Erin Balsamo Baltimore, Maryland, USA balsamo1@umbc.edu , erinbalsamo@gmail.com (410) 908-7423 Education 2011-present University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Doctorate Program in Applied Physics with concentration in Astrophysics M.S. 2011 University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Masters of Science in Applied Physics B.A. 2009 McDaniel College, Cum Laude Bachelors of Arts in Physics with minor in Mathematics 2012 Anne Arundel Community College Network + Certification High School Diploma 2005 Western School of Technology and Environmental Science Concentration in Environmental Technology Career Interests X-ray optics research and development for astronomical observations Research and development in applied physics for scientific exploration and defense STEM outreach and physics education Peer Reviewed Publications and Conference Proceedings Erin Balsamo ; Keith C. Gendreau ; Zaven Arzoumanian ; Lalit Jalota ; Steven J. Kenyon ; David Fickau ; Nicholas Spartana ; Devin Hahne ; Richard Koenecke ; Yang Soong ; Peter Serlemitsos ; Takashi Okajima ; Robert Campion ; Louis Detweiler; Development of full shell foil x-ray mirrors. Proc. SPIE 8450, Modern Technologies in Space- and Ground-based Telescopes and Instrumentation II, 845052 (September 13, 2012); doi:10.1117/12.926152. Keith Gendreau ; Zaven Arzoumanian ; Fumi Asami ; Robert Baker ; Erin Balsamo ; Kevin Black ; Carlos Duran-Aviles ; Teruaki Enoto ; Kyle Gregory ; Devin Hahne ; Asami Hayato ; Joe Hill ; Fred Huegel ; Takanori Iwahashi ; Wataru Iwakiri ; Keith Jahoda ; Lalit Jalota ; Philip Kaaret ; Kenta Kaneko ; Steven Kenyon ; Takao Kitaguchi ; Richard Koenecke ; Takayoshi Kohmura ; Takashi Okajima ; Larry Olsen ; F. Scott Porter ; Kurt Rush ; Peter Serlemitsos ; Yang Soong ; Yoko Takeuchi ; Toru Tamagawa ; Shin'ya Yamada ; Akifumi Yoshikawa; The x-ray advanced concepts testbed (XACT) sounding rocket payload. Proc. SPIE 8443, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 84434V (September 17, 2012); doi:10.1117/12.926418. Pagonis, V.; Balsamo, E.; Barnold, C.; Duling, K.; McCole, S. (2008). Simulation of the predose dating technique for the retrospective dosimetry and authenticity testing, Radiation Measurements, 43, (8), September, 1342-1353. Shappirio, M.; Coplan, M; Balsamo, E.; Chornay, D.; Collier, M.; Hughes, P.; Keller, J.; Ogilvie, K. (2008), Optimization of neutral atom imagers, American Geophysical Union, Abstract #SM41B-1684 presented at 2008 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco, CA, 15-19 Dec. Erin Balsamo Baltimore, Maryland, USA balsamo1@umbc.edu , erinbalsamo@gmail.com (410) 908-7423 Awards Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Cum Laude – McDaniel College Harry Clary Jones Scholarship Fund for Physics Dean’s List – McDaniel College 2011-present 2009-2011 2009 2008 2006-2009 Organizations PGSA – Physics Graduate Student Association Office Held: Secretary (2010-2011) Sigma Pi Sigma (Physics Honor Society) Kappa Mu Epsilon (Math Honor Society) Historian 2008-09 Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority Historian 2008 Society of Physics Students, McDaniel College President 2008-09 McDaniel Cross Country and Track & Field Certifications Network + Erosion and Sediment Control 2009-present December 2008-present Spring 2007-present Spring 2006-present Fall 2005-present Fall 2005-present February 2012 2004 Computer Skills Programming: Python (v2.7): Scipy, Numpy, Matplotlib, Atpy, Pyfits, Tkinter Mathematica IDL MatLab Java Operation Systems: Windows: XP, Vista, 2007 Linux: Ubuntu (v10.4-12.4), Red Hat, Scientific Linux Mac Software: LaTex Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint Sigma Plot Express PCB ImageJ Erin Balsamo Baltimore, Maryland, USA balsamo1@umbc.edu , erinbalsamo@gmail.com (410) 908-7423 Gimp DS9 Technical Skills Thin foil X-ray optics fabrication Laboratory techniques X-ray Beam operation X-ray data analysis Circuit board construction and creation Soldering Drill press and other machinery Work Experience 2011-present Research Assistant