Rebecca Coles

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I am an Assistant Physicist (S1, RS-3) on the Detector Systems and Applications team at Brookhaven National Laboratory where I work on AI and machine learning software.

I did my PhD at Wayne State University, where I was advised by David Cinabro and funded by WSU, with additional funding from the Department of Energy Grant: Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR).

I've also worked at:


Jump to:   GitHub Projects,   Grants and Other Funding,   Papers,   Presentations and Events,   Thesis
GitHub Projects

COBOL Tools - Assortment of COBOL Utilities (Personal Project)
project page

COBOL-tools is a collection of various COBOL utilities, including a warning system that sends SMS notifications to users when a system is down. It aims to provide useful tools and solutions in COBOL for various applications.

National Nuclear Data Center Continuous Integration System
project site

ADVANCE project to automate all the testing needed for the ENDF/BVII.1 We quickly realized that the quasi-automated suite could be completely automated and turned into a continuous integration (CI) system.

Synchrotron Radiation Workshop: 2D Random Objects
project page

To be used with Synchrotron Radiation Workshop (SRW) and in the Sirepo web browser based GUI supporting definition of models created from simulation examples with sample models defined based on geometrical and statistical characteristics.

NSLSII CHX Data Acquisition from BlueSky
project page

Retrieve and analyze data from CHX (NSLSII Hard X-ray BlueSky servers).

DESI Commissioning Instrument Metrology Software
project page

Software for the DESI Commissioning Instrument metrology program.

General Image Processing Functions
project page

A partial record of all of the day to day image processing functions that I create and use. This project was later used in the development of the DESI Commissioning Instrument software.

Image Centroiding (openCV)
project page

A small body of python classes used to find the center of various circles present in an image. This project was later used in the development of the DESI Commissioning Instrument software.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Metrology (RAFT Sensor Assembly)
project page

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope is a wide-field survey reflecting telescope. The CCDs for the camera are packaged into a 3 x 3 Raft Sensor Assembly (RSA). This program simulates the absolute height of RSAs (Raft Sensor Assembly). Put simply, you would use this program to simulate the height of nine sensors sitting on top of their baseplate.

LINT (Longitudinal Investigation of Non-Transparency)
project page

A program uses flats from CCDs to find the amount of dust, debris, or other contamination present on a sensor's surface (In Development).

What the Program Does:

  • Remove overscan columns
  • Scale the flats to a common mean
  • Stack the flats using a median (median stack)
  • Subtract the average sky value
  • Run Source Extractor on the image to detect the debris
  • Print a detailed map of the debris locations
  • Analyze and plot histograms showing the amount of contamination
  • Batch process data to show the accumulation of debris over time
  • Slone Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Supernova Principal Component Analysis
    project page

    Programs that I wrote to principal component analyze photometric light curves for u, g, r, i, z filter bands as well as redshift.

    Grants

    Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award
    Wayne State University, November 6, 2015   (Grant)

    Rebecca Ann Coles, a graduate research assistant in Wayne State University’s Department of Physics, has been awarded the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award. The award is for the proposed SCGSR research project, Quantum Efficiency Calibration for Large Synoptic Survey telescope CCD Sensors, to be conducted at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. The selection is in recognition of outstanding academic accomplishments and the merit of the SCGSR research proposal, and reflects Coles’ potential to advance the Ph.D. studies and make important contributions to the mission of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

    Papers

    Development of Nuclear Forensics using Synchrotron Radiation-Based Analysis at the National Synchrotron Light Source-II
    Rebecca A. Coles,Biays Bowerman,Steven Glozek, and Susan Pepper
    Annual Meeting Proceedings, Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) 2023
    INMM page

    Automation of submicron resolution x-ray spectroscopy measurements and analysis using supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms
    Rebecca Coles, Biays Bowerman, Martin Schoonen, Juergen Thieme, Andrew Duffin
    Proceedings Volume 12227, Applications of Machine Learning 2022; 122270K (2022)
    SPIE page

    Development of Nuclear Forensics using Synchrotron Radiation-Based Analysis at the National Synchrotron Light Source-II
    Rebecca A. Coles, Biays Bowerman, Steven Glozek, and Susan Pepper
    Proc. LLNL NCV-ASAP-2022. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Internal Paper

    Development of synchrotron-based analyses of environmental samples
    Duffin, A. M., Ward, J. D., Miller, M. D., Shuh, D. K., Ditter, A., Fakra, S., Parkinson, D. Y., Coles, R., Bowerman, B., Thieme, J., Tappero, R., and Schoonen, M. A.
    Proc. INMM (2022)

    Evaluation of Use of Synchrotron-based High-Resolution Chemical and Structural Analysis Techniques for Customs and Border Protection Law Enforcement Applications
    Rebecca Coles, Biays Bowerman, Lynne Ecker, Ericmoore Jossou, Juergen Thieme, Martin Schoonen, Mehmet Topsakal,
    Department of Homeland Security Internal Paper (September 15, 2021)

    Simulations of coherent scattering experiments at storage ring synchrotron radiation sources in the hard X-ray range
    Oleg Chubar, Rebecca Coles, Lutz Wiegart, Andrei Fluerasu, Maksim Rakitin, James Condie, Paul Moeller, Rob Nagler
    Proc. SPIE 11493, Advances in Computational Methods for X-Ray Optics V, 1149310 (21 August 2020)
    SPIE page

    Analysis of hard x-ray focusing by 2D diamond CRL
    Chubar, Oleg, Wiegart, Lutz, Antipov, Sergey, Celestre, Rafael, Coles, Rebecca, et al.
    Proc. SPIE 11493, Advances in Computational Methods for XRay Optics V, 114930M (21 August 2020)
    SPIE page

    LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
    Željko Ivezić, Rebecca Coles, Steven M. Kahn, J. Anthony Tyson, Et al.
    The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 873, Number 2 (23 May 2019)
    The Astrophysical Journal page

    The Commissioning Instrument for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
    Ashley J. Ross, Paul Martini, Rebecca Coles, Mark Derwent, Klaus Honscheid, Thomas P. O'Brien, Dan Pappalardo, Suk Sien Tie, David Brooks, Michael Schubnell, Greg Tarle
    Proc. SPIE 10702, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VII, 1070280 (10 July 2018)
    SPIE page

    DESI Commissioning Instrument Metrology
    Rebecca A. Coles, David Brooks, Mark Derwent, Paul Martini, Thomas O'Brien, Ashley Ross, Suk Sien Tie
    Proc. SPIE 10706, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation III, 107061L (10 July 2018)
    SPIE page

    An Automated System to Measure the Quantum Efficiency of CCDs for Astronomy
    R. Coles, J. Chiang, D. Cinabro, J. Haupt, H. Neal, A. Nomerotski, P. Takacs
    Journal of Instrumentation, Volume 12, April 2017
    iopscience page

    CCD Research and Development at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    C. J. Bebek; R. A. Coles; P. Denes; F. Dion; J. H. Emes; R. Frost; D. E. Groom; R. Groulx; S. Haque; S. E. Holland; A. Karcher; W. F. Kolbe; J. S. Lee; N. P. Palaio; N. A. Roe; C. H. Tran; G. Wang
    Proc. SPIE 8453, High Energy, Optical, and Infrared Detectors for Astronomy V, 845305 (25 September 2012)
    SPIE page

    Presentations and Events

    Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) Atoms for Peace and Global Nonproliferation
    Vienna, Austria, May 2023   (Oral Presentations)
    Meeting Info

    Presented a talk titled "Development of Nuclear Forensics using Synchrotron Radiation-Based Analysis at the National Synchrotron Light Source-II" at the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM).

    INMM and ESARDA Joint Annual Meeting at the Austria Center in Vienna. The program included plenary sessions, technical talks, poster presentations, exhibits, and in-person networking. The meeting is jointly held between INMM and ESARDA in Vienna.

    Scholarly Partnership in Nuclear Security (SPINS) Talks
    New York, August 2023   (Oral Presentations)

    Three talks at the Scholarly Partnership in Nuclear Security (SPINS) consortium to enhance the development of the next-generation technical workforce of underrepresented minority men and women.

    • Basic Information That Engineers and Scientists Should Know About AI and ML
    • Nuclear Forensics and Machine Learning (ML) at the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
    • My Career Path to Working in the Nonproliferation and National Security Department
    SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications: Applications of Machine Learning 2022
    San Diego, August 2022   (Oral Presentation)
    SPIE Site,  

    The methods for automating the workflow for rapidly measuring and producing elemental maps of large-area samples using the Submicron Resolution X-ray Spectroscopy Beamline (SRX) at the National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, through a novel combination of supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms.

