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Don Figer

RIT's Center for Detectors has been chosen by NASA for two research programs: Early Stage Innovations (ESI) and Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT), with the hope of helping future spacecraft find new discoveries in the vast universe.

The National Science Foundation will award Don Figer, director of RIT’s Center for Detectors and the Future Photon Initiative, more than $315,000 over the next year to continue work on a grant to provide the astronomy community with a new family of detectors that have very large formats, very low cost, and state-of-the-art performance.

A recent trip to a cancer center in Boston helped astrophysicists from RIT's Center for Detectors reach a key milestone in their mission to develop advanced CMOS image sensors for future NASA space missions.

RIT student Lazar Buntic received a earned a graduate research fellowship through the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology program to develop infrared detectors for next generation telescopes.

Worldwide experts will soon gather at RIT to discuss the central role photonics plays in advancing quantum technologies. RIT and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, are partnering to host the Photonics for Quantum 2022 event June 6-9 at the RIT campus.

ASRAS's March 4, 2022, monthly meeting featuring Don Figer, director of Center for Detectors in the College of Science. During March's meeting, Figer discussed The James Webb Space Telescope and the role of technology in astrophysics.

WROC-TV talks to Don Figer, director of the Center for Detectors, about his work on the James Webb Space Telescope.

When the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launches, it will mark the culmination of nearly 30 years of development on the most powerful observational instrument ever made. Numerous members of RIT’s College of Science have been involved in its creation or will work on projects once it becomes operational.

Researchers from RIT’s Center for Detectors are poised to contribute to the top priority outlined in the decadal survey recently released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report outlines the American astronomy community’s scientific priorities, opportunities, and funding recommendations for the next 10 years.

Photonics Media features Don Figer, director of the Center for Detectors, computer engineering BS/MS student Irfan Punekar, and Stefan Preble, professor in the Department of Electrical and Microelectronic Engineering.

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and RIT will present the 2021 Photonics for Quantum Digital Forum July 16-20. Previously an RIT initiative, this year marks a new iteration of this event in the form of a partnership between RIT and SPIE.

WROC-TV talks to Don Figer, professor and director of RIT’s Future Photon Initiative and the Center for Detectors, about black holes.