PhD Michael Cates is an experimental physicist with extensive experience in a number of areas. He has been part of many research teams for large field experiments that require coordinating the efforts of diverse technical personnel. His testing background includes extensive participation in nuclear-weapons tests at the Nevada Test Site and experiments at upper-atmospheric test facilities in Hawaii and Alaska. He has technical experience in nuclear reactions, nuclear detectors, scintillator characterization, laser-induced fluorescence, optical-fiber sensors and systems, video-image analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy, and photodetectors such as photomultipliers, photodiodes, and image intensifiers. Other experience includes hands-on laboratory activity, computer programming, and data analysis. He is particularly committed to the team concept of research and development, wherein specific and urgent needs can be met by broad-based mutual support. He has more than a hundred publications in many areas of measurement science and technology, including classified reports at Los Alamos, technical reports at Oak Ridge, technical meeting presentations, and journal publications. More than thirty publications relate to optical measurements associated with thermographic phosphors.
Mike has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics from Baylor University and a Ph.D. degree from Texas A&M University