Hakeem Oluseyi

Last updated

Hakeem Oluseyi
Hakeem Oluseyi 4140177 (cropped).jpg
Born
James Edward Plummer Jr.

(1967-03-13) March 13, 1967 (age 56)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Education Tougaloo College (BS)
Stanford University (MS, PhD)
Scientific career
Fields Physics, astrophysics, cosmology, electrical engineering, science education
Institutions
Thesis Development of a Global Model of the Sun's Atmosphere with a Focus on the Solar Transition Region  (2000)
Doctoral advisor Arthur B. C. Walker Jr.

Hakeem Muata Oluseyi [1] (born James Edward Plummer Jr.; [2] March 13, 1967) [3] [4] is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, inventor, educator, science communicator, author, actor, veteran, and humanitarian.

Contents

Early life and education

Hakeem Oluseyi was born James Edward Plummer Jr. [1] [5] in New Orleans, Louisiana. After his parents divorced when he was four years old, he and his mother moved to a different state along the southern border of the US every year. He lived in some of the country's toughest neighborhoods including the 9th Ward of New Orleans; Watts, Los Angeles, California; Inglewood, California; South Park, Houston, Texas; and Third Ward, Houston, Texas before settling in rural Mississippi a month before Oluseyi turned 13 years old. He completed middle school and high school in the East Jasper School District graduating as his high school's valedictorian in 1985. Oluseyi served in the U.S. Navy from 1984 to 1986. He credits the Navy with teaching him algebra. [1]

After leaving the Navy with an honorable discharge due to a skin condition from which he had suffered since he was a child, Oluseyi enrolled in Tougaloo College where he earned Bachelor of Science degrees in physics and mathematics. In 1991, he became a graduate student at Stanford University. He earned an M.S. degree in physics in 1995. [1] He changed his name to Hakeem ("wise" in Arabic) Muata ("he who speaks the truth" in Swahili) Oluseyi ("God has done this" in Yoruba) in 1996. [1] Oluseyi earned his Ph.D. degree in physics from Stanford in 1999 [1] [6] under the mentorship of Arthur B. C. Walker Jr., from whom he learned experimental space research. Under Walker's tutelage, Oluseyi helped to design, build, calibrate, and launch the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array (MSSTA), which pioneered normal incidence extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray imaging of the Sun's transition region and corona. Oluseyi is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.

Career

From 1999 to 2001 he worked on semiconductor research at Applied Materials. From 2001 to 2004 he was a research fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, working on the Dark Energy Camera and Vera C. Rubin Observatory. [7]

From 2007 to 2019, he was on the faculty of the Florida Institute of Technology in the departments of Physics and Space Sciences. His academic rank was distinguished research professor. [6] From 2016 to 2019. he was stationed at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC where he was the Space Sciences education manager for NASA's Science Mission Directorate via the Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program. [6] [8] Oluseyi was named a Visiting Robinson Professor at George Mason University in 2021, a distinction by which the university recognizes outstanding faculty. [9]

In 2021, he published an autobiography titled: A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars co-authored with Joshua Horwitz. [7] As of 2022, Oluseyi is the president of the National Society of Black Physicists. [10]

His best known scientific contributions are research on the transfer of mass and energy through the Sun's atmosphere; the development of space-borne observatories for studying astrophysical plasmas and dark energy; and the development of transformative technologies in ultraviolet optics, [11] [12] [13] [14] detectors, [15] [16] [17] [18] computer chips, [19] [20] [21] [22] and ion propulsion. [23]

In 2021, Oluseyi carried out an investigation into the role that former NASA administrator James Webb played in the Lavender Scare of the 1950s and 1960s, after a number of scientists and journalists had raised concerns about the naming of NASA's new space telescope after him. Contrary to the claims of Webb's critics, Oluseyi found there was no evidence that Webb was implicated. [24] His finding was later confirmed by a full report carried out by NASA itself. [25]