with Dr. Keith C. Gendreau at NASA GSFC 2011-present Supervising and working with high school and undergraduate interns in the Keith Gendreau’s lab 2009-2011 Teaching assistant for introductory physics Lab at UMBC 2010-present Avon sales representative Summer 2010 NASA Summer Intern (CRESST) Summer 2009 NASA Summer Intern (SPS) November 4, 2008 Election Poll Voting Unit Judge 2008-2009 Teaching assistant for introductory physics Lab at McDaniel College Summer 2008 NASA Summer Intern (JCET) 2008 Math and Physics Tutor January 2008 January Term Research at McDaniel College 2007-2009 Computer lab attendant and computer science tutor 2006 Calculus tutor 2004-2007 Patapsco Valley State Park, MD (Ranger, maintenance, control attendant) Erin Balsamo Baltimore, Maryland, USA balsamo1@umbc.edu , erinbalsamo@gmail.com (410) 908-7423 Research Experience Pre-Doctoral Candidacy Research at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center through UMBC (2010-present) Working with the XACT and NICER team, we are developing the next generation thin foil epoxy replicated X-ray mirror. XACT will demonstrate X-ray polarization as a flight ready technique and NICER is an International Space Station mission to study neutron stars’ interior composition. I study the mirror development and analyze the performance by developing my own analysis code in Python. I am also working with XACT’s detector team for polarimeter calibration. In addition, I supervise high school and undergraduate interns in the lab during their research experience. NASA Summer Intern at Goddard Space Flight Center through CRESST at UMBC for predoctoral candidacy research (Summer 2010) I worked with the X-Ray Advanced Concepts Testbed (XACT) research group and designed a large collimator that is used for the alignment of the XACT rocket instruments within 10 arc seconds. This collimator can be converted into a telescope. Society of Physics Students (SPS) Intern at NASA Summer Intern at Goddard Space Flight Center (Summer 2009) Working with my mentor, Fred Herrero, I was able to learn about different projects going on in the detector development department at Goddard. An experimental project included testing the noise levels in an electrical system. I constructed a circuit for the amplification of input voltage while learning about electrical engineering. The theoretical project this summer was about researching the idea of using a point and shoot digital camera’s CCD in a star tracking camera. Using this CCD would reduce the cost of a CubeSat flight. NASA Summer Intern at Goddard Space Flight Center and University of Maryland, College Park through Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET) intern at NASA Summer Intern at Goddard Space Flight Center and University of Maryland, College Park (Summer 2008) The main focus of my research was to determine the conversion efficiency of neutral atoms into negative ions by reflecting the neutral atom beam off of different surfaces and sending them through an ion amplification lens and detector, similar to the one on the Low Energy Neutral Atom (LENA) Imager on the satellite IMAGE. My work is described in the paper “Improvements in neutral atom imagers using material and incident angle selection,” which is in the process of being published by some NASA scientists. Other experience I gained during this internship was the construction of multichannel plate detectors and design and construction of PCB boards. I designed Erin Balsamo Baltimore, Maryland, USA balsamo1@umbc.edu , erinbalsamo@gmail.com (410) 908-7423 a board for one and two dimensional detection anode, which is used to determine where the negative ions hit the detector. January Term Research at McDaniel College with Dr. Pagonis (January 2008) This research is described in the peer review publication “Simulation of the predose dating technique for the retrospective dosimetry and authenticity testing.” Using a previously published model for dating quartz, we were able to simulate the experimental steps using Mathematica to determine the accuracies in the model.