JILA News

This year, JILA celebrates its 60th anniversary. Officially established on April 13, 1962, as a joint institution between the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), JILA has become a world leader in physics research. Its rich history includes three Nobel laureates, groundbreaking work in laser development, atomic clocks, underlying dedication to precision measurement, and even competitive sports leagues. The process of creating this science goliath was not always straightforward and took the dedication and hard work of many individuals.

Two JILA graduate students were awarded this year's Richard Nelson Thomas Award for Graduate Students in Astrophyiscs. This award is given annually in honor of Dr. Richard Nelson Thomas, a founding member of JILA and an astrophysics researcher. Dr. Thomas was instrumental in establishing JILA's Visiting Fellows program, as well as growing the institution as a whole. Because of Dr. Thomas' legacy, his family and friends established an annual award given to an outstanding graduate student in astrophysics. 

University of Colorado President Todd Saliman visited JILA this past week and toured the laboratories at the invitation of JILA and NIST Fellow Eric Cornell.

Saliman was impressed by the research team and Fellows and applauded their work.

“You are all working to change the world,” President Saliman said.

Most, if not all, JILA alumni have found that their time at JILA has impacted their careers. Whether through working on cutting-edge research or networking with others, most JILA alumni have left the institution with essential skills needed for their future successes. This is the case for Dr. Rabin Paudel, who was a Senior Applications Engineer at Cymer/ASML, which is a Dutch multinational company that makes photolithography equipment used by semiconductor chipmakers. Since the writing of this article, Paudel has now started a new position at Intel Corporation.

For some physics and math undergraduates, JILA has become a place to learn cutting-edge research while belonging to a community. That's what undergraduate Connor Thomas experienced. Though Thomas is graduating with a bachelor's in biochemistry and transitioning to a graduate program at MIT, he's been grateful for his time at JILA. "JILA has been a pretty fantastic community for me," Thomas said. "In particular, my lab has been great. They were really constant through COVID. I am definitely going to miss all of that."

“It's hard to imagine my career without JILA,” explained Mike Martin, staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Martin first arrived at CU in 2006, as a graduate student. “I began working with [JILA and NIST Fellow] Jun Ye in 2007,” he said. “My work was in frequency metrology for precision measurement and timekeeping.” During Martin's stint at JILA, he explained that he helped work on the early development of the frequency comb. As time continued, his work expanded to include studying the strontium lattice clock. “At the time there was only one strontium apparatus in Jun’s lab,” he said. “And around 10 people or so were all studying it.” This allowed him to collaborate with many other colleagues on the science behind the clock. 

World Quantum Day is a big deal for JILA. With around 75% of JILA Fellows researching quantum phenomena, it's no surprise that this institute is a world leader in this field. “Quantum research enables so many applications, varying from new generations of computers, secure communications, to ultraprecise clocks and sensors,” explained JILA Fellow Shuo Sun.  “In addition, quantum research will drive the advances of many fields such as material science, chemistry, nanoscience, etc., which will likely drive new technology breakthroughs that we cannot predict yet. Finally, the research in quantum allows us to probe the fundamental questions in physics, which is really fascinating to me.” Quantum physics has had a long history at JILA, becoming popular thanks to Einstein's work in the 1920s. Several JILA Fellows, including JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye, continue to build off of Einstein's original work. 

JILA W. M. Keck Lab has been selected to receive a CU Green Labs Program Award for the lab’s efforts for shared research resources. The annual CU Green Labs Awards Program started in 2015 to reward departments that work to make the campus' sustainability possible.  Awardees exemplify CU’s continuing efforts to become a sustainable institution. 

Founded in 1962, JILA (a partnership between CU Boulder and NIST) is a world leader in quantum sensing research, workforce training, and industry engagement. JILA scientists have helped develop technology that has been implemented in space, while others are looking into using lasers to help with diagnosing respiratory illnesses. Over time, though, age has taken a toll on JILA facilities. 

