MZA Associates Corporation
Albuquerque, NM / Dayton, OH / Jupiter, FL
Updated June 11, 2008
|
MZA Associates Corporation Albuquerque, NM / Dayton, OH / Jupiter, FL |
MZA News
Archive
Updated June 11, 2008 |
Dr. Donald Link Joins Jupiter Staff (August 2007)
It is a pleasure to announce that Dr. Donald J. Link has joined our MZA operations in Jupiter, Florida. Dr. Link has 23 years experience in atmospheric turbulence and adaptive optics. His main emphasis has been on writing and using detailed time-domain, wave optics simulations of adaptive optical systems for correction of atmospheric turbulence and resonator aberrations. He also has experience in phased array and interferometric optical systems.
From 1992 to the present, Dr. Link served as a senior scientist at Science Applications International Corporation. He is the principal author of the Atmospheric Compensation Simulation (ACS). ACS has been the benchmark against which other wave optics codes including WaveTrain were originally measured. Dr. Link?s work consisted primarily of identifying significant physics and engineering effects, developing algorithms and modifying the code to include those effects in ACS, validating the modifications against theory and experimental results, running ACS to determine the impact of the effects, developing system hardware or software solutions to any problems introduced by the effects, incorporating these solutions in ACS, and using ACS to optimize the solutions by parameter variation and/or algorithm modification. His research includes multi-conjugate adaptive optics, optimal estimators, complex reconstructors, adaptive reconstructors, and stochastic optimization. Programs he has worked on include the Air Force airborne and space based high energy laser systems for theater and national missile defense, the Army tactical high energy laser system, ground based laser systems such as the Star-Fire Optical Range 3.5 meter and the Maui AEOS 3.6 meter telescopes, and long baseline imaging interferometers.
Dr. Link earned his Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering (Electro-Optics program) in 1985 and his M.S. in Applied Mathematics in 1983 from the University of Central Florida. He also has a B.S. in Math and Physics from the U.S. Naval Academy (1977). While serving in the Navy LCDR Link was a submarine officer on a fast attack submarine.
MZA Opens New Office in Jupiter, Florida
(June 2007)
As of June 1st, Mr. Russell Vernon and Drs. Richard St. John and Aaron Masino have joined MZA and initiated operations in Jupiter, Florida. Location and contact information can be found on MZA's web pages.
Mr. Russell Vernon has been named Vice President of Jupiter Operations and will provide the primary leadership and management of the Jupiter staff. Mr. Vernon has 38 years experience in optical systems research and management. His technical experience includes system requirements analysis and design of high energy laser (HEL) beam control systems, atmospheric propagation, imaging, adaptive optics, radiometry, active optical controls, laser communications, modeling, computer simulation, analysis, test planning and testing. Since 1991, Mr. Vernon served as Vice President and manager of the Space Optics and Imaging Operation of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) where he grew a business base in imaging and laser projection systems from less than $1M to over $15M per year and provided leadership for up to fifty optical systems engineers and scientists. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Physics with Honors from the University of Louisville in 1969. MZA plans to draw on his significant management, technical, and marketing expertise to expand its business base, better accommodate the needs of its current clients, and establish a greater presence within the advanced optics industry.
Dr. Richard St. John has nine years experience in optical systems research, analysis and design, atmospheric HEL propagation, imaging, adaptive optics, computer simulation and modeling. Dr. St. John has performed numerous wave-optics analysis of atmospheric propagation and adaptive optics systems and was the primary author of HELCOMES, a Java-based HEL propagation scaling code which consolidates years of scaling law research and has become the standard analysis tool for a number of DoD HEL research organizations. He earned Doctorate and Master of Science degrees in Applied and Computational Mathematics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Old Dominion University.
Dr. Aaron Masino has three years industry experience in adaptive optics modeling and simulation, parameter trade studies, and algorithm development. He has developed and tested various beam control algorithms for adaptive optics systems and conducted numerous large-simulation-based parameter trade studies. While an Air Force officer he gained five years experience in technical program management, training, and performance requirement evaluation. He earned his Doctorate of Applied Mathematics from the University of Central Florida in 2004. He also has a Master of Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Rutgers University.
The significant talent provided by the Jupiter staff will allow MZA to more thoroughly meet the needs of the advanced optics community including the expertise gained using the ACS wave-optics code and HELCOMES, the HEL JTO-sponsored scaling code.
