Pete Nelson

May 7, 2008

Pete has come full-circle. He met Steve Tomczyk at Mt. Wilson Observatory in 1983 while working there as a solar observer. He enjoyed the work, but it was just a summer internship on his way to earning a degree in Physics. Eventually earning a Ph.D. in 1989 from UC Irvine, Pete initially pursued an academic career working on gravitational wave detectors (the prototype predecessors to LIGO). After a first post-doc position at JILA (CU), Pete continued his experimental gravity work at a second post-doc with the Max Plank Institute for Quantum Optics near Munich, Germany. Alas, the early 90's was a terrible time to pursue academic work, especially if experimental gravitation was your specialty! The only benefit of working with nature's weakest force was extensive experience in high-precision/high-sensitivity experimental techniques. With a strong (but not formal) background in mechanical, electronic and optical engineering, he was lured away from the Rockies to become Senior Scientist of Technical Manufacturing Corp. (TMC) in the Boston area. He stayed there for 10 years designing new products for (primarily) the semiconductor industry. After acquiring 5 patents and title of Vice President, Pete decided that the corporate life wasn't for him. So he quit. And sold the house. And bought a motorhome. (It's all just shear coincidence this happened in his early 40s). After traveling the country for 10 months, he decided to 'winter over' in Colorado. In the process he reconnected with Steve and learned about his ideas for a very large coronagraph. In March 2006 he started working at HAO on COSMO as well as many of the other IG projects. His office is CG1 - 3634, x1527. Any questions, especially about motorhomes, are welcome!