Harnessing the Power of Physics to Address Global Issues
By Max Danenhower '25The University of Washington Applied Physics Laboratory mission statement: "The Applied Physics Lab is a dynamic science and engineering institution within the University of Washington’s Office of Research. We engage in research and create technologies that help address some of our greatest challenges in public health, the environment, national defense, and human prosperity."
This summer I worked with novel hyperspectral remote sensing reflectance data from the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, and using this data to estimate chlorophyll pigment concentrations in the ocean using an inversion algorithm.
This internship exposed me to the intersection of computer science and oceanography and made me realize the other career opportunities that are available for computer science majors outside of software engineering. This internship also allowed me to join a week-long cruise around the Puget Sound, where I helped collect water and plankton samples. Having hands-on experience collecting data and living on the boat was a great experience for me as it is not typically what I do as a computer science student.
Internship funded by the Peter Buck Internship Fund.