S E Hicks Email & Phone Number

Cleveland, Oh, Us

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

• Served in product line management for electro-optical components and photonic crystals at G&H's Cleveland site.• Implementing standardized pricing methods, delivering quotes, and supporting orders. Known for providing prompt and comprehensive solutions to customer inquiries and technical queries. • Managed R&D projects with Engineering, ensuring progress reporting to corporate, meeting deadlines, and driving product improvements and emerging line development. • Hosted R&D and Commercial gate reviews, adeptly presenting on engineering efforts, financial analysis, market trends, and production capabilities. • Collaborated closely with Operations to implement cost-saving measures and enhance manufacturing feasibility, ensuring competitiveness in the global market.

Dayton, Ohio Area

• Distinguished as a senior research scientist within the Agile Soft Materials group at the Air Force Research Lab's RXAP (Photonic Materials) branch. • Led the design, characterization, and development of thin film liquid crystal-based diffractive optics for beam steering and defense applications. • Presented invited talks at prestigious conferences, crafting manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals, and fostering collaborations with small businesses and academia on cutting-edge liquid crystal and polymer research initiatives.

Riga, Latvia

• Promoted 3D volumetric and optical diffusing technology and products as contracted employee for a Latvia-based tech company, expanding its footprint in the AR/VR and 3D display markets. • Leveraged expert knowledge in liquid crystal displays to enhance the design and metrology of proprietary optical diffuser projectors, crucial components in multi-plane volumetric three- dimensional displays. • Proactively garnered interest from representatives of other OEM companies through trade show attendance.

Phoenix, Arizona

• Served as the lead investigator for a critical lifetime testing project, overseeing the rigorous evaluation of liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) imagers. Dispatched a skilled team of engineers in equipment setup and protocol development to drive enhanced performance and reliability.• Responsibilities included supervising lifetime testing processes, assessing sample imagers for voltage holding ratio (VHR) and contrast, and providing guidance to the liquid crystal team on material selection and testing specifications. • Established company protocols for sample imager preparation and qualification, enhancing efficiency for the Liquid Crystal Team. • Collaborated with the Process Team to implement organic alignment layer processes for LCoS panels, optimizing production capabilities.

Sunnyvale, Ca

• Employed as liquid crystal polymer physicist at an SBIR-funded startup in Silicon Valley, played a pivotal role in the early-stage development of holographic waveguide technology.• Specialized in optimizing and measuring the diffraction efficiency of holographic optical elements crafted from liquid crystal polymer composites, facilitating the Optical Engineering Team in meeting product specifications. • Led the design, construction, and calibration of optical rigs capable of creating and characterizing these elements. • Conducted thorough data analysis of holographic optical elements, presenting findings to clients and maintaining a digitized library of records for the company. • Effectively managed a major client-funded project aimed at boosting efficiency and birefringence in holographic optical elements, ensuring alignment with client objectives and delivering impactful results.

Sunnyvale, Ca

• Integral member of a project team tasked with developing a cutting-edge liquid crystal polymer matrix-based Bragg reflector, engineered to adapt to temperature fluctuations and enhance energy efficiency when applied to windows.• Spearheaded the design and construction of a specialized apparatus aimed at precisely quantifying the degree of alignment in nanoscale-thickness liquid crystalline films, crucial for optimizing performance.• Conducted comprehensive characterization of novel liquid crystal polymer composite blends, meticulously analyzing their optical properties, film thickness, phase transition temperatures, and alignment characteristics to inform strategic decision-making and optimize performance outcomes.

Kent, Ohio, United States

• Created macro- and micro-patterned liquid crystal elastomers films in order to develop environmental sensors.• Color tuning studies on polymer-stabilized reflective cholesteric liquid crystal materials by applying external DC fields and measuring the shift of reflected light from these materials.• Electro-optic studies on polymer-stabilized vertical alignment mode liquid crystal displays.• Introduced a dense polymer network inside a nematic liquid crystal system in order to stabilize a polarization and to generate ferro-electricity.• Created chiral propeller liquid crystal droplets and observed the response under applied external fields.• Conducted numerous studies in the thermal and electric response of liquid crystal polymer dispersions.

Kent, Ohio, United States

• Assisted in the assembly of cassettes and characterizing lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal materials to be used for their research and development of liquid crystal biosensors for microbial and pathogen detection in aquatic systems.

Performed STM studies of thiol monolayers deposited on gold film.

Taught introductory physics labs that covered topics in mechanics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism. Used Pasco instruments and software in the instruction.Conducted electro-optic experiments of polymer dispersed liquid crystals that used novel materials developed at the Polymer Science Department.

Prepared experimental equipment for testing time-reversal asymmetry in 225-radium samples.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Chemical Physics

Activities and Societies: Graduate Student Senate, SID, SPIE

M.S, Physics

Bachelor'S Degree, Music, Physics

Activities and Societies: Sigma Alpha Iota University Symphony Orchestra Symphonic Band Opera OrchestraPrincipal instrument: Double bass

Music

Activities and Societies: UWF Jazz Band