MZA was named to the 2007 New Mexico Technology Flying 40 (June 2007)
For the seventh year in a row, MZA was named to the New Mexico Technology Flying 40, a group of technology businesses recognized for their rapid growth. A series of articles in the Albuquerque Journal provides information about the 2007 Flying 40.
New Time Keys Available for WaveTrain
(December 2006)
MZA
Associates Corporation reaches the 15-year mark
(December 2006)
MZA was incorporated in October 1991 to meet a need for advanced simulation and analysis of adaptive optics systems at what is now the
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Because of the ongoing reduction in SDI-related research, the business climate called for a leaner approach to providing such support and created an opportunity for the formation of MZA. In December of 1992, MZA was awarded a four-year, three-million dollar simulation and analysis support contract (AMASS).
The company has been growing and thriving ever since. In the past 15 years, MZA played a key role in the completion of AFRL's landmark ABLEX and ABLE ACE high-altitude atmospheric characterization experiments. We developed data acquisition and optical systems to help build the ABL-ACT facilities on White Sands Missile Range and provided significant simulation and data analysis for the subsequent experiments. We wrote WaveTrain and distributed it to more than one hundred organizations, significantly increasing the number of scientists that perform wave-optics analysis of advanced optical systems.
For the past six years, MZA has played a major role in the performance prediction and assessment of the
Airborne Laser (ABL) for the ABL SPO. Concurrently, we invented, built, and patented the Adaptive Dynamic Range Wave Front Sensor (ADRWFS). We are
also proud of the fact that MZA has been named to the
New Mexico Technology Flying Forty for these last six years running.
We continue to provide simulation and analysis to AFRL for ABL, tactical, relays, and ground-based optical systems. MZA's ABL WaveTrain-based wave-optics model is currently being used to predict and analyze the performance of the ABL which is currently undergoing early flight tests of its beam control system. In 2005, we established our Dayton, Ohio office and inherited an impressive legacy of
scaling codes. We also created a subsidiary,
Active Optical Systems (AOS),
which manufactures low-cost, compact adaptive optics hardware. On-going projects
include R&D in the areas of optical propagation in the marine environment,
wave-optics modeling of laser resonators, adaptive reconstructors for the
compensation of aero-optical effects, laser weapon lethality, complex synthetic
scene generation, relay mirrors, and isomorphic modeling of complex systems.
tempus Short Course Available for Download
(April 2006)
MZA has posted the presentation materials
for the half-day introductory course on the theory and application of tempus
that Bob Praus presented at the Directed Energy Professional Society's Directed
Energy System Symposium March 20-24 in Monterey, CA. tempus is MZA's
interdisciplinary simulation executive upon which many of the capabilities of
WaveTrain are built.
MZA Dayton celebrates 1st anniversary
(October 2006)
October 2006 marks the 1st anniversary of MZA's Dayton, OH location. The past year has been busy for MZA -- establishing the new office, expanding our business to new Wright-Patterson customers, and simultaneously, supporting on-going projects in Albuquerque and other locations.
The Dayton staff members: Rebecca Beauchamp, John Diemunsch, Eric Magee, Amy Ngwele, Joe Riley, and Matt Whiteley.
AFIT offers
WaveTrain course during Summer Quarter 2006 (June 2006) The Air Force Institute of Technology (www.afit.edu)
is offering a graduate course called ?Wave Optics II? (OENG 646) which
focuses on the application of WaveTrain for wave-optics simulation of
propagation, imaging and adaptive optics beam control. The course was
first offered during summer quarter 2005 and is now part of the academic
sequence for Electro-optics Engineering. This year?s enrollment
consists of military and civilian graduate students at the M.S. and Ph.D.
level. The course is being taught by Dr. Matt Whiteley (MZA Dayton).
A related course called ?Imaging through Turbulence? (EENG 716) is being
taught during summer quarter 2006 by Dr. Eric Magee (MZA Dayton).
Students in this course learn the theory associated with wave propagation
and imaging in random media. Dr. Whiteley and Dr. Magee are adjunct
professors in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
(AFIT/ENG).
MZA was named to the 2006 New Mexico Technology Flying 40 (June 2006)
For the sixth year in a row, MZA was named to the New Mexico Technology Flying 40, a group of technology businesses recognized for their rapid growth. A series of articles in the Albuquerque Journal provides information about the 2006 Flying 40.
