JILA News

Former JILA Fellow Richard "Dick" McCray passed away on October 26, 2021.  From another JILA Fellow said that: “Dick was a giant in JILA… All those who knew him loved him dearly."   Richard (Dick) McCray came to Colorado to work at JILA in 1971 until his retirement in 2004.  Dick also served as JILA Chair in 1981 and 1982.  Dick was a Distinguished Professor of Astrophysics at CU Boulder, a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1989, a Guggenheim Fellow in 1975-76 and recipient of the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics in 1990. Dick’s area of research was theoretical astrophysics, including the physics of interstellar gas, Active Galactic Nuclei, binary X-ray systems, and supernova explosion; observing these systems with spacecraft such as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Chandra X-ray telescope. You can read more about his work here, as well as an oral history via personal interview. 

The virtual tour for JILA is here! In collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder, a tour of JILA has been created using 360-degree images and photos, making it perfect for a VR headset or app. Even if you don't have VR, this tour is fascinating and discusses the history and research of JILA. 

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.

Congratulations to JILA Fellow Dana Anderson for winning the 2021 Willis E Lamb award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics.

The award recognizes Dana's, "excellent contributions to quantum optics and electronics". The Anderson Group is currently involved in state of the art ultracold atom research with applications in atomtronics, atom interferometry and neutral atom quantum computing. 

The Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics is presented annually for outstanding contributions to the field. The award honors Willis E. Lamb, Jr., famous laser scientist and 1955 winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, who gave us many seminal insights and served as our guide in so many areas of physics and technology.

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.

There are many places within JILA that are special to alumni. For many, it may be the JILA tower, or a particular laboratory, or the spiral staircase. For others, like Clara Wilson, it is the machine shop. "I was at JILA for a little over a year and a half," Wilson said. "I worked in the machine shop as a student assistant, which basically meant that I kept the space clean and operable and was able to shadow and learn everything I could from the various machinists there... I helped build things. I think that as a student assistant, one of my main jobs was to ask questions and learn." Wilson gained valuable knowledge and experience working within the machine job at JILA.

Earlier this month, quantum technology made a splash at the Colorado Capitol. Philip Makotyn, executive director of the CUbit Quantum Initiative, spoke on Sept. 9 before the Colorado General Assembly's Joint Technology Committee. Makotyn was one of several people who spoke before the committee on the Colorado Front Range quantum ecosystem, including CU's role in quantum research; describing the Colorado quantum ecosystem including quantum sensing and computing; what quantum computing is (and isn't), and its applications across a variety of industries and problems.

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 CU Boulder postdoc Vikesh Siddhu and former CU Boulder 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 CU Boulder, 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 CU Boulder, for more than 20 years. 

One goal that JILA alumni have in common is to end up in successful jobs, whether in industry or academia. Such is the case for Sara Campbell, an employee at Honeywell Quantum Solutions who works on quantum computing. “We've released two commercial systems, system model, H0, and H1, and I'm building and getting ready for the next model, H2,” Campbell said excitedly. As the quantum computing sector swells with activity and capital, Campbell’s job becomes more important than ever.

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. 

William Milner win's this year's GPMFC Student Poster Prize at DAMOP

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. 

CU Boulder 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.

Philip Makotyn joins CUbit Quantum Initiative as executive director

Previous JILA postdoc Adam J Fleisher has written a blog about his work to develop artifact-free, SI-traceable measurements of carbon dioxide in air. 

The 2021 Julius Springer Award for Applied Physics is awarded to Professor Jun Ye for pioneering research in fundamental quantum interactions of elemental matter and light, exploiting precision optical spectroscopy and laser-lattice atomic traps.