Oluseyi appears as a commentator and scientific authority on Science Channel television shows including How the Universe Works , Outrageous Acts of Science , Curiosity , NASA's Unexplained Files, Space's Deepest Secrets, and Strip the Cosmos ,. [26] He also appeared as a 'bakineering' (baking and engineering) judge on Netflix's Baking Impossible . [27] [28] He appeared on the National Geographic Channel show Evacuate Earth.[ citation needed ] Oluseyi appeared in the ABC special Truth and Lies: Hubris on the High Seas, which examined the Titan submersible implosion. [29]

He contributed science articles to the news media, including The Washington Post . [30] He lent his voice and scientific expertise to the award-winning science education video game ExoTrex: A Space Science Adventure Game in collaboration with Dig-It! Games. [31]

He co-authored the children's popular science book Discovery Spaceopedia: The Complete Guide to Everything Space. [32]

Family

Oluseyi met his wife, Jessica, at Tougaloo College. They have a daughter and a son. Oluseyi has a son from an earlier relationship. [33]

Related Research Articles

The Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) is an instrument on the SOHO spacecraft used to obtain high-resolution images of the solar corona in the ultraviolet range. The EIT instrument is sensitive to light of four different wavelengths: 17.1, 19.5, 28.4, and 30.4 nm, corresponding to light produced by highly ionized iron (XI)/(X), (XII), (XV), and helium (II), respectively. EIT is built as a single telescope with a quadrant structure to the entrance mirrors: each quadrant reflects a different colour of EUV light, and the wavelength to be observed is selected by a shutter that blocks light from all but the desired quadrant of the main telescope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TRACE</span> NASA satellite of the Explorer program

Transition Region and Coronal Explorer was a NASA heliophysics and solar observatory designed to investigate the connections between fine-scale magnetic fields and the associated plasma structures on the Sun by providing high resolution images and observation of the solar photosphere, the transition region, and the solar corona. A main focus of the TRACE instrument is the fine structure of coronal loops low in the solar atmosphere. TRACE is the third spacecraft in the Small Explorer program, launched on 2 April 1998, and obtained its last science image on 21 June 2010, at 23:56 UTC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NuSTAR</span> NASA X-ray space telescope of the Explorer program

NuSTAR is a NASA space-based X-ray telescope that uses a conical approximation to a Wolter telescope to focus high energy X-rays from astrophysical sources, especially for nuclear spectroscopy, and operates in the range of 3 to 79 keV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extreme ultraviolet lithography</span> Lithography using 13.5 nm UV light

Extreme ultraviolet lithography is a cutting-edge technology used in the semiconductor industry for manufacturing integrated circuits (ICs). It is a type of photolithography that uses extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light to create intricate patterns on silicon wafers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MSSTA</span>

The Multi-spectral solar telescope array, or MSSTA, was a sounding rocket payload built by Professor A.B.C. Walker, Jr. at Stanford University in the 1990s to test EUV/XUV imaging of the Sun using normal incidence EUV-reflective multilayer optics. MSSTA contained a large number of individual telescopes, all trained on the Sun and all sensitive to slightly different wavelengths of ultraviolet light. Like all sounding rockets, MSSTA flew for approximately 14 minutes per mission, about 5 minutes of which were in space—just enough time to test a new technology or yield "first results" science. MSSTA is one of the last solar observing instruments to use photographic film rather than a digital camera system such as a CCD. MSSTA used film instead of a CCD in order to achieve the highest possible spatial resolution and to avoid the electronics difficulty presented by the large number of detectors that would have been required for its many telescopes.

Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker Jr. was an African-American solar physicist and a pioneer of EUV/XUV optics. He developed normal incidence multilayer XUV telescopes to photograph the solar corona. Two of his sounding rocket payloads, the Stanford/MSFC Rocket Spectroheliograph Experiment and the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array, recorded the first full-disk, high-resolution images of the Sun in XUV with conventional geometries of normal incidence optics. This technology is used in solar telescopes such as SOHO/EIT and TRACE, and in the fabrication of microchips via ultraviolet photolithography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinode (satellite)</span> Japanese satellite

Hinode, formerly Solar-B, is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Solar mission with United States and United Kingdom collaboration. It is the follow-up to the Yohkoh (Solar-A) mission and it was launched on the final flight of the M-V rocket from Uchinoura Space Center, Japan on 22 September 2006 at 21:36 UTC. Initial orbit was perigee height 280 km, apogee height 686 km, inclination 98.3 degrees. Then the satellite maneuvered to the quasi-circular Sun-synchronous orbit over the day/night terminator, which allows near-continuous observation of the Sun. On 28 October 2006, the probe's instruments captured their first images.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telescope</span> Instrument that makes distant objects appear magnified

A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally it was an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe distant objects – an optical telescope. Nowadays, the word "telescope" is defined as wide range of instruments capable of detecting different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, and in some cases other types of detectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope</span> Scientific facility at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii, US

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is a scientific facility for studies of the Sun at Haleakala Observatory on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Known as the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) until 2013, it was named after Daniel K. Inouye, a US Senator for Hawaii. It is the world's largest solar telescope, with a 4-meter aperture. The DKIST is funded by National Science Foundation and managed by the National Solar Observatory. The total project cost is $344.13 million. It is a collaboration of numerous research institutions. Some test images were released in January 2020. The end of construction and transition into scientific observations was announced in November 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer</span> NASA satellite of the Explorer program

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer was a NASA space telescope for ultraviolet astronomy. EUVE was a part of NASA's Explorer spacecraft series. Launched on 7 June 1992. With instruments for ultraviolet (UV) radiation between wavelengths of 7 and 76 nm, the EUVE was the first satellite mission especially for the short-wave ultraviolet range. The satellite compiled an all-sky survey of 801 astronomical targets before being decommissioned on 31 January 2001.

Richard Brice Hoover is a physicist who has authored 33 volumes and 250 papers on astrobiology, extremophiles, diatoms, solar physics, X-ray/EUV optics and meteorites. He holds 11 U.S. patents and was 1992 NASA Inventor of the Year. He was employed at the United States' NASA Marshall Space Flight Center from 1966 to 2012, where he worked on astrophysics and astrobiology. He established the Astrobiology Group there in 1997 and until his retirement in late 2011 he headed their astrobiology research. He conducted research on microbial extremophiles in the Antarctic, microfossils, and chemical biomarkers in precambrian rocks and in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Hoover has published claims to have discovered fossilized microorganisms in a collection of select meteorites on multiple occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NIRSpec</span> Spectrograph on the James Webb Space Telescope

The NIRSpec is one of the four scientific instruments flown on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The JWST is the follow-on mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and is developed to receive more information about the origins of the universe by observing infrared light from the first stars and galaxies. In comparison to HST, its instruments will allow looking further back in time and will study the so-called Dark Ages during which the universe was opaque, about 150 to 800 million years after the Big Bang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FOXSI Sounding Rocket</span> Sounding rocket payload

The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager, or FOXSI, is a sounding rocket payload built by UC Berkeley and led by Säm Krucker to test high energy grazing-incidence focusing optics paired with solid-state pixelated detectors to observe the Sun. FOXSI is composed of seven identical Wolter-I telescope modules, as well as Silicon and Cadmium Telluride strip detectors originally developed for the HXT telescope on the Japanese Hitomi mission. The FOXSI payload flew two times, most recently in 2014 and previously in 2012. Like most sounding rockets, FOXSI flew for approximately 15 minutes per mission and observed the Sun for about 5 minutes while in space. During its first flight, FOXSI successfully imaged a solar microflare in the hard x-ray band for the first time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph</span> Canadian aligner and spectrometer on JWST

Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (FGS-NIRISS) is an instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that combines a Fine Guidance Sensor and a science instrument, a near-infrared imager and a spectrograph. The FGS/NIRISS was designed by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and built by Honeywell as part of an international project to build a large infrared space telescope with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). FGS-NIRISS observes light from the wavelengths of 0.8 to 5.0 microns. The instrument has four different observing modes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optical Telescope Element</span> Subsection of the James Webb Space Telescope

