Bruce Dean, "An Introduction to Image Based Wavefront Sensing and Control"

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is easily one of the most advanced devices ever created by humans, bridging a gap between the macroscopic and quantum worlds in terms of how accurately we can align mirrors. It is the product of exhaustive testing, countless innovations, and the international collaboration between 1000’s of people working tirelessly for more than 20 years.  In this talk we discuss the physics of image-based wavefront sensing: one of the core technologies that was utilized to complete the final alignment of the segmented mirror.

Dr. Bruce Dean is the Wavefront Sensing Group Leader at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.  After graduating from WVU in 1999 he formed the NASA Goddard “Wavefront Sensing and Control Group,” in support of the anticipated JWST launch.  He was the lead algorithm developer on behalf of NASA GSFC, delivering one of the main flight algorithms used for aligning the telescope mirrors.  Bruce holds 10 U.S. Patents and has received several awards including: the NASA Headquarters Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal, the Federal Executive Bronze Award for Volunteer Service, and the Goddard Honor Award for Engineering Achievement.  His current research focuses on pattern recognition in optical systems and the development of quantum space telescopes.