Dr. Lawrence Lowell Ames

“Where are you?” -- I live in San Jose, California (aka “Silicon Valley”).

“What have you been doing?” -- for nearly 25 years now, I’ve been doing satellite design at Lockheed Martin: different aspects on different projects.  I've written software for a satellite that was to look for global warming, developed algorithms for measuring continental drift with lasers bounced off of a satellite, and developed precision metrology (accurate to a fraction of an atomic diameter) for use on a satellite that is to directly measure the diameter of the galaxy.  I’ve even worked on proposals for an array of satellites that would look for habitable planets orbiting nearby stars (“class M planets” -- straight out of Star Trek!).

“Will we find you on YouTube?” -- no, but if you Google “Larry Ames”+“Willow Glen”, you’ll find that I’ve been active in my local neighborhood planting trees, preserving history, enhancing the environment, building recreational trails, enabling neighborhood communications, and encouraging a sense of community.

“Help inspire today’s Honors’ students by sharing with them the world of possibility through your experience.”  Don’t want to brag, but life can be good.  (This area is also called “the Valley of the Heart’s Delight.”)

“Please send us your story…”  Okay, here’s the fun part.  I was an undergrad physics and math major at the U. of A.  I was interested in solar energy, and I found a small Honors Project evaluating black paints and various other coatings for solar water heaters. 

            I then went off to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  While my intent was to go straight for a Ph.D., I thought it might be wise to get an M.S. along the way, just in case things didn’t work out.  At UW back then, a Masters could be earned by writing a thesis, or by taking a series of seminar classes, or by presenting an original research paper of adequate quality.  I submitted my Honors paper on water heater paints, and it was accepted.  Thus, while I have a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics with a thesis entitled “Natural Parity Levels in Oxygen‑16,” I also technically have an M.S. with a title “the Infrared Emissivity of Optically Thin Films.”

            My first job after graduation was at a company that made equipment to measure the thickness of toilet paper.  (Don’t laugh! --you can save a lot of money (and trees) if you can control the process to reliably make it just thick enough.)  This actually involved my nuclear physics background, as they used radioactive sources in their million-dollar machines to monitor the paper thickness.  But after a few years, I found my way to Lockheed Martin and my true calling.

            A few years later, I was tasked with recruiting some new hires, and I found several with Ph.D.s in Physics that I thought would be great.  However, I was not allowed to hire them because they didn’t have any optical background.  I asked “well, I’m a nuclear physicist: why did you hire me?”  They responded, “yes, but you have that Masters in Optical Science from the University of Arizona!”  I decided not to say anything more …