Engineers rock -- automating an optical double-slit setup for data gathering

Have you ever had a job that only an engineