Engineer C

Robert Austin *************@****.***

**** ******** **** 727-***-****

Seminole, FL 33772

Profile

Well qualified Ph.D. physicist with over 20 years working at national labs and industry

Designed and built detectors for X-ray astronomy, gamma ray imaging, and NMR

analysis of bottled liquids. Extensive experience in data analysis and MonteCarlo

simulation.

Author of approximately 60 papers in scientific and technical journals

Extremely focused, detail oriented, results oriented and highly productive

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert_Austin4/?ev=hdr_xprf

Professional Experience

Field Forensics, Inc. Saint Petersburg, Florida

Director of Physics Research (2011 - Present)

www.fieldforensics.com/

Responsible for MagViz: a prototype ULF NMR bottled liquids scanner for homeland

security.

Designed optical system for the IDEX Ultra test for drugs and explosives

Lead developer of the microTLC thin layer chromatography system

Constellation Technology Corp. Largo, FL

Principal Nuclear Physicist (2003-2011)

www.contech.com/

Designed and developed high pressure xenon ionization counters and xenon purification

systems.

Developed an advanced spectroscopic nuclear portal using plastic scintillators for gross

gamma, 3He proportional tubes for neutrons, and xenon-filled ionization counters for

gamma spectroscopy.

Developed airborne gamma ray detection system (software and hardware) for UAVs

(SOCOM), successfully tested at Nevada Test Site (NTS) in May, 2011.

Calibrated crystal scintillators: NaI, LaBr, and CsI

Tested and characterized Ge gamma ray detectors.

Proportional Technologies, Inc. Houston, TX

Research Physicist (2001 – 2003)

Responsible for the development of novel gamma ray detectors for medical imaging and

homeland security.

Developed of an innovative neutron detection technology intended for use at Oak Ridge's

SNS facility.

Pixtech Boise, ID

Reliability Engineer (2000 - 2001)

Demonstrated that conductive coatings on spacers or doping of spacers with conductive

materials having secondary emission coefficients close to one could reduce accelerated

aging of emission tips due to electron stimulated desorption from spacers

Demonstrated that replacement of glass frit-loaded glue with a frit-less epoxy could

eliminate excess emission around spacers used in high-voltage displays

Demonstrated that passivation of cathodes and extension of the anode dimension could

reduce the high edge fields leading to breakdown in 5.2” display

USRA NASA George C. Marshall Spaceflight Center, Huntsville, AL

Staff Scientist (1995 – 2000)

Supported the X-ray astronomy balloon program

Development of new detector technologies for X-ray astronomy

Provided Chandra (formerly AXAF) calibration support.

A quantitative study of electrical breakdown occurring in parallel plate proportional

counters which led to the selection of insulators of the appropriate and material

Designed and built a two xenon recycling systems

Wrote a Monte Carlo program that generates electron tracks in any medium.

Adapted an optical avalanche chamber to the problem of hard X-ray polarimetry

Designed a plastic scintillator anticoincidence shield for the reduction of charged particle

background in the MSFC balloon detector.

Wrote the specification for the x-ray source/monochromator system that was used to

calibrate the CHANDRA X-ray satellite

Served as the CHANDRA instrument scientist.

Developed an Excel spreadsheet that took the CHANDRA Calibration Measurement

Database (CMDB) - over 1000 rows and 100 columns of data - as input, and converted

each row into a pictorial representation that proved to be invaluable for planning,

understanding, and modifying calibration measurements

Traveled to the BESSY synchrotron facility in Berlin, Germany to assist in absolute

calibration measurements of beam monitor detectors (proportional counters and solid

state germanium detectors) that were used at the CHANDRA X-Ray Calibration

Facility(XRCF) at the Marshall Space Flight Center

Performed and evaluating optical metrology mandrels used to form grazing incidence

telescope mirrors

Designed baffles and masks to be used in a mirror plating chamber

Developed tests used to evaluate mirror coating uniformity

Assisted in the construction of high-pressure xenon gas scintillation proportional counters

Developed a method successfully used to coat the inside of very long, narrow, cylindrical

grazing incidence optics with iridium

Education

Purdue University • West Lafayette, Indiana

Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (1990)

Master of Science (1987)

Bachelor of Science (1982)

Technical Inventory

MonteCarlo Analysis Nuclear Detectors

MatLab C++, Python

Visual Basic LabView

Languages

English Fluent written and spoken

German Working proficiency in written and spoken

Selected Publications

1. Austin, R., Espy, M., Matlashov, A., Sandin, H., Schultz, L., Urbaitis, A., et al.,

“MagViz: A Bottled Liquids Scanner Using Ultra-low field NMR Relaxometry”,

(2014). Magnetic Resonance Detection of Explosives and Illicit Materials.

Dordrecht: Springer.

2. Austin, Robert A., Hooten, Damon, “Comparison of neutron capture spectra

taken by a constellation Xe-110 detector and a1” 1” NaI(Tl) crystal”, Journal

of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry,Volume 279, Number 2 / February,

2009, 10.1007 s10967-007-7325-1, Pages 395-404

3. R. Austin, “High-Pressure Xenon Detector Development at Constellation

Technology Corporation”, Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research.

Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2007,

vol. 579, no1, pp. 58-61.

4. J.Richards, A. Bolozdynya, and R. Austin, “Analyses of data acquired from high-

pressure Xe +3He gas ionization chamber”, IEEE transactions on nuclear science,

2005, vol. 52, no4, pp. 966-971.

5. A.E. Bolotnikov, R.A. Austin, A.I. Bolozdynya, J.D. Richards, “Virtual Frisch-

grid ionization chambers filled with high-pressure Xe”, Proceedings of SPIE

Volume: 5540 Hard X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Detector Physics VI, Denver, 2004

6. Athanasiades, A., Lacy, J., Martin, C., Austin, R., Shehad, N., & Sun, L.

“Position sensing in a cylindrical ionization detector with a resistive cathode”,

(2003, June). Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research Section A,

505(1/2), 252.

7. Suleimanov, V. F.; Ghosh, K. K.; Austin, R. A.; Ramsey, B. D., “X-ray Emission

from Accretion Disks in Active Galactic Nuclei” Astronomy Letters, Vol. 28,

Issue 11, pp. 745-754, 2002

8. Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., et al. "Ion transmission to the focal plane of the Chandra X -ray

Observatory." International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology . International

Society for Optics and Photonics, 2000.

9. Brian D. Ramsey ; Cheryl D. Alexander ; Jeff A. Apple ; Robert A. Austin ; C. M.

Benson ; Kurtis L. Dietz ; Ronald F. Elsner ; Darell E. Engelhaupt ; Jeffery J.

Kolodziejczak ; Stephen L. O'Dell ; Chet O. Speegle ; Douglas A. Swartz ; Martin

C. Weisskopf ; G. Zirnstein; “HERO: high-energy replicated optics for a hard-x-

ray balloon payload”, Proc. SPIE 4138, X-Ray Optics, Instruments, and Missions

IV, 147 (November 28, 2000); doi:10.1117/12.407554.

10. R.A.Austin, J.A.Apple and K.L.Dietz, B.D.Ramsey, C.G. Zirnstein, “A High-

Energy Focal-Plane Gas Scintillation Proportional Counter”, IEEE Nuclear

Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference Record, N20-001, October

1999

11. Ghigo, Mauro, Oberto Citterio, Francesco Mazzoleni, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, Stephen L.

O'dell, Robert A. Austin, and G. Zirnstein. "X-ray measurements of a prototype WFXT

SiC mirror at the MSFC X-Ray Calibration Facility." In SPIE's International Symposium on

Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, pp. 207-220. International Society for

Optics and Photonics, 1999.

12. D.P. Sharma, B.D. Ramsey, J. Meisner and R.A. Austin, “Preliminary results

from small-pixel CdZnTe arrays”, SPIE Vol. 3765, July 1999

13. R.A. Austin, B.D. Ramsey, C.L. Tse, “A High-Pressure Gas-Scintillation-

Proportional Counter for the Focus of a Hard-X-RayTelescope”, Proc. SPIE Vol.

3765, July 1999The HERO Program, high energy replicated optics for a hard-x-

ray balloon payload, B.D. Ramsey, D. Engelhaupt, C.O. Speegle, S.L.O'Dell,

R.A. Austin, JJ. Kolodziejczak and M.C. Weisskopf, SPIE Vol. 3765, July 1999.

14. Ghosh, K.; Iyengar, K. V. K.; Ramsey, B. D.; Austin, R. A., “Near-simultaneous

Spectroscopic and Broadband Polarimetric Observations of BEStars”, The

Astronomical Journal, Volume 118, Issue 2, pp. 1061-1072, 1999.

15. K.K. Ghosh, B.D. Ramsey, and R.A. Austin., “Imaging Polarimetry Of Six X-Ray

Selected Blazars”, Submitted to Publications of the Astronomical Society of

thePacific.,(1999).

