Description

Chief Scientist | Acumen Scientific, Goleta, CA
Technical consultant to industry and US government in all areas of electro-optical sensors, and focal planes, from visible to LWIR, ROIC design to systems analysis

Experience

1979–2006 | Raytheon Vision Systems, Goleta, CA

• Raytheon Fellow Technical lead and R&D manager for SWIR product development

• Technical lead on 2k x 2k IRFPA development

• Founder and co-leader of astronomy focal plane products

• Program manager on DARPA programs

• Technical lead on space and tactical infrared focal planes and systems

• Assistant Program Manager on $140M space project

• Development of innovative infrared focal planes with HgCdTe, InSb, InGaAs, and Si detectors; readout integrated circuits (ROICs); and cryogenic packages

1994–present | University of California, Santa Barbara
Infrared course coordinator and instructor: Lead an annual summer class at UCSB: "Modern Infrared Detectors and System Applications"; Organize and teach customized courses for government and industry. Past clients include USAF, USGS, and Raytheon.

1978–1979 | Hughes Aircraft Co. Culver City, CA
Member of Technical Staff: Evaluated early two-dimensional infrared focal planes.

1975–1978 | University of Rochester Rochester, NY
Assistant Professor and Post-doctoral Fellow: Research and teaching in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Education

PhD, Physics Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
MS, Physics Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
BS, Physics University of Illinois, Urbana, IL

Awards

• Best Paper at Electro-Optical Systems Technology Network conference (2006)

• Raytheon Excellence in Technology Award for SWIR sensors (2006)

• Nominated for DARPA Technology Award for SWIR sensor development (2005)

• Minor planet (asteroid #20259) named "alanhoffman" for infrared detector development and teaching (2005)

• National Science Foundation Research Fellowship (1970)

• Bronze Tablet for scholastic achievement, University of Illinois (1970)

• Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America (1961)

Patents

6 Patents