SUCCESS STORY

June 21, 2005

NASA Praises CACT Client Mark Optics Inc.
Success Story of CACT at Irvine Valley College

Mark Optics Inc. of Santa Ana, CA received kudos from the Deep Impact Spacecraft mission manager at NASA for their work on the spacecraft’s optical instruments. NASA stated after spacecraft liftoff that, “The [optical] image is clean and is of a quality that many missions can only achieve after much massaging of data. This is a great first light image and it is thanks to the great work you all put into the instruments. You should all be proud of what you have accomplished.” Mark Optics was responsible for the fabrication of the optics used in the Deep Impact Spacecraft, which will be the first space probe to impact a comet. The Deep Impact Spacecraft will provide a glimpse beneath the surface of a comet nucleus by colliding with Comet Tempel 1, forming a crater to reveal material relatively unchanged since the formation of the solar system.

Mark Optics’ opticians, Hugo Jarquin and Jeff Butler, were CACT students who completed the Optics Fabrication course in 2004. This yearlong CACT course was given by instructor Brian Seaman and Larry DeShazer, CACT director. “Hugo and Jeff were the two that lead Mark Optics in the manufacturing of these lenses,” stated Julie Houser, Mark Optics president. “Without them, Mark Optics would not have been able to accomplish such a task.”

Technicians testing optics for Deep Impact Spacecraft.

The Optics Technician Training program was kicked off by CACT at Irvine Valley College in 2003. It is a “hands on” training course in optical fabrication techniques, with an emphasis on the practical knowledge and skills used in fabricating precision optical components. The full 32-week Optics Fabrication course is conducted in CACT’s optics workshop on campus. The workshop is well-equipped with fabrication machines donated by local manufacturing companies, and is supported by fifteen companies in Orange County. Other lecture and lab courses offered are Fundamentals of Optics, Introduction to Lasers, Introduction to Fiber Optics, and workshops on Laser Safety and Optics Cleaning, Handling and Inspection. Website www.irvinecact.com