the Samsung surface computer table to examine satellite images of the Observatory following which he was presented with a scale freshly printed 3D model of the telescope.

Senator Heinrich uses the Samsung surface computer to explore satellite images of Magdalena Ridge Observatory and surrounding area.

Senator Heinrich pressure washes a wrench after it was printed out from the 3D printer

From left to right: MRO’s Alisa Shtromberg, Dr. Michelle Creech-Eakman, Dr. Ifan Payne, Senator Martin Heinrich, NMT student Nicolas Castano, Dr. Daniel Lopez, and Dr. Van Romero

Check out the video presentation the Senator watched: