Led by Haimin Wang, distinguished professor of physics and chief scientist at NJIT’s Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO), the Institute will combine the strengths of the university’s groundbreaking solar scientists with powerful computing and mathematical capabilities. Its mission will be to safeguard national security, the global economy and human safety.
At the institute’s launch at NJIT’s annual Research Centers and Laboratories Showcase and President’s Forum, Wang recalled knowing “nothing” about space weather while he was a graduate student, because the instruments to study it in depth and precision did not yet exist. “But as technology advances, we understand more and more about its impact,” he noted.
Mona Kessel, Ph.D., the NASA program and research scientist who delivered the keynote address at the 2018 showcase, pointed to GPS as an example of a space-based “highly utilized commodity we’re quite dependent on” that is at risk of major disruption from space weather. She added, “There are things we can do on Earth to prepare.”
For details: https://news.njit.edu/njit-launches-institute-space-weather-sciences