    Association of Materials-Centric Engineers and Scientists (ASM) Joint Meeting with the American Nuclear Society (ANS)
    New York, September 2022   (Invited Speaker)
    Program,   ASM Site,  

    The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to measure the expansion history of the Universe using the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14000 sq deg will be measured during the life of the experiment.

    Certified Analyst for BlueDragon Hyper-Integrated Causal Analysis Problem Solving Methodology
    Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, June 2022   (Certified Analyst)
    Certificate,   BlueDragon Site,  

    Our inability to solve recurring complex, human-centric problems in modern, socio-technical work environments are costing industries $Trillions of dollars, on average, each year. Because most organizations lack the critical thinking and complex problem solving skills needed to solve them. BlueDragon has re-designed how complex problems are solved, taking into account 21st century advancements and a better understanding of human-centric problems and the socio-technical environments that we work in.

    International Atomic Energy Agency Interview: NNSA-Synchrotron Workshop 2021
    International Atomic Energy Agency Conference, New York, June 2021   (Interview)
    Interview Video,  

    Workshop on current and future synchrotron radiation-based capabilities in support of the nuclear forensics and nonproliferation mission.

    Department of Energy's CyberForce Competition 2021
    Argonne National Laboratory, DuPage County, Illinois, November 18, 2021   (Cyber Security Operations Event)
    2021 Competition Website,  

    The Department of Energy (DOE), capitalizing on the expertise of current national laboratory staff that previously hosted four successful cyber defense competitions to exercise interactive, scenario-based events, where teams engage in cybersecurity activities includes methods, practices, strategy, policy, and ethics.

    Brookhaven National Lab Cyber Tech Day 2021”
    Brookhaven National Lab, Upton, New York, Febuary 25, 2021   (Oral Presentation)
    Cyber Tech Day 2021 Website,  

    Learn about best practices and strategies in personal and operational cybersecurity and the research being done to make our nation more secure.

    Entrepreneurial Training for BNL Researchers 2021”
    Brookhaven National Lab, Upton, New York, January 11, 2021   (Oral Presentation)
    Website,  

    Opportunity Analysisiologist training in PSW-lite. The Strategic Partnerships Program at Brookhaven recently hosted the fourth entrepreneurial workshop with funds awarded by DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions. The workshop was designed to equip researchers with screening tools necessary to identify product opportunities in their ongoing research.

    Consortium for Monitoring Technology and Verification 2021: In Situ Synchrotron Analysis Project”
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, January 11, 2021   (Oral Presentation)
    MTV Website,  

    Our project is researching methods to replace low throughput elemental and isotopic particle analysis with higher throughput alternative methods. Specifically, we aim to replace the need to isolate and individually manipulate particles by providing methods to obtain elemental and isotopic information while the particles remain embedded in collodion.

    Department of Energy's CyberForce Competition 2020
    Argonne National Laboratory, DuPage County, Illinois, November 14, 2020   (Cyber Security Operations Event)
    2020 Competition Website,  

    The Department of Energy (DOE), capitalizing on the expertise of current national laboratory staff that previously hosted four successful cyber defense competitions to exercise interactive, scenario-based events, where teams engage in cybersecurity activities includes methods, practices, strategy, policy, and ethics.

    Department of Energy's CyberForce Competition 2019
    Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, November 16, 2019   (Cyber Security Operations Event)
    2019 Competition Website,   CyberForce News Coverage  

    The Department of Energy (DOE), capitalizing on the expertise of current national laboratory staff that previously hosted four successful cyber defense competitions to exercise interactive, scenario-based events, where teams engage in cybersecurity activities includes methods, practices, strategy, policy, and ethics.

    Gordon Research Conference: X-Ray Science
    Stonehill College, Easton, Massachusetts, July 28 - August 2, 2019   (Poster Presentation)
    poster

    The Synchrotron Radiation Workshop software (SRW) generates simulations of coherent X-ray scattering and imaging experiments on user-defined samples. SRW supports simulations of both fully and partially coherent radiation propagation through X-ray and infrared beamlines at modern light source facilities. Detailed simulations of coherent X-ray scattering experiments are of paramount importance for modern storage-ring based SR sources.

    NSLS-II Seminar: DESI Commissioning Instrument and Metrology
    National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), Upton, New York, February 8, 2019   (Oral Presentation)

    The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is under construction to measure the expansion history of the Universe using the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation technique. The spectra of 35 million galaxies and quasars over 14000 sq deg will be measured during the life of the experiment. A new prime focus corrector for the KPNO Mayall telescope will deliver light to 5000 fiber optic positioners.