Dr. Don Washburn Joins the MZA Staff (April 2006)
MZA is proud to announce the addition of Dr. Don Washburn to the MZA staff. For the past fifteen years at AFRL, Dr. Washburn has been the driving force behind a series of important directed energy research projects including ABLE ACE, ABL advanced concepts and range extension, and high altitude and tactical relays. He also chaired the HEL JTO Beam Control Technical Advisory Working Group that provided recommendations to JTO management on investments in beam control technology.
After graduating from the Air Force Academy, he began his career as an Air Force Operational Pilot, where he eventually became qualified to command eight different aircraft including the F-100 and B-52. He was a Forward Air Controller and Combat Instructor in Vietnam, earning 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 18 Air Medals, and an Army Commendation Medal. He later returned to the Academy to teach math and physics courses. In the early eighties he was stationed at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory (a predecessor to AFRL) to serve as the Chief of the Advanced Beam Control Branch.
After retiring from active duty as a Lieutenant Colonel, he worked for
Logicon/RDA as a Division Manager overseeing beam control and directed
energy simulation projects. He returned to government service as an IPA in
1991 where he provided managerial and technical leadership in the conduct of
leading edge directed energy research. Dr. Washburn has a B.S. in
Engineering Science from the Air Force Academy, M.S. in Aeronautical &
Astronautical Engineering from Purdue, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from UCLA.
Dr. Washburn's first assignment will be as program manager of the MZA ABL
modeling and simulation efforts.
Tony Seward is awarded his Doctorate from New Mexico State (February 2006)
New Mexico State University awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering to Tony
Seward following completion and defense of his dissertation,
"Image
Plane Filters and Adaptive Optical Systems". His research details
alternative methods of wave front sensing and control for adaptive optics.
Dr. Seward has been an MZA employee for more than six years. For most of that time, he has provided optical engineering support to the AFRL North Oscura Peak and Starfire Optical Range facilities. Dr. Seward is the fourth employee to complete his Ph.D. while working at MZA.
MZA to Present tempus Short Course at DEPS System Symposium (February 2006)
Bob Praus will present a half-day introductory course on the theory and application of tempus at the Directed Energy Professional Society's upcoming Directed Energy System Symposium March 20-24 in Monterey, CA. tempus is MZA's interdisciplinary simulation executive upon which many of the capabilities of WaveTrain are built. A description of the course can be found at the DEPS website.
New Time Keys Available for WaveTrain (December 2005)
As of Dec. 31, 2005, the time keys for most WaveTrain users will expire. This means the GUI will refuse to save new systems until the time key is updated. Navigate to the WaveTrain Downloads page to obtain a new time key.
Dr. Russ Butts Elected an OSA Fellow (November 2005)
Dr. Russ Butts, a Senior Scientist at MZA, was elected a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA) by its Board of Directors at the October 18, 2005 meeting in Tucson, Arizona. The Society's announcement says he is "being recognized for outstanding contributions to the advancement of High Energy Laser beam control in adaptive optics, tracking and pointing, and in understanding the science of laser propagation in the atmosphere."
This is the latest well-deserved honor Dr. Butts has received. In 2001, the Secretary of Defense awarded Dr. Butts the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the highest award given to career Defense employees, and in 2003, Dr. Butts' contributions to the field led to his selection as a Fellow of the Directed Energy Professional Society. These awards are the results of Dr. Butts' nearly thirty years of service to our country as an Air Force officer and civil servant at the Air Force Research Laboratory and its predecessors.
MZA Dayton Update (November 2005)
MZA
established its Dayton-area office in the suburb of Centerville.
Location and contact information can be found on MZA's web pages. In addition to Drs. Whiteley and
Magee, the Dayton office has added three new staff members.
Ms. Rebecca (Becky) Beauchamp has used WaveTrain to perform simulation and analysis of adaptive optics and atmospheric propagation systems for two years. She earned a Master's degree in Physics from Ohio State University in Columbus, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics from Mount Holyoke College.
Mrs. Amy Ngwele has two years experience with anchoring wave-optics results from
WaveTrain to adaptive optics system performance scaling codes. She is a
contributing author to the Matlab-based scaling codes ATMTools,
EngagementTools, SHaRE, and SCALE. Mrs. Ngwele earned a Master's degree
in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis in Optics from the University
of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics from
King College in Bristol, Tennessee.