16. Zhao, Ping; Austin, Robert A.; Edgar, Richard J.; Elsner, Ronald F.; Gaetz, T.J.;

Graessle, Dale E.; Jerius, Diab; Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J.; McDermott, Walter C.;

O'Dell, Stephen L.; Sulkanen, Martin E.; Schwartz, Daniel A.; Swartz, Douglas

A.; Tennant, A. F.; ; Van Speybroeck, Leon P.; Wargelin, Bradford J.; Weisskopf,

Martin C.; Zirnstein, C. G., “AXAF-mirror effective area calibration using the C-

continuum source and solid state detectors”, Proc. SPIE Vol. 3444, July 1998

17. Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Robert A. Austin, Ronald F. Elsner, Stephen L. O'dell, Martin E.

Sulkanen, Douglas A. Swartz, Allyn F. Tennant, Martin C. Weisskopf, C. G. Zirnstein, and

W alter C. McDermott. "Uses of continuum radiation in the AXAF calibration." In Optical

Science, Engineering and Instrumentation'97, pp. 65-76. International Society for Optics

and Photonics, 1997.

18. Elsner, R. F., B. D. Ramsey, S. L. O'dell, M. Sulkanen, A. F. Tennant, M. C. Weisskopf,

S. Gunji, R. A. Austin et al. "The x-ray polarimeter experiment (XPE)." In Bulletin of the

American Astronomical Society, vol. 29, p. 790. 1997.

19. Kolodziejczak, Jeffery J., Austin, Robert A., Elsner, Ronald F., O'Dell, Stephen

L., Sulkanen, Martin E., Swartz, Douglas A., Tennant, A. F., Weisskopf, Martin

C., Zirnstein, G., Mcdermott, Walter C., “Uses of continuum radiation in the

AXAF calibration”, Proc. SPIE Vol. 3113 (1997), p. 65-76.

20. B.D. Ramsey, J.A. Apple, R.A. Austin, K.L. Dietz, T. Minamitani, J.J.

Kolodziejczak, and M.C. Weisskopf, “A Large-Area Microstrip-Gas-Counter for

X-Ray Astronomy”, Nuclear Instuments and Methods in Physics Research A, 383

(1996) 424-430.

21. S. Gunji, R.A. Austin, R.F. Elsner, B.D. Ramsey, and M.C. Weisskopf,

“Development of a High Energy X-ray Polarimeter for Small Satellites”, Proc.

IEEE, Nov. 1996.

22. R.A. Austin, J.J. Kolodziejczak, R. F. Elsner, S.L. 'Dell, M.C. Weisskopf, and

L.P. Van Speybroeck, “Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) –

Overview”, submitted to AIAA 1995 Space Programs and Technologies

Conference.

23. J. Z. Juda, L. P. David, R. H. Donnelly, C. Jones, B. R. McNamara, H. D.

Tananbaum, H. L. Marshall, J. P. Hughes, E. M. Kellogg, B. Wargelin, J. H.

Chappell, A. Kenter, R. Kraft, S. S. Murray, M. V. Zombeck, M. W. Bautz, J. A.

Nousek, D. Dewey, T. H. Markert, A. C. Brinkman, C. J. T. Gunsing, P. Predehl,

R. A. Austin, J. J. Kolodziejczak, M. C. Weisskopf, J. W. Arenberg, R. Carlson,

S. C. Texter, “AXAF Calibration at the XRCF”, presented at the 187th Meeting of

the American Astronomical Society AAS January 14-18, 1996

24. R.A. Austin, T. Minamitani, B.D. Ramsey, “A Hard X-Ray Imaging Polarimeter

For Balloon-Borne Astronomy”, IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical

Imaging Conference Record, Vol. 1 pp. 131-135, October 1995.

25. J.J. Kolodziejczak, R.A. Austin, R.F. Elsner, M.K. Joy, M. Sulkanen, E.M.

Kellogg, B.J. Wargelin, “X-ray source system at the MSFC x-ray calibration

facility”, Proc. SPIE, July 1995.