Optical Telescope Element (OTE) is a sub-section of the James Webb Space Telescope, a large infrared space telescope launched on 25 December 2021, consisting of its main mirror, secondary mirrors, the framework and controls to support the mirrors, and various thermal and other systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Tuttle</span> Assistant professor of astrophysics

Sarah Tuttle is an astrophysicist and assistant professor of astrophysics at the University of Washington. Tuttle builds spectrographs to detect nearby galaxies, including work on VIRUS installed on McDonald Observatory's Hobby–Eberly Telescope to study dark energy, and FIREBall, the world's first fiber fed ultraviolet spectrograph.

Daniel Lobb was a designer of optical instruments and imaging spectrometers.

Shouleh Nikzad is an Iranian-American electronic engineer and research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She leads the Advanced Detector Arrays, Systems, and Nanoscience Group. Her research considers ultraviolet and low-energy particle detectors, nanostructure devices and novel spectrometers. Nikzad is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the National Academy of Inventors and SPIE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Atmospheric Physics and Evolution</span>

The Extreme-ultraviolet Stellar Characterization for Atmospheric Physics and Evolution (ESCAPE) mission aims to find environments beyond Earth's solar system that might host planets with thick atmospheres to support life.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jones, Maya (11 October 2016). "Astrophysicist and HBCU grad Hakeem Oluseyi is making waves". Andscape . Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (5 October 2012). "Rise of a gangsta nerd: Fellows Friday with Hakeem Oluseyi". TED Blog. Interviewed by Karen Frances Eng. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Hakeem Oluseyi [@hakeemoluseyi] (13 March 2017). "Maybe y'all didn't notice that today's my birthday. C'mon! A guy only turns 23 once (each year)!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem; Horwitz, Joshua (15 June 2021). A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars. Random House Publishing Group. p. 8. ISBN   978-1-9848-1910-9.
  5. ↑ Venkatraman, Vijaysree (9 June 2021). "Quantum Life review: One man's journey from the streets to the stars". New Scientist . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 "Faculty and Staff Profiles". Florida Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 Oluseyi, Hakeem; Horwitz, Joshua (15 June 2021). A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars. Ballantine Books. ISBN   978-1984819093.
  8. ↑ Hakeem Oluseyi on LinkedIn.
  9. ↑ "George Mason University: Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi Named Visiting Robinson Professor". Patch. 26 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "How Naming the James Webb Telescope Turned Into a Fight Over Homophobia". New York Times. 19 December 2022.
  11. ↑ Walker, Arthur (1 February 1994). Hoover, Richard B. (ed.). "Astronomical observations with normal incidence multilayer optics III: selection of multilayer bandpasses". Proc. SPIE. Multilayer and Grazing Incidence X-Ray/EUV Optics II. 2011: 450. Bibcode:1994SPIE.2011..450W. doi:10.1117/12.167216. S2CID   122946720.
  12. ↑ Walker, Arthur (11 November 1994). Hoover, Richard B.; Walker, Jr., Arthur B. C. (eds.). "Astronomical observations with normal incidence multilayer optics IV: selection of spectral lines". Proc. SPIE. Advances in Multilayer and Grazing Incidence X-Ray/EUV/FUV Optics. 2279: 343. Bibcode:1994SPIE.2279..343W. doi:10.1117/12.193153. S2CID   119856407.
  13. ↑ Kankelborg, Charles (20 June 1995). "Calibration of multilayer mirrors for the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array II". In Hoover, Richard B; Walker, Arthur B. C Jr. (eds.). X-Ray and Extreme Ultraviolet Optics. Vol. 2515. pp. 436–444. doi:10.1117/12.212609. S2CID   122012916 . Retrieved 24 December 2016.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  14. ↑ Plummer, James (20 June 1995). "Design and performance of thin foil XUV filters for the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array II". In Hoover, Richard B; Walker, Arthur B. C Jr. (eds.). X-Ray and Extreme Ultraviolet Optics. Vol. 2515. pp. 565–575. doi:10.1117/12.212623. S2CID   121896732 . Retrieved 24 December 2016.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  15. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (21 October 2005). Meynart, Roland; Neeck, Steven P; Shimoda, Haruhisa (eds.). "Advanced broadband imager for EUV and FUV studies with exquisite precision". Proc. SPIE. Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites IX. 5978: 387. Bibcode:2005SPIE.5978..387O. doi:10.1117/12.646707. S2CID   122251142.