Mr. Joe Riley has performed simulation and analysis of complex optical systems for more than eight years. He is an expert WaveTrain user who has provided significant support to advanced tracking and adaptive optics systems. He also has extensive experience in the area of synthetic scene generation for both passive and active applications. Mr. Riley earned an M.S. in Electro-Optics from the University of Dayton and a B.S. in Physics from Notre Dame.
MZA Opens new office in the Dayton, Ohio Area (October 2005)
Todd Harris Joins MZA as a Systems Administrator (September 2005)
MZA is pleased to announce the addition of Todd Harris to the technical staff. Todd will be a Systems Administrator for the MZA computer systems. As a Linux operating system and computer networking expert, he will provide support to MZA staff through maintenance of the file servers and intranet. He will also help maintain the MZA networks and public webserver. He moved to Albuquerque from Seattle where he worked for RealNetworks, the ubiquitous audio streaming company. He has an Associate of Arts degree from Seattle Central Community College and a number of technical certifications.
Colombe (Mimi) Leland Joins MZA as Assistant to the
Controller (July 2005)
Colombe Leland, or Mimi as everyone calls her, has joined the MZA staff as Assistant to the Controller. Mimi has Bachelor's degrees in both Technical Communications and Business Administration. She is fast becoming responsible for executing many administrative and accounting tasks including timesheet accounting and accounts payable, as well as, helping with technical report writing and enhancing our website. In the past, she served as Business Manager of the Philanthropy Department of All Faiths Receiving Home and as Computer Literacy Specialist for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, both worthy and important charitable organizations. Before coming to Albuquerque, she applied her writing skills as Editor and Technical Writer for a number of years at New Mexico Tech. in Socorro.
MZA was named to the 2005 New Mexico Technology Flying 40 (June 2005)
For the fifth year in a row, MZA was named to the New Mexico Technology Flying 40, a group of technology businesses recognized for their rapid growth. A series of articles in the Albuquerque Journal provides information about the 2004 Flying 40.
Updated GUI Added to the Downloads Page (May 2005)
A new version of the GUI can be downloaded from the WaveTrain Downloads page. There are not many changes to the GUI. The most significant is that you can turn off warning messages in the Hierarchy and System Status windows after viewing them. This way, you can cause the status bulbs to turn green after you have determined that the warnings are not detrimental to your application. There is additional flexibility in customizing the operation of the tve and miscellaneous bug and nuisance fixes.
Dr. William Klein Joins the MZA Staff (May 2005)
MZA is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. William (Bill) Klein to the Technical Staff. Dr. Klein is a Computer Scientist with a background in database programming and design and artificial intelligence. Before MZA he worked on commercial software projects with a couple of startup companies. We invited him to join MZA so that we might benefit from his experience in commercial quality software in the development of tempus. He is presently leading the implementation of two directed energy weapons lethality database projects for MZA. His continuing assignment will be to act as software integrator for tempus and to help us commercialize the product.
Dr. Russ Butts Joins the MZA Staff (April 2005)
MZA is proud to announce the addition of Dr. R. Russell Butts to its Technical Staff. Dr. Butts is a world-renowned expert in the area of directed energy weapons systems, with specific emphasis in atmospheric propagation and compensation. He has given nearly thirty years of service to our country as an Air Force officer and civil servant at the Air Force Research Laboratory and it's predecessors. In 2001, the Secretary of Defense awarded Dr. Butts the Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the highest award given to career Defense employees. During a break from civil service, he supported directed energy research as an analyst and department manager at Logicon/RDA where he mentored Steve Coy and Bob Praus, the principals of MZA. He also taught Mathematics at North Texas State and Mississippi State Universities. He's earned B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Mathematics and has significant additional course work and training in Physics and Engineering. In 2003, Dr. Butts' contributions to the field led to his selection as a Fellow of the Directed Energy Professional Society. He is author or co-author of more than 65 technical publications, most of which are detailed reports and many of which cover ground-breaking research in the areas of atmospheric propagation and compensation. Dr. Butts will provide senior review and direction to nearly all MZA's directed energy projects. For the past fifteen years he has played an important role in the leadership of others. He now wishes to rekindle his detailed participation in simulation and modeling, so he'll be deeply involved in technical work.
