Here’s the second of a two-part series featuring Host Justine Murphy's chat with Dr. Garrett Cole, an associate professor and the Nelson E. Claytor Endowed Chair in Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona’s Wyant College of Optical Sciences.

In this episode, he talks about his numerous accomplishments and accolades, he reflects on his career and lessons learned along the way, and he offers some advice and insight for the next generation researchers and entrepreneurs.

Space coatings don't get a second chance. There's no sending a satellite back to Earth to fix an underperforming mirror or filter, so every coating has to be built, documented, and qualified to hold its optical and mechanical performance for the entire mission — in vacuum, through thermal cycling, through atomic oxygen exposure in low Earth orbit.

That means the coating stack changes with the job: dielectric-enhanced aluminum or silver for UV and visible mirrors, protected gold or silver for near-IR, and gold for long-wave IR thermal imaging. Filters and AR coatings get the same rigor, tested in sequence against ASTM, ISO, and MIL specs before anything is cleared for flight.

With satellites now losing orbital lifespan faster than expected due to an intense solar cycle, lighter, more durable coatings matter more than ever.

Host Justine Murphy talked all about it recently with Matthew Balkonis, senior account manager at precision optical components specialist Omega Optical, and Joe Howe, Omega's Industrial/Semiconductor/MilAero sales director—both experts in this sector who qualify coatings for full-mission performance.

This first of a two-part episode features Dr. Garrett Cole, an associate professor and the Nelson E. Claytor Endowed Chair in Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona’s Wyant College of Optical Sciences.

He has numerous accolades under this belt, experience as an entrepreneur in startups and major corporations, and has spent years as a researcher and applied scientist, including at Lawrence Livermore National Lab.

In this fun, interesting, and rather enlightening talk with Host Justine Murphy, he discusses his current role in academia, his several decades in the industry, and the unconventional path that led him here.