REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Jan. 4, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Jacqueline Gish, widely recognized for significant contributions to the development of high-energy lasers during her 27-year career at Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), has received the highest honor her peers can bestow by being elected a Fellow of the Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS).
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Gish, 54, director of directed energy technology and products for the company's Space Technology sector, is the first woman to be elected a DEPS Fellow. Northrop Grumman is the only company with two employees who have achieved the distinction. The other is Tom Romesser, the sector's vice president of technology development.
"As a result of Jackie Gish's many accomplishments, Northrop Grumman lasers have achieved a reputation for power and beam quality performance that has greatly enhanced the credibility of the directed-energy community and provided the basis for the solid-state laser development underway today," said Romesser.
"Over the past quarter century, Jackie has made significant contributions to the directed-energy community through her personal technical contributions to the field of high-energy laser technology development at Northrop Grumman," Romesser added. "The integrity of her management and leadership has been instrumental in establishing the viability of solid-state lasers for laser system applications."
Gish has led company research efforts in chemical physics, chemical oxygen iodine lasers (COIL), and solid-state lasers. Her most significant technical achievements are in the COIL and solid-state laser areas. For example, in the 1980s she led a team that demonstrated the highest power supersonic COIL and her U.S. Air Force-sponsored program demonstrated the first basic hydrogen-peroxide flow during lasing.
Some of the more significant solid-state lasers developed and delivered by her group include the U.S. Air Force-sponsored Active Tracking Laser; the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency/Navy Mid IR (infrared) II laser, which demonstrated the highest power by an optical parametric oscillator in the mid infrared range; and the Beacon Illuminator Laser for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser. Romesser noted that all three of these lasers have excellent beam quality and scaled power with various pulse formats.
Gish holds three patents and has authored 38 publications and presentations. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles; a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology; and a master's of business administration from the University of Southern California..
Gish is a member of DEPS' Board of Science and Engineering Advisors and she will be the program chair of the DEPS-sponsored Solid State and Diode Laser Technology Review next June in Los Angeles.
The Directed Energy Professional Society was founded in 1999 to foster research and development of directed energy technology for national defense and civil applications through professional communication and education.
Northrop Grumman Space Technology, based in Redondo Beach, Calif., has been developing and demonstrating high-energy lasers for more than 30 years. Space Technology develops a broad range of systems at the leading edge of space, defense and electronics technology. The sector creates products for U.S. military and civilian customers that contribute significantly to the nation's security and leadership in science and technology.