MZA and Teammates to be Featured on Albuquerque Radio Show (April 2005)
Bob Praus of MZA, Justin Libersky of Zia Consortium, and Susan Kocina of Virtual Intelligence Applications will appear Sunday morning, April 17, on Albuquerque-based radio station 770 KKOB's Hi-Tech New Mexico show hosted by Mike Langner. The topic of discussion is a collective effort to create a New Mexico-based small business consortium to provide government organizations efficient solutions to high technology problems. The show will air from 10 to 11 AM MDT. The consortium has recently had its first success in being awarded a contract by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for modeling and optimization of solid state laser systems.
MZA is in the News (March 2005)
MZA has been mentioned in a couple of news articles related to recently-awarded contracts. MZA is a subcontractor on a LADERA contract let by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to perform Solid State Laser System Modeling and Optimization. Also, MZA is a teammate on Northrop Grumman Information Technology's successful bid for the Airborne Laser (ABL) A&AS contract awarded by the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
MZA was at the DEPS Modeling and Simulation Conference in Full Force (March 2005)
MZA staff members participated heavily in the Directed Energy Professional Society's (DEPS) Third Directed Energy Modeling and Simulation Conference in Tampa, Florida. On March 14, Bob Praus presented a half-day short course on "Modeling and Simulation using WaveTrain". The course was based on the WaveTrain tutorial augmented with introductory and foundational materials from an earlier short course that MZA has given. Justin Mansell presented a briefing titled "Experimental Beam Control using WaveTrain" which documents an on-going project where we have successfully used WaveTrain to simultaneously model and control an adaptive optics experiment. Steve Coy extended the propagation sampling requirements analysis on which he has been working and presented a talk called "Choosing Mesh Spacings and Mesh Dimensions for Wave Optics Simulation". Bob Praus presented talks on on-going MZA work, "Recent Progress in Airborne Laser System Performance Model Anchoring" and "Solid State Laser System Modeling and Optimization". We'll add the releasable materials to our downloads page once they are properly formatted.
MZA to Present a Short Course on "Modeling and Simulation
using WaveTrain"
at the 2005 Directed Energy Modeling & Simulation Conference (February
2005)
On March 14, 2005, Bob Praus will present a half-day short course on "Modeling and Simulation using WaveTrain" at the Directed Energy Professional Society's (DEPS) 2005 Directed Energy Modeling and Simulation Conference in Tampa, Florida. This course will provide a practical introduction to the use of WaveTrain, emphasizing the details of the process of using WaveTrain to model beam control and imaging systems. This course will be distinct from the full-day course we provided at DEPS last October in that it will cover less theory and more applied usage details. MZA will also be presenting a number of modeling and simulation briefings during the main conference sessions.
Recent Postings to the Downloads Page (February 2005)
Briefing materials for a short course on "Modeling and Simulation of Beam Control Systems" and a significantly improved version of the WaveTrain Tutorial have been posted to the downloads page. Check them out for further insight to the inner and outer workings of WaveTrain.
Time to Update Your WaveTrain Time Key (December 2004)
To keep a current inventory of WaveTrain use, we place a time key in our WaveTrain distribution files. Most current users have received a time key which expires at the end of 2004. Users with expired time keys will not be able to save models in the WaveTrain GUI. We've sent out new time keys updated for 2005 to many active users. If you are an active user and you haven't received an updated key, contact us at wavetrain@mza.com, and we'll send you one.
DEPS Short Course Materials Posted (December 2004)
On October 18, 2004 MZA presented a short course on Modeling and Simulation of Beam Control Systems at the Directed Energy Professional Society's (DEPS) Seventh Annual Directed Energy Symposium in Rockville, Maryland. Sixteen people attended the course and we received largely positive feedback on the presentation. The course covered a broad range of foundational, numerical, and practical aspects of constructing and analyzing computer simulations of Beam Control Systems (BCS). Of particular interest to wave optics simulationists is a rigorous development of sampling requirements in Parts 2 and 3. The short course materials can be viewed or downloaded here.
