Short is a sensor engineer with the University of South Florida Center for Ocean Technology. This center provides engineering support and expertise to the USF Department of Marine Science.

"The group as a whole develops underwater sensors for marine science and oceanography," Short explained. His work involves designing and ultimately loading mass spectrometers onto autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which are small, unmanned submarines. The spectrometers measure chemical concentrations in the water. He is also developing other sensors using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) capabilities. The work is funded by the Office of Naval Research.

Initially, Short said the most useful application for this research will be environmental monitoring—tracking down volatile organic compounds, which he describes as "sort of nasty things the Environmental Protection Agency is interested in." Further down the road, however, his group hopes to study "biologically important molecules," which he said will help them mimic sea creatures' sensing capabilities and activities.

Although working with spectrometers is familiar territory for him, Short said he is learning about the marine science, as he goes. "Three years ago I never thought I'd be here. This is a neat application for someone with my background."

Short earned an undergraduate degree in physics at Florida State University in 1979 and then went to work at the Kennedy Space Center. He recalled that it was an enjoyable time to be there because the space shuttle program was still new. After three years at Kennedy, he came to UT for graduate study in physics. As a research assistant to Professor Ivan Sellin, he said his work "dealt with creating and characterizing highly-charged atomic ions." He remembers spending a lot of time at the EN Tandem Van de Graaff Accelerator Facility in Oak Ridge, as well as at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory. In fact, it was his inaugural trip to Stanford that proved to be his most memorable UT experience. Short explained that this very first synchrotron radiation experiment, which involved a rather large group of collaborators, ran so smoothly that it resulted in a Phys. Rev. Lett. article. "It's nice when things work well for a change," he said.

After completing his Ph.D. in 1987, Short went on to a post-doctoral position at the Research Institute of Physics (Manne Siegbahn Laboratory) in Stockholm, Sweden. He spent 18 months working with Sven Mannervik before coming back to Tennessee. After a brief stint as a post-doc in the UT physics department, he joined the Analytical Chemistry Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He spent eight years there, working primarily on mass spectrometry instrument development. It was through this research that he met scientists from the Center for Ocean Technology. When he got word the center had an opening for someone with his expertise, the Tallahassee native took the opportunity to return to his native Florida.

Short said he enjoys the technical challenges involved in helping other scientists study the ocean depths. He sees a lot of promise in this field, particularly in developing the necessary technologies that will make it easier to undertake marine exploration and sensing activities. He said an added benefit is that he works with a congenial staff in a casual atmosphere. "I get to wear shorts to work."

Back to Cross Sections, Spring 1999 issue.