The CU Federal Relations team worked with senators Hickenlooper and Bennet to secure $950,000 in funding for JILA through the omnibus bill to give its labs a refresh.

According to JILA COO Beth Kroger, the funding will pay for much-needed research equipment in the JILA instrument and electronics shops, as well as equipment for CU Boulder’s JILA Keck Metrology and Clean Room Core Facility, which serves the campus and provides important research capabilities.

JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski has been honored in the 2022  President’s Teaching Scholars Program (PTSP), which recognizes CU faculty who skillfully integrate teaching and research at an exceptional level. Lewandowski's laboratory focuses on both cold molecular physics and physics education research. Her physics education research program studies ways to increase students' proficiency in scientific practices such as using models and quantitative reasoning in experimental physics. 

JILA and NIST Fellow Ana Maria Rey is to be inducted into the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences (Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales). Fellow Ana Maria Rey has been inducted into the Colombian National Academy of Sciences.  Rey, is a Colombian-American physicist at the University of Colorado, Boulder who "studies the scientific interface between atomic, molecular and optical physics, condensed matter physics and quantum information science."

This week has been a big week for Colorado's quantum community, as delegates from the Government of Finland visited the snowy state to celebrate the beginning of several quantum research and quantum technology partnerships between the Fins and both academia and industry-based groups in Colorado.

On January 12, 2022, former JILAn Cheryl Glenn passed away. Known as a wonderful friend and leading light, Cheryl’s passing has left a hole in the JILA community. From 1978 to 2011, Cheryl was the Executive Assistant at JILA, helping the Fellows and bettering the JILA culture overall. According to Krista Beck, Fellows Assistant to Eric Cornell, Carl Lineberger, and the Physics Frontier Center, Cheryl was always there for support. When Krista had adopted her second child, a newborn, Cheryl helped teach Krista how to become a mother. “Cheryl was also a really good friend to all the visiting Fellows,” Krista added. 

Christmas Eve brings something extra special in the form of the James Webb telescope. This telescope is set to launch at 07:20 am EST This telescope is the successor of the Hubble telescope and is designed to go far into our galaxy, helping to answer some of our biggest questions about our universe.

This year’s Q2B (Quantum 2 Business) conference took place on December 7-9 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Several big names spoke at the event, and it was a place to forge new partnerships and connections. For one lucky JILAn, the trip to this conference was sponsored by CUbit Quantum Initiative, (CUbit). "I am very grateful to Women in Quantum and CUbit for sponsoring me to attend the Q2B conference," Joanna Lis said. Lis is a graduate student within JILA Fellow Adam Kaufman's laboratory. "My research is looking at neutral atoms in tweezers. I was positively surprised on how much presence neutral atom platforms had within the conference," she added.

Two JILA graduate students were awarded "Oustanding Service Awards" from the Physics department at the University of Colorado Boulder. These awards are given each semester. 

On December 8th, JILA and NIST Fellow Dr. Judah Levine spoke on his research into internet time service. Internet time service is based on atomic clock technology and is used to help set computer clocks and other devices. The virtual event was hosted by Executive Director Dan Powers of CO-Labs, a coalition of 30+ federally funded Colorado research labs, including JILA. Levine's talk was one in a series discussing the ROI of scientific research.

JILA Room S209 informally referred to as Affinity Room, has been renovated and now has an official name: the Debbie Jin Room.  Named in honor of late JILA Fellow Debbie Jin, this suite of rooms is designed to foster and support community amongst JILA’s graduate students and postdocs. The JILA Welcome Lounge has also been renamed to the Chiral Spiral. 

JILA Graduate Student Andres Villani Davila has been awarded a 2021 "Oustanding Graduate for Research" Award by the University of Colorado Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Davila works under JILA Fellow Heather Lewandowski and is pursuing a B.S. in Engineering Physics.

Antonio Vigil, a recently graduated JILA undergraduate has been named an "Outstanding Undergraduate" by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. Vigil recently graduated summa cum laude after working for three years at JILA.