WaveTrain Support for Phase I SBIRs (December 2004)
MZA distributes the WaveTrain software free of charge to all requesting organizations who have a bona fide SBIR contract. The current DoD SBIR solicitation includes a number of Phase I topics that would benefit from simulation and analysis with WaveTrain. To make it more practical for Phase I SBIR bidders to propose using WaveTrain with MZA's support, we have devised a support plan customized to Phase I SBIR projects. WaveTrain users can now obtain WaveTrain support from MZA for the purpose of carrying out a Phase I SBIR contract at a cost more consistent with a contract the size of a Phase I SBIR. Contact MZA at wavetrain@mza.com to get the details of the plan in time to submit your Phase I SBIR proposal.
The Intersection at Girard and Gibson is Now Open (December 2004)
The intersection of Girard Blvd. with Gibson Blvd. is now open. Visitors to MZA no longer have to wind their way through the neighborhood to the north to get to MZA.
MZA Presented a Short Course on Modeling and Simulation of Beam Control Systems at the DEPS Seventh Annual Symposium (October 2004)
On October 18, 2004 MZA presented a short course on Modeling and Simulation of Beam Control Systems at the Directed Energy Professional Society's (DEPS) Seventh Annual Directed Energy Symposium in Rockville, Maryland. Sixteen people attended the course and we received largely positive feedback on the presentation. The course covered a broad range of foundational, numerical, and practical aspects of constructing and analyzing computer simulations of Beam Control Systems (BCS). Of particular interest to wave optics simulationists is a rigorous development of sampling requirements on which Steve Coy has been working. The short course materials can be viewed or downloaded here.
Morris Maynard Joins the Staff (September 2004)
MZA is pleased to announce the addition of Morris Maynard to the MZA professional staff. Morris is a whiz at embedded systems programming. He previously held positions with EG&G and TRW and most recently worked as an independent consultant (Mayn Idea, Inc.) on a variety of optical and x-ray sensing and networking projects. He is now doing embedded systems programming for an adaptive optics laboratory experiment.
MZA to Present a Short Course on Modeling and Simulation of
Beam Control Systems
at the DEPS Seventh Annual Symposium (September 2004)
On October 18, 2004 the senior staff of MZA will present a short course on Modeling and Simulation of Beam Control Systems at the Directed Energy Professional Society's (DEPS) Seventh Annual Directed Energy Symposium in Rockville, Maryland. The course will cover a broad range of foundational, numerical, and practical aspects of constructing and analyzing computer simulations of Beam Control Systems (BCS), including active and passive imaging systems, High Energy Laser (HEL), Adaptive Optics (AO) and active and passive tracking systems. The class is not narrowly about the use of WaveTrain; rather it covers the topics of modeling, simulation, and analysis in a general fashion and uses WaveTrain to provide practical examples. Follow the links to obtain more information about DEPS. The short course materials can be viewed or downloaded here.
MZA was named to the 2004 New Mexico Technology Flying 40 (June 2004)
For the fourth year in a row, MZA was named to the New Mexico Technology Flying 40, a group of technology businesses recognized for their rapid growth. A series of articles in the Albuquerque Journal provides information about the awards.
Patent Awarded for the Adaptive Dynamic Range Wavefront Sensor (April 2004)
On March 16, 2004 the United States Patent Office awarded MZA patent number 6,707,020 for the Adaptive Dynamic Range Wavefront Sensor (ADRWFS). The device is an adaptation of a Hartmann wavefront sensor that increases the dynamic range by more than a factor of five without reducing the sensor's accuracy. Bob Praus and Daniel Eastman invented the concept in the fall of 1998. Click here to view the full text of the patent at the U.S. Patent Office's website, view a pdf of the patent, or contact MZA for more information. You can also view a user's manual for the original ADRWFS prototype.
Bill Gruner Joins the Staff (March 2004)
MZA is pleased to announce the addition of Bill Gruner to the MZA professional staff. Bill holds a Master of Science in Applied Statistics from the University of New Mexico. He was previously doing modeling and data analysis in the biomedical technology field. For MZA, he is heading up the development of the Airborne Laser Performance Analysis Tool (ABLPAT) and represents a significant addition to MZA's data analysis capabilities.
Dr. Justin Mansell Joins the Staff (January 2004)
MZA is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Justin Mansell to the MZA professional staff. Justin holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University where he did research in MEMS deformable mirrors and adaptive optics systems. He will add substantial capabilities to MZA's adaptive optics analysis group, especially in the areas of experimental design and hardware integration.
