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�Թ��� of Colorado Boulder physics professor Jose D'Incao is the newest researcher to become an Associate Fellow of JILA. As D'Incao's research focuses on ultracold quantum physics, he has often collaborated with other JILA Fellows, like Ana Maria Rey, Eric Cornell, and Jun Ye. Now as a Fellow himself, D'Incao will fit right in with the majority of JILA's Fellows who focus on quantum science.

While many JILA alumni go onto have more traditional careers such as in quantum industry, other career paths that might not be as well-known offer some unique benefits. One of these career paths is in medical physics research. Medical physics is an important and rapidly growing field that is dedicated to the application of physics principles and techniques to medicine and healthcare. Medical physicists are experts in the use of radiation and other technologies to diagnose and treat disease, and they play a vital role in ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medical procedures. They also research and develop the next generation of tools for diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy. For JILA alumni Liz Shanblatt, a Staff Scientist and Collaboration Manager at Siemens Healthineers, medical physics became an interest only as she was nearing graduation and starting to look for jobs.

Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering at the U.S. Department of Defense, visited JILA and the �Թ��� of Colorado Boulder on Monday to glimpse the future of cutting-edge research.

From the university’s proximity to national laboratories and quantum-intensive companies to the high volume of pioneering alumni, CU Boulder has long been a leader in the quantum space. This legacy has led to a push in innovation and technology, including as it pertains to national security—a goal also shared by Shyu and the Department of Defense.

JILA and NIST Fellows Jun Ye and David Nesbitt, along with their respective teams, have recently been highlighted in the latest issue of the SPIE Photonics West Show Daily, a publication from SPIE. This highlight focuses on the recent advancements in the frequency comb breathalyzer apparatus that the researchers have built and tested, which looks at diagnosing COVID-19 and other diseases.

Every year the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Commerce (DOC) grant honor awards in the form of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals. According to the DOC website: “the Gold and Silver Medals are the highest and second highest honor granted by the Secretary for distinguished and exceptional performance.” Two of JILA’s Fellows, Jun Ye, and Judah Levine, have been awarded these medals.

JILA (a world-leading physics research institute set up by NIST and the �Թ��� of Colorado Boulder) is part of a multi-university research group that will build quantum-based tools for space-based Earth sensing. NASA expects to award a $15 million grant for five years to the group of universities. This cohort includes researchers from the �Թ��� of Texas at Austin, JILA, the �Թ��� of Colorado Boulder (CU), the �Թ��� of California Santa Barbara (USCB), the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). “The award establishes the Quantum Pathways Institute, supported by a NASA STRI (Space Technology Research Institute), led by Prof. Srinivas Bettadpur of the �Թ��� of Texas at Austin, Texas, with CU and UCSB as collaborating institutions,” explained Dana Anderson, a JILA Fellow and CU Boulder professor who is involved in the project. The Quantum Pathways Institute is the first of its kind, as it strives to translate the capabilities of quantum physics into usable devices called “Quantum 2.0.” Besides these developments, the Institute will offer educational training for graduate students and postdocs in quantum theory and quantum experimentation.

The CUbit Quantum Initiative at the �Թ��� of Colorado Boulder has appointed physics professor Noah Finkelstein to serve as faculty director of education and workforce. Finkelstein will lead CUbit’s establishment of a coordinated educational approach that cultivates leaders of the next-generation quantum workforce.

Associate JILA Fellow and �Թ��� of Colorado Boulder Assistant Professor Dr. Shuo Sun has been awarded a 2023 Sloan Research Fellowship. Along with 124 other winners, Sun's work has been recognized as being of the highest quality.

Some of the most important research and discoveries in science have been made by women. To celebrate these inspiring individuals and to support the next generation of female scientists, the United Nations dedicated February 11 as "International Women and Girls in Science" day. To honor this tradition, JILA hosted a panel discussion/open-forum with both JILA Fellows and JILA staff as speakers.

JILA Fellow Adjoint and the �Թ��� of Colorado Boulder professor Dr. Jeffrey Linksy has been selected as a Fellow for the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Linksy was cited for "decades of innovative studies of the heliosphere and the local interstellar medium; for his models of stellar chromospheres, for productive observing programs on multiple satellites and for establishing the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in the local disk, among other scientific contributions, and for his decades of service to the astronomical community.” At JILA, Linksy's research involves the analysis of high-resolution stellar spectra, primarily in the ultraviolet, to measure the physical properties of stars, the atmospheres of exoplanets, gas in the local interstellar medium, and the abundance of deuterium in the Galaxy. Congratulations Dr. Linksy!