Mary Hockaday (physicist)

Mary Yvonne Pottenger Hockaday (born 1957)[1] is an American physicist who works at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014 and the American Physical Society in 2022.

Mary Hockaday
Born
Mary Yvonne Pottenger Hockaday

1957 (age 66–67)[1]
Alma materUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
New Mexico State University
Scientific career
InstitutionsLos Alamos National Laboratory
ThesisAn experimental measurement of metal multilayer X-ray reflectivity degradation due to intense X-ray flux (1987)
Websitewww.tms.org/meetings/2016/diversity2016/bio_Hockaday.aspx Edit this at Wikidata

Early life and education

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Hockaday was an undergraduate student in physics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She moved to New Mexico State University for her doctoral research, where she studied the degradation of X-Ray reflectivity from metals due to an intense X-Ray flux.[2][3]

Research and career

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In 1986, Hockaday joined Los Alamos National Laboratory. She was appointed a staff member in the Fast Transient Plasma group and developed X-ray diagnostics for the Nevada Test Site.[4] As nuclear testing slowed down, she switched her focus to high-powered lasers.[3] She was one of the first researchers to deploy proton radiography to image the inside of a nuclear explosion, which she achieved using the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE).[5][6] Hockaday was involved with the development of the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrotest Facility (DAHRT).[7]

Hockaday was a long-standing member of the Weapons Physics Directorate. She was responsible for developing the inertial confinement fusion campaign.[citation needed] In 2013, Hockaday was named associate director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.[8] She was responsible for MaRIE (Making, Measuring, and Modeling Extremes), a facility that worked to create a free electron laser.[9][10]

In 2018, Hockaday was made lead of the Nuclear Engineering and Nonproliferation Division. She develops nuclear safeguards and instrumentation to monitor nuclear materials.[11]

Awards and honors

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References

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  1. ^ a b Mary Hockaday at Library of Congress
  2. ^ Hockaday, Mary Yvonne Pottenger (1987). An experimental measurement of metal multilayer X-ray reflectivity degradation due to intense X-ray flux. worldcat.org (PhD thesis). OCLC 82261185. ProQuest 303446187. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "LANL News: Los Alamos Physicist Hockaday Honored for National Security Contributions". govdelivery.com. Los Alamos National Laboratory. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  4. ^ "NERS Colloquia Series: Special Wednesday Seminar | Happening @ Michigan". events.umich.edu. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  5. ^ Shandor, John (October 29, 1999). "Los Alamos Shoots First Ever "Motion Picture" of Implosion". HPCwire. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Anderson, W.; Armijo, E.; Barthell, B.; Bartos, J.; Bush, H.; Foreman, L.; Garcia, F.; Gobby, P.; Gomez, V.; Gurule, V.; Hatch, D.; Henneke, B.; Manzanares, R.; Moore, J.; Reeves, G. (November 1994). "Loads for Pulsed Power Cylindrical Implosion Experiments". Fusion Technology. 26 (3P2): 486–492. Bibcode:1994FuTec..26..486A. doi:10.13182/FST94-A40203. ISSN 0748-1896.
  7. ^ "U.S. completes DAHRT nuke bomb monitor". upi.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  8. ^ "LANL: Mary Hockaday, Cheryl Cabbil Named Associate Directors". ladailypost.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  9. ^ Energy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, for the U. S. Department of. "In the News". lanl.gov. Retrieved December 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Hockaday, Mary Y. (July 23, 2013). "MaRIE 1.0: Matter Radiation Interactions in Extremes 1.0". doi:10.2172/1088908. OSTI 1088908. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ "VISTA Performance through science" (PDF).
  12. ^ "New AAAS Fellows Recognized for Their Contributions to Advancing Science | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)". aaas.org. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  13. ^ "Archive | New Mexico State University Alumni". nmsualumni.org. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  14. ^ Labs, Los Alamos National. "3 Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists elected 2022 American Physical Society Fellows". Discover Los Alamos National Laboratory. Retrieved December 12, 2022.