Kavita Chand, Robert Suizu, and Dr. Keith Beardmore Join the Staff (October 2003)
MZA is pleased to announce the additions of Kavita Chand, Robert Suizu, and Dr. Keith Beardmore to the MZA professional staff. Kavita holds a Master of Technology in Applied Optics from the India Institute of Technology. Her background is in fiber optics and image processing. She will be providing support in the development of scientific software and in the analysis of adaptive optics systems. Robert Suizu has a Masters of Electrical Engineering from AFIT. He worked in the directed energy community as a Captain in the Air Force and then with RDA. He will be performing analysis and simulation of tracking and adaptive optics controls systems. Dr. Keith Beardmore holds a Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences from Loughborough University of Technology. His background is in semiconductor materials modeling and analysis. He will be performing analysis and simulation of wave-optics systems.
DeL Hutchins Goes Back to School and Presents at OOPSLA (August 2003)
DeL Hutchins, one of MZA's talented computer scientists, has been accepted to the doctoral program at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. He'll continue to be associated with MZA, but will mostly be busy doing his research in advanced programming languages. In October DeL will present his paper "The Power of Symmetry: Unifying Inheritance and Generative Programming" at the 18th Annual ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications in Anaheim. (August 2003).
Ali Bourojerdi and Brent Strickler Join the Staff (August 2003)
MZA is pleased to announce the additions of Drs. Ali Boroujerdi and Brent Strickler to the MZA professional staff. Ali holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of New Mexico and has a background in object oriented design and development. Ali teaches classes in object-oriented design and previously worked for the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). He will be heading up the further advancement of tempus. Brent Strickler was recently awarded a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Illinois. His background is in experimental physics and numerical simulation. Brent will be working primarily in the area of simulation and data analysis.
For the third year in a row, MZA was named to the New Mexico Technology Flying 40 (July 2003)
For the third year in a row, MZA was named to the New Mexico Technology Flying 40, a group of technology businesses recognized for their rapid growth.
MZA Held a Free WaveTrain Workshop for DEPS Modeling and Simulation Conference Attendees (March 2003)
In conjunction with the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS) Directed Energy Simulation and Modeling Conference in Albuquerque, MZA held a free full-day workshop on the use of WaveTrain and its application to closed-loop beam control. The workshop held was Monday, March 24, 2003 at MZA's offices.
Steve Verzi Completes the Requirements for his Ph.D. in Computer Science (January 2003)
Steve Verzi, a key software developer and MZA's lead software integrator, recently defended his Ph.D. dissertation in Artificial Intelligence at the University of New Mexico. Having met all of the degree requirements, he will receive his Ph.D. in Computer Science in May 2003. Steve is the third employee to receive his Ph.D. while working at full-time MZA. MZA has one other Ph.D. candidate in the wings who is finishing his dissertation.
WaveTrain 2000.11 Release G is (Finally) Released (October 2002)
MZA just began distributing WaveTrain 2000. 11 Release G -- what we hope is the last incremental release of version 2000.11. Release G is a composition of newly developed features, compatibility modifications, bug fixes, and efficiency upgrades which should be backwards compatible with all previously developed WaveTrain simulations. The intent of Release G is to provide users with some of the latest WaveTrain capabilities while they are waiting for the release of WaveTrain 2003 -- a major update of the WaveTrain software which we expect out within the next couple of months. The release notes provide a comprehensive description of the release.
Tai Degroff Joins the MZA Staff (August 2002)
MZA is pleased to announce the addition of Tai Degroff to the MZA professional staff. Tai is a native Albuquerquean who recently finished his Master of Design Science in Digital Audio Engineering at the University of Sydney. He also holds a B.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics from Rice University. Tai was the 1992 Valedictorian from Highland High School. Tai has been working on a number of WaveTrain software components, including the new basic component library and various Matlab interfaces. In the future, Tai will also play a key role in embedded systems development.
