Historic Firsts: Arizona and the James Webb Telescope E31
On December 25, 2021, NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the largest and most complex space telescope ever built. Four days later, Webb’s massive sunshield deployed and within weeks, its primary mirror started unfurling. On August 12, 2022, Webb’s first images were released, and our view of the universe was forever changed. But what did it take to get here?
The October 2022 episode of the Arizona Technology Council’s AZTechCast podcast featured experts including Erik Novak, general manager at 4D Technology; Marcia Rieke, professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona; and Fred Van Milligen, vice president, research and development at VIAVI Solutions. These leaders joined Karen Nowicki, president and owner of Phoenix Business RadioX, and Steve Zylstra, president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, in discussing the nearly insurmountable challenges they faced, the exciting innovations developed and the cosmic collaborations that led to the most successful space telescope ever launched.
Throughout this hour-long episode, the panel of three experts convened virtually to introduce themselves, describe the direct role that they and their organizations played in building the JWST and explain how Arizona’s optics and photonics and aerospace industries really drove the telescope’s development even though NASA is headquartered on the other side of the country. For those unfamiliar with optics and photonics, the speakers defined this field as the study of light, as well as the generation, detection, and manipulation of light photons through emission, transmission, modulation, signal processing, switching, amplification and sensing. But beyond the dictionary definition, they emphasized that optics and photonics touch the lives of every day Arizonans through the cameras on their cell phones, the semiconductors that power their appliances and the light emitted from their car headlights.
Originally founded as Optical Coating Laboratories Inc (OCLI) in 1948, VIAVI Solutions Optical Security and Performance Products (OSP) business has been a leading innovator in the thin-film optical coating industry for over 70 years.
VIAVI develops and manufactures color-shifting pigments that enable overt authentication for banknotes worldwide. VIAVI also develops, designs, and manufactures specialty thin-film optical coatings and micro-optics for applications in consumer electronics, aerospace, automotive, industrial, and other markets.
Other VIAVI product lines include a line of miniature near infrared spectrometers and special effects pigments for automotive, apparel and other applications
Fred Van Milligen is Vice President of R&D for the Optical Security and Performance Products Division of VIAVI Solutions, where he leads a world class team of Scientists and Engineers.
This team focuses on products and applications in the areas of Banknote Anti-Counterfeiting, Consumer Electronics, Spectroscopy, and Government and Aerospace. The team currently consists of approximately 90 people, largely located in Santa Rosa, CA and Rochester, NY with an expectation of a growing presence in Chandler, AZ.
This team has been active in many NASA based projects such as OSIRIS-REX, NIRCAM for the Webb Telescope, New Horizons, and Chandra X-Ray Telescope, among many others.
Follow VIAVI Solutions on LinkedIn and Twitter.
The University of Arizona is public university with a strong record of research accomplishments in addition to educating students.
Marcia Rieke is both a professor and the leader of a research team that developed a camera for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The development of the camera was conducted jointly by Rieke’s team and a group at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, CA.
The JWST Mission was led by Goddard Space Flight Center on behalf of NASA.
Rieke has worked on several previous space missions, and has been active using Arizona’s ground based telescopes. Her research interests span the range of studying planets orbiting other stars to studying the first galaxies to form after the Big Bang.
She came to the University of Arizona as a post-doc right out of graduate school, and has remained at the university for her entire career.
Connect with Marcia on LinkedIn.
4D Technology specializes in instruments to measure surfaces and optical features in difficult environments, like a factory floor–or inside a cryogenic freezer.
By using interferometer principles combined with unique, patented technology, they produced four optical measurement systems that were essential in qualifying the James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror array, secondary mirror, backplane structure and the primary mirror segments.
NASA used 4D Technology’s instruments to test the primary mirror in vacuum chambers and cryogenic chambers. The instruments are effective because of incredibly fast, single-frame three dimensional surface measurements. By acquiring fast and in one frame, the technology is vibration-immune.
Carrying these capabilities forward, the principles have been miniaturized and adapted into handheld devices and systems that can be mounted on robots in production lines. One is used by aviation maintenance shops to inspect wear and damage in jet turbines.
