June 2002
From University of California - Santa Cruz
NSF Director Rita Colwell to speak at dedication of Center for Adaptive Optics, UCSC Colwell will meet with reporters after her talk The Center for Adaptive Optics (CfAO) was established in 1999 as an NSF Science and Technology Center focused on the advancement and application of adaptive optics technology. Adaptive optics is used in astronomy to correct the blurring of images caused when light travels through turbulence in Earth's atmosphere, and in vision science to correct for similar effects caused by internal imperfections and fluids in the eye. The center is based at UC Santa Cruz and has 27 partner institutions.Speakers at the dedication ceremony will include: - Jerry Nelson, CfAO director and professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC
- Andrea Ghez, CfAO associate director and professor of astronomy at UCLA
- Austin Roorda, assistant professor of optics, University of Houston, College of Optometry
- Lisa Hunter, CfAO associate director for education and human resources, UCSC
Schedule of Events on Friday, June 21: | 1:30 p.m. | Address by Rita Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation: "Research Trends and Opportunities at NSF" (Interdisciplinary Sciences, Room 221) | | 2:15 p.m. | Media availability for Dr. Colwell (Center for Adaptive Optics Conference Room) | | 3:00 p.m. | Dedication of the Center for Adaptive Optics (Earth and Marine Sciences, Room B206) | | 4:30 p.m. | Reception and Open House (Center for Adaptive Optics) |
| |