  16. ↑ Nikzad, Shouleh (18 December 2000). Fineschi, Silvano; Korendyke, Clarence M.; Siegmund, Oswald H. W.; Woodgate, Bruce E. (eds.). "Ultrastable and uniform EUV and UV detectors". Proc. SPIE. Instrumentation for UV/EUV Astronomy and Solar Missions. 4139: 250. Bibcode:2000SPIE.4139..250N. doi:10.1117/12.410541. S2CID   111005411.
  17. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (4 November 2004). Meynart, Roland; Neeck, Steven P; Shimoda, Haruhisa (eds.). "Characterization and deployment of large-format fully depleted back-illuminated p-channel CCDs for precision astronomy". Proc. SPIE. Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites VIII. 5570: 515. Bibcode:2004SPIE.5570..515O. doi:10.1117/12.566976. S2CID   121428999.
  18. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (7 June 2004). Blouke, Morley M; Sampat, Nitin; Motta, Ricardo J (eds.). "LBNL four-side buttable CCD package development". Proc. SPIE. Sensors and Camera Systems for Scientific, Industrial, and Digital Photography Applications V. 5301: 87. Bibcode:2004SPIE.5301...87O. doi:10.1117/12.531954. S2CID   137323221.
  19. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (5 August 2003). "Method and apparatus employing optical emission spectroscopy to detect a fault in process conditions of a semiconductor processing system". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  20. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (14 October 2003). "Monitoring of film characteristics during plasma-based semi-conductor processing using optical emission spectroscopy". United States Patent and Trademark Office.
  21. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (23 August 2005). "High selectivity and residue free process for metal on thin dielectric gate etch application". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  22. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (13 September 2005). "System, method and medium for modeling, monitoring and/or controlling plasma based semiconductor manufacturing processes". uspto.gov. United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  23. ↑ Chesny, David (29 June 2015). "The Magnetic Reconnection Rocket: Advanced Ion Propulsion Inspired by Solar Particle Acceleration". 100 Year Starship 2014 Public Symposium Conference Proceedings. ISBN   978-0990384014.
  24. ↑ "Was NASA's historic leader James Webb a bigot?". medium.com. Medium. 25 December 2022.
  25. ↑ "NASA Shares James Webb History Report". nasa.gov. NASA. 18 November 2022.
  26. ↑ "Hakeem Oluseyi". IMDb.com. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  27. ↑ "Baking Impossible Judges: Andrew Smyth, Joanne Chang & Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi!". Blurred Reality. 7 October 2021.
  28. ↑ "Baking Impossible". Netflix web site. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  29. ↑ Anderson, John, ‘Fatal Dive to the Titanic: Truth and Lies’ Review: Hubris on the High Seas , retrieved 10 February 2024
  30. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (19 June 2021). "Intelligent life probably exists on distant planets — even if we can't make contact, astrophysicist says". The Washington Post . Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  31. ↑ "Ready for a Scientific Space Adventure?". Dig-It! Games. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  32. ↑ Discovery Spaceopedia: The Complete Guide to Everything Space. Discovery Channel. 13 October 2015. ISBN   978-1618934079.
  33. ↑ Oluseyi, Hakeem (2021). A quantum life : my unlikely journey from the street to the stars. New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 202, 279, 343. ISBN   978-1-9848-1910-9. OCLC   1256670197.
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