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Grant W. Wilson Assistant Professor November 12, 2007 University Of Grant W. Wilson Assistant Professor November 12, 2007 University of Massachusetts Dept. of Astronomy 710 N. Pleasant St. Phone: 413-545-0460 619 E LGRT-B Fax: 425-962-8575 Amherst, MA 01003 E-mail: [email protected] Education • Brown University, Providence, RI, Ph.D. 1997 (Physics) PhD Advisor: Peter T. Timbie • Brown University, Providence, RI, M.A. 1993 (Physics) • Tufts University, Medford, MA, B.S. 1991 (Engineering Physics) Employment and Fellowship History 2001– Assistant Professor - University of Mass., Dept. of Astronomy, Amherst, MA 01003. 1999–2001 Research Scientist - University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi Institute, Chicago, IL 60637. 1997–1999 Visiting Scientist - University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi Institute, Chicago, IL 60637. 1997–1999 NRC Fellow - NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771. 1991–1997 Doctoral Candidate (Brown University). An Instrument and Technique to Measure the Anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. 1994–1997 GSRP Fellow - NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771. 1993–1994 Rhode Island Space Grant Fellow - Brown University, Providence, RI. Ongoing Projects and Interests Origin and Evolution of Structure in the Universe - My primary research interest is in the field of Cosmology - the study of the origin and evolution of structure in the Universe. To this end I have been involved with numerous experiments to measure the anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, studies of high-redshift starburst galaxies, and studies of clusters of galaxies through the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect. The Large Millimeter Telescope - Studies of the evolution of galaxies throughout cosmic time will re- quire an ultra-sensitive instrument coupled with a very large mm-wavelength telescope. My principal goal at UMass has been the development and construction of a suite of state-of-the-art bolometer cam- eras to be used on the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT). The LMT is a 50m diameter mm-wavelength telescope currently under construction in Mexico. I have focused on building two instruments for the LMT thus far; AzTEC and SPEED. These instruments will enable us to probe galaxy evolution via dusty starburst galaxies over the redshift range 0 < z <∼ 10. In addition to being the lead continuum instrument builder in the project I also applying my instrumentation, physics, and systems engineering skills as a technical advisor to the telescope project office. AzTEC - I have recently led a large scale survey of the Submillimeter Galaxy (SMG) population using AzTEC, our newly built 144 element bolometer camera, on the 15m diameter James Clerk Maxwell Telescope and on the 10m diameter ASTE telescope. We have imaged over 2 square degrees of sky with an area weighted target sensitivity of less than 1 mJy rms. Several fields with large multi-wavelength data sets were mapped including the Subaru Deep Field South, the Lockman Hole, GOODS-N and GOODS-S, a subset of the COSMOS field, SSA-22, and a portion of the South Ecliptic Pole. In addition we have mapped 20 cluster/proto-cluster fields in order to investigate environmental influences on SMG formation and evolution. Together this represents the largest/deepest survey of the SMG blank and biased-field populations. Millimeter-wave filters and detectors - I am a co-investigator in an effort to build a novel new form of millimeter-wave detector - the Frequency Selective Bolometer. My roles in the project currently include electromagnetic modeling of the millimeter-wave filters and cryogenic and optical characterization of the resulting detectors. We have recently demonstrated high absorption efficiency and excellent control of the detector passbands. These detectors and filters form the basis of the SPEED instrument. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope - ACT is a 6m diameter telescope currently under construction for installation on the Atacama plateau in Chile. The telescope and array receivers are dedicated to performing a blind search for clusters of galaxies emitting mm-wavelength radiation due to the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect. At this time I am an official member of the ACT collaboration though I am able to contribute very little directly to ACT due to the demands of my other projects. I now support ACT through our survey of SMGs in cluster environments with AzTEC on the ASTE telescope. Teaching Experience and Awards (2001-present) 2007 (Fall) Astronomy 335 - Introduction to Modern Astrophysics - A course centered around the distance ladder and ultimately focusing on the stellar structure of variable stars. This course is on all three Astronomy undergraduate major tracks and so attracts a student population with a wide background in physics and math. (20 students) 2007 (Spring) Astronomy 850 - Dark