    Particle, Astro, and Nuclear Physics Seminar (PAN): Commissioning Instruments and Metrology
    Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, November 30, 2018   (Oral Presentation)

    We used use the commissioning instrument and metrology program to measure the absolute three axis Cartesian coordinates of the optical devices on the commissioning instrument which will be needed to ensure that we accurately map the DESI correctors optical distortions.

    SPIE Astronomical Telescopes: DESI Commissioning Instrument Metrology
    SPIE Astronomical Telescopes, Austin, Texas, July 10, 2018   (Oral Presentation)
    spie page

    The DESI fibers feed ten broad-band spectrographs. We will describe the methods and results for the commissioning instrument metrology program.

    STEM-Prep Summer Institute (SPSI): Dark Matter and Dark Energy
    Brookhaven National Laboratory STEM Prep Summer Institute, Upton, New York , August 3, 2017   (Oral Presentation)
    education page

    STEM Prep Summer Institute is a four week enrichment program for students who are members of an under-represented minority (African ancestry, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, or Pacific Islander) in sciences. The program consists of four one-week modules covering topics in physics, biology, chemistry, scientific computing and environmental science.

    Precision Astronomy with Fully Depleted CCDs: LSST CCDs
    Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, December 1, 2016   (Poster Presentation)
    poster

    The Workshop on Precision Astronomy with Fully Depleted CCDs will focus on topics of making precision astronomical measurements of flux (photometry), position (astrometry) and shapes (weak lensing) with thick, deep-depleted CCD detectors. Impact of sensor related effects on the Dark Energy science will be addressed through presentations and discussions.

    Girls Inc. of Long Island: CCDs in Telescopes
    Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, October 9, 2016   (Oral Presentation)

    Inspiring girls to be Inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold; Girls Inc. came to Brookhaven to learn about our STEM projects.

    National Lab Science Day
    Washington DC, April 20, 2016   (Oral Presentation)
    photo page

    Brookhaven Lab was well represented at "National Lab Science Day" on Capitol Hill April 20, as leaders, scientists, and support staff from across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complex showcased the national labs' exciting research, facilities, and capabilities for elected officials and staffers.

    LSST at AAS 227th Meeting
    AAS, Kissimmee, Florida, January 5, 2016   (Poster Presentation)
    poster

    LSST 2015 Project and Community Workshop
    Kitsap Conference Center, Bremerton, Washington, December 24, 2015   (Oral Presentation)

    PubSci: The Dark Universe
    Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, November 6, 2015   (Oral Presentation)

    PubSci lets you chat with expert scientists over a drink. See the casual side of cutting-edge research and discovery happening every day at BNL. This series hops around Long Island covering different topics from the Big Bang to tomorrow’s technologies. Stay tuned for our next event coming to a neighborhood near you.

    Thesis

    An Automated System to Measure the Quantum Efficiency of CCDs for Astronomy
    Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, January 2016   (PhD)
    download

    Abstract: We describe a system to measure the Quantum Efficiency in the wavelength range of 300nm to 1100nm of 40x40 mm n-channel CCD sensors for the construction of the 3.2 gigapixel LSST focal plane. The technique uses a series of instruments to create a very uniform flux of photons of controllable intensity in the wavelength range of interest across the face the sensor. This allows the absolute Quantum Efficiency to be measured with an accuracy in the 1% range. This system will be part of a production facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory for the basic component of the LSST camera.​

    An Apparatus for Verification of Absolute Calibration of Quantum Efficiency for Charge-Coupled Devices
    Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, January 2012   (MSc)
    download

    Abstract: The LBNL Microsystems Laboratory produces backside illuminated, high resistivity, p-channel, charge-coupled devices (CCDs). A system was developed to test the quantum efficiency (QE) of the CCDs; the percentage of electrons that are emitted from the CCD surface per amount of light that it's exposed to. The QE system was designed and constructed to test CCDs of a much smaller size then what is currently produced. To continue testing, I redesigned the QE apparatus to make room for the new, larger size, CCDs while still preserving measurement accuracy. I removed the photodiode that formally sat alongside the CCD in the Dewar, and installed it in a separate container. Instead of the CCD and the photodiode taking flux measurements simultaneously, the processes are now preformed separately. The error caused by the separation has remained less than 1.78%.



    Original Website Source Code: jonbarron.info