WaveTrain Recognized as Success Story (August 2002)
WaveTrain was singled-out as an example of a successful Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate (AFRL/DE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project. In conjunction with this recognition, MZA was allowed to exhibit its WaveTrain display booth at the Briefing for Industry (BFI) held by the Professional Aerospace Contractor's Association of New Mexico and the Air Force Research Laboratory at the Albuquerque Marriott on August 6 and 7. The development of WaveTrain has been supported by AFRL/DEBA ABL technology funding, a Dual Use Science and Technology (DUS&T) grant, and Phase I and Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contracts. Recently, WaveTrain's Phase II SBIR contract was extended under the Air Force enhancement program. The enhanced funds will support the integration of thermal blooming and complex scenes into the latest version of WaveTrain.
tempus Phase I SBIR (May 2002)
MZA was awarded a Phase I SBIR contract by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for further development of tempus. tempus is a generalized object-oriented simulation and modeling environment designed to meet the needs of interdisciplinary simulation with complex interactions between subsystems. Even though tempus is fairly mature technology (it's used as the basis of WaveTrain), MZA obtained the Phase I SBIR by proposing to extend tempus technology to general software development.
MZA was named to the 2002 New Mexico Technology Flying 40 (March 2002)
MZA Posts a Photograph of their WaveTrain Booth (March 2002)
MZA Named to New Mexico Business Weekly List of Top Technology Companies in New Mexico (February 2002)
MZA Associates Corporation was listed 21st in New Mexico Business Weekly's list of Top Technology Companies in New Mexico. The list was published February 22, 2002 and is ranked by number of employees.
Bill Brown Joins the MZA HELMAS Team (October 2001)
Dr. Bill Brown recently joined the MZA HELMAS team as a consultant. Dr. Brown is a renowned wave optics simulationist specializing in the application of high-fidelity propagation codes on massively parallel computers. Dr. Brown will continue in this role and will participate in incorporating parallel propagation technology in WaveTrain.
MZA Begins Work on the HELMAS Contract (October 2001)
With the new government fiscal year underway, MZA began work on the High Energy Laser Modeling and Simulation (HELMAS) contract. HELMAS is a follow-on to MZA's AMASS II contract which was preceded by the initial AMASS contract that got MZA started. Dr. Boris Venet is the MZA principal investigator for HELMAS. Also, MZA teamed with Boeing-SVS who will provide advanced Optical Engineering and ATP/FC expertise.
MZA Wins the HELMAS Contract (July 2001)
The Air Force Research Laboratory, Directed Energy Directorate (AFRL/DE) notified MZA that it was the successful bidder for the High Energy Laser Modeling and Simulation (HELMAS) contract. HELMAS is a follow-on to MZA's AMASS II contract which was preceded by the initial AMASS contract that got MZA started. Dr. Boris Venet will be the MZA principal investigator for HELMAS. Also, MZA teamed with Boeing-SVS who will provide advanced Optical Engineering and ATP/FC expertise.
DeL Hutchins Graduates and Becomes a Full-Time Employee (July 2001)
MZA is pleased to announce that DeL Hutchins, a long-time part-time employee, has become a full-time MZA employee. DeL recently graduated with honors from the University of Texas with degrees in Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts. He is going to work out of his home in Austin, keeping close tabs with Zane Dodson, an MZA consultant who also lives there.
Unsolicited e-mail Policy (July 2001)
Recently someone on the internet sent out a bunch of unsolicited e-mail which appeared to be from an mza.com address. MZA does not advertise via e-mail and we do not send out bulk messages of any sort. We apologize if you appeared to be spammed from an MZA address, but we did not do it.
Liyang Xu Completes the Requirements for his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics (May 2001)
Liyang Xu, one of our top-notch scientific programmers who has been keeping our supercomputing capabilities up-to-date, recently defended his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of New Mexico. Having met all of the degree requirements, he will receive his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in June 2001. Liyang is the second employee to receive his Ph.D. while working at MZA. MZA presently has two other Ph.D. candidates in the wings who are finishing their dissertations.
Dr. Boris Venet Joins the MZA Staff (May 2001)
MZA is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Boris P. Venet to the MZA professional staff. Boris is a multi-degreed physicist with fourteen years experience in optical physics research. He worked as a researcher at the Air Force Research Laboratory for eleven years before moving on to SRI International for three years in Silicon Valley. He's now returned to Albuquerque to help bolster the analysis and simulation capabilities at MZA.
MZA was named to the 2001 New Mexico Technology Flying 40 (March 2001)
Home WaveTrain tempus Scaling Codes AOS Publications Downloads Technology MZA Forums About Us News History
Copyright ? 2001-2005 MZA Associates Corporation. All rights reserved.