Fort Lewis College Partners with U.S. Air Force for Research

Story by Ryan Simonovich Photos by Crystal Ashike

Fort Lewis College will be installing a new Falcon Telescope this month in the Geosciences, Physics, and Engineering building as part of a collaboration with the Air Force.

The Engineering Department wrote a proposal to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research suggesting that FLC could try to track the same piece of space debris from two different locations at the same time, Ryan Haaland, Chair of the Engineering Department said.

A network of identical, centrally controlled telescopes are being installed all over the world, Haaland said.

“If something comes over from the south to the north, between here and the Air Force Academy, we’ll look at it simultaneously,” he said.

Researchers will look at how an object reflects sunlight, Haaland said. Objects reflect sunlight differently depending on how they are moving.

The goal is to gather data and algorithms to identify objects more quickly and cheaply than the Air Force currently can, he said.

“Part of that project too is we want to get young kids and the community excited about science and astronomy and Fort Lewis College,” Haaland said. “We hope to have a lot of public events.”

The first public events at the building are a fundraising gala on April 6 and a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony on April 7.  

The building will be named to the Sitter family at Friday’s ribbon cutting event, Mitch Davis, Public Affairs Officer said. The building will be called Sitter Family Hall going forward.

The Sitter family have been long time donors to FLC, Davis said.

Sitter Family Hall is the first building on campus to be named after a donor, Davis said. All of the other buildings are named after prominent FLC or community leaders, he said.

Thursday’s Gala is a fundraising event hosted by the Fort Lewis College Foundation, Davis said. Tickets are $50 for students and $100 for the public.

Attendees will have access to tours of the building and demonstrations of some of the equipment, Haaland said.