Energy - A graduate course on cosmology and dark energy. We followed the report of the Dark Energy Task Force and explored the observational evidence for dark energy as well as the systematics-driven limitations of the four major dark energy observational techniques. (5 students) 2006 (Fall) Astronomy 335 - Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (11 students) 2005 (Fall) Astronomy 335 - Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (18 students) 2005 (Spring) Astronomy 791 - Graduate Seminar: A Review of Current Literature (28 students) 2004 (Fall) Astronomy 335h - Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (28 students) 2004 (Spring) Astronomy 100 - Exploring the Universe, an introduction to Astronomy for non-scientists. This course satisfies the science general education requirement at the University. (120 students) 2003 (Fall) Astronomy 335h - Introduction to Modern Astrophysics (18 students) 2003 (Spring) Astronomy 100 - Exploring the Universe (120 students) 2002–2004 Davis Grant Fellow - Participated in Davis Foundation funded research into incorporating tech- nology into large lecture classrooms. 2002 (Fall) Astronomy 100 - Exploring the Universe (120 students) 2002–2003 STEMTEC Fellow - fellowship to study novel techniques for science instruction. Research Advisees (2001-present) Postdocs - Chris O’Dell, Thushara Perera Graduate Students - Jay Austermann, Dan Logan, Kim Scott, Ilsang Yoon, Christina Williams Undergraduate Researchers - Cara Battersby, Tim Brothers, Christine Harrington, Kevin Kingsburry, Coleman Krawczyk, Maggie McKeon, Angela Murphy, Kerry Neal, Josh Reuch, Chris Roberts, Ed Slavich, Josh Snyder, Jared Rand, Connie Spittler, Andrea Tinney Technicians - John Karakala (Current) Grants and Gifts (2001-present) 1. “Astronomy Research at the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory” NSF, PI - Peter Schloerb, ($1,000,000), 2005 - 2008 2. Gift from Sejong University, Korea, for AzTEC/JCMT project ($93,360) 3. “A Breakthrough Technology for Simultaneous, Multiple Spectral Band Polarimetry at Millimeter and Submillimeter Wavelengths: The Polarization and Frequency Selective Bolometer” NASA, PI - John Ruhl, Case Western University ($790,000), Subcontract to UMass - Grant Wilson PI ($93,000), February 2003 - 2006 4. “Development of Bolometer Cameras for the Large Millimeter Telescope” NSF/MRI, PI - Grant Wilson ($223,028), October 2002 - 2004 (no cost extension for 2005) 5. “Precision Balloon-Borne Measurements of Anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave and Far-Infrared Background Radiation” NASA, PI - Robert Silverberg ($100,000), University of Chicago subaward to UMass - Grant Wilson PI, ($8,261), January 2004 - 2005. 6. “A Demonstration of Frequency Selective Bolometer Array for Ground-Based Astrophysical Observa- tions” NASA, NASA, PI - Robert Silverberg ($760,000), Subcontract to UMass - Grant Wilson PI ($228,832), October 2001 - 2004 (no cost extension for 2005). 7. “Development of High Precision, Far-IR Filters for Astronomy” UMass Faculty Research Grant, PI - Grant Wilson ($13,495), January 2002 - 2003 In addition my laboratory is supported in part by the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory’s NSF grant, the LMT project, and by startup funds provided by the University. Research Talks (2001-present) 1. (invited) “Millimeter Wavelength Exploration of Submillimeter Galaxies” KIPC Seminar, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, September 2007 2. (invited) “Millimeter Wavelength Exploration of Submillimeter Galaxies” Yale Astronomy Seminar, New Haven, CT, September 2007 3. “Bright Submm Galaxies in the AzTEC/COSMOS Field” COSMOS Team Meeting, New York, NY, June 2007 4. (invited) “Submm galaxies at mm wavelengths” Colloquium, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, March 2006 5. (invited) “Studies of the Submm Galaxy Population with AzTEC” Joint Astrophysics Seminar, McGill University, Montreal, CA, November 2006 6. (invited) “Submillimeter Galaxy Studies with the 1.1mm AzTEC Instrument” National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mikata, Japan, August 2006 7. “Submillimeter Galaxy Studies with AzTEC” Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Calgary, CA, June 2006 8. (invited) “Submillimeter Galaxy Studies with the 1.1mm AzTEC Instrument” Center For Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, May 2006 9. (invited) “First Results from the AzTEC 1.1mm Camera” Colloquium, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, April 2006 10. (invited) “Coordinated Instruments for Source Detection and Characterization” From Z-Machines to ALMA Workshop, NRAO, January 2006 11. (invited) “AzTEC Surveys with the JCMT” Joint Astronomy Centre colloquium, Hilo, HI January 2006 12. (invited) “Clusters and Cosmology with the LMT” LMT Science Workshop, August 2004 13. (invited) “Upcoming Technology, Facilities, and Science at MM-Wavelengths” From Spitzer to Herschel and Beyond: : The
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