By taking highly precise 3D measurements of defects, they speed overhauls while providing a greater level of certainty about the airworthiness of parts. Another is used by automobile manufacturers to measure car materials before and after painting, to ensure the finish is successful.
Dr. Erik Novak is Vice President and General Manager at 4D Technology, where he was worked since 2013. He has been developing instrumentation for precision metrology for more than 24 years in applications such as semiconductor, optics, aerospace, automotive, photovoltaics, and medical devices.
Erik has received seven international product awards, holds over a dozen patents, and has more than sixty publications and book chapters related to surface measurement and industrial process control.
Follow 4D Technology on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.
About AZ TechCast
AZ TechCast is dedicated to covering innovation and technology in Arizona and beyond.
Through the art of connected conversation, AZ TechCast’s guests will share their expertise, success stories, news and analysis about the region’s leading startups, companies and emerging technologies, as well as the latest industry trends and critical issues propelling the state’s growing technology ecosystem.
About Your Hosts
Steve Zylstra serves as president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, a role he assumed in 2007. He is responsible for strategy, operations, finance and policy development. Zylstra is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards in Arizona.
Zylstra serves on numerous councils, committees and boards, was named “Leader of the Year, Technology,” by the Arizona Capitol Times, and “Most Admired Leader” by the Phoenix Business Journal. In addition, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science in technology from the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Ariz.
Zylstra earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive engineering technology from Western Michigan University.
Karen Nowicki is a successful author, speaker and the creator of Deep Impact Leadership™ and SoulMarks Coaching™. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious national Choice Award® for her book and personal development retreat. Karen was crowned the first-ever “Mompreneur of the Year” Award in 2010 for the southwestern states. She was recognized for her leadership, business acumen, and work-life balance.
Karen has been an expert guest on regional TV and radio shows, including Fox Phoenix Morning Show, Sonoran Living, Good Morning Arizona, The Chat Room, and Mid-Day Arizona. She has been a regular contributor to many print and online magazines – publishing articles and blogs for business and education.
In addition to working with private coaching clients, Karen is also the Owner & President of Phoenix Business RadioX. The Business RadioX Network amplifies the voice of business – serving the Fortune 500,000, not just the Fortune 500. Phoenix Business RadioX helps local businesses and professional associations get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, profession, and community.
Of all the experiences Karen has had the privilege of participating in over her vast career, she shares that Phoenix Business RadioX is a pinnacle adventure!
Connect with Karen on LinkedIn and follow Phoenix Business RadioX on Facebook and Instagram.
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Bianca Buliga is a trilingual first-generation American of Romanian ethnicity. A marketing professional with experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, Bianca currently works as Director, Marketing & Communications for the Arizona Technology Council.
Previously, Bianca worked as Marketing Communications Lead at Proctorio, a learning integrity platform that offers remote proctoring software ensuring exam integrity for learners around the world.
Bianca also worked as Senior Marketing Manager at SEED SPOT, a social impact incubator that educates, accelerates, and invests in impact-driven entrepreneurs creating market-based solutions to social problems. In January of 2020, Bianca was selected as an awardee of the Mandela Washington Reciprocal Exchange Program and traveled to the African island of Mauritius to run entrepreneurship programming for 15 impact-driven ecopreneurs on behalf of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Bianca has also completed comprehensive consulting projects for IBM, ESAN Business School, and the Peruvian government, and interned at the Arizona House of Representatives and U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania.
Bianca earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Northern Arizona University in 2014 and her Master’s degree in Global Affairs and Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 2017. She is an avid reader, yogi, and world traveler always planning her next trip.
Connect with Bianca on LinkedIn.
About Our Sponsor
The Arizona Technology Council, Arizona’s only statewide organization serving the technology sector, fosters a climate of innovation to enhance technology in Arizona.
A trusted resource in strengthening Arizona’s technology industry, the Council proactively eliminates impediments that companies face, accelerates the entrepreneurial mindset in the state’s expanding innovation ecosystem, and works to create a destination for companies to be, thrive and stay.
Follow Arizona Technology Council on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