26. M. M. Pimperl, B. D. Ramsey, R. A. Austin, T. Minamitani, M. C. Weisskopf, J.

E. Grindlay, K.S. Lum, R. P. Manandhar, “Development of a hybrid gas

detector/phoswich for hard x-ray astronomy” Proc. SPIE Vol. 2280, July 1994

27. J. Youngen, M.C. Weisskopf, K.L. Dietz, R.A. Austin, S.L. O'Dell, B.D. Ramsey,

and A. Tennant, “The importance of electron tracking in understanding the

response of proportional counters", Proc. SPIE Vol. 2280, July 1994

28. B.D. Ramsey and R.A. Austin, “X-Ray detectors probe energetic processes in our

universe”, 1993, Laser Focus World, March 1994, pp s9 - s19

29. B.D. Ramsey, R.A. Austin, and R. Decher, “Instrumentation For X-ray

Astronomy”, 1994, Space Science Reviews, vol. 69, pp. 139-204.

30. K.L Dietz, B.D. Ramsey, M.C. Weisskopf, R.A. Austin, “Detector Development

for Hard X-ray Astronomy”, AIAA Conf. Space Programs and Technologies,

Huntsville, Al, 1993.

31. B.D. Ramsey, R.A. Austin, and R. Decher, “X-ray and Gamma ray Astronomy

Detectors”, NASA SP Publication, SP-517, 1993.

32. M.C. Weisskopf, B.D. Ramsey, J.A. Apple, K.L.Dietz, R.A. Austin, J.

Kolodziejczak, and T. Minamitani, “The Marshall Space Flight Center Imaging

X-ray Experiment (MIXE)”, Proc. SPIE Vol. 2006, July 1993

33. B.D. Ramsey, R.A. Austin, T. Minamitani, M.C. Weisskopf, K.L.Dietz, J.E.

Grindlay, K.S. Lum, and R.P. Manandhar, “A Hybrid Gas Detector/Phoswich for

Hard X-Ray Astronomy”, Proc. SPIE Vol. 2006, July 1993

34. T. Minamitani, R.A. Austin, and B.D. Ramsey, “Development of a Hard X-Ray

Imaging Polarimeter”, Proc. SPIE Vol. 2010, July 1993

35. R. A. Austin, B. D. Ramsey, and T. Minamitani, “A New X-Ray Polarimeter”,

AIAA Conf. Space Programs and Technologies, Huntsville, Al, 1993. "Optical

Imaging Chamber for X-ray Astronomy" (R. A. Austin and B. D. Ramsey),

Optical Engineering, vol. 32, no.8, pp. 1990-1994, 1993

36. Austin, R. and Ramsey, B., “Detecting X-Rays with an Optical Imaging

Chamber”, Proceedings of the SPIE Symposium XUV, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray

Instrumentation for Astronomy III, SPIE Vol 1743, 1992

37. Austin, R, Berezny, N, Camerini, U, Finley, J, Fry, W, Gaidos, J, Hudson, J,

Jennings, J, Kelley, L, Kenter, A, Kertzman, M, Learned, J, Loeffler, F, Loveless,

R, March, R,Matthews, J, Morse, R, Palfrey, T, Reeder, D, Resvanis, L,

Sembroski, G, Sinnis, C,Skinner, M, Slane, P, Szentgyorgyi, A, Weeks, D,

Wilson, C, Zirnstein, G, “A Search For VHE Gamma Rays From The Crab”,

1991 International Cosmic Ray Conference in Dublin

38. B.D. Ramsey, R. Austin, C.R. Bower, K.L. Dietz, A. Fulton, M.K. Joy and M.C.

Weisskopf, “The MFSC Fluorescence-Gated Imaging Proportional Counter”,

Presented at the 1991 SPIE meeting in San Diego, California

Professional References

John Williams, Professor

Phone Number: 727-***-****

Email Address: ********.****@*********.***

Address:

Saint Petersburg College

Natural Science Department, Clearwater NM221

PO Box 13489

St. Petersburg, FL 33733-3489

Aleksey Bolotnikov, Physicist

Phone Number: 631-***-****

Email Address: ********@***.***

Address

Brookhaven National Laboratory

MS 197D

P.O. Box 5000

Upton, NY 11973-5000

Michelle Espy, Team Leader

Phone Number: 505-***-****

Email Address: ****@****.***

Address:

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA

Vladimir Peskov, Professor

Phone Number: +41-22-767-**-**

Email Address: ********.******@****.**

Address: PH Div.

CERN

Geneve-23, Switzerland CH 1211

Alexander Bolozdynya, Director of nuclear medicine center

Phone Number: +7-495-***-**** *9015 (office)

+7-965-***-**** (cell)

Email Address: ************@*****.**

Address: National Research Nuclear University «MEPHI»

Kashirskoe sh.,31

Moscow, 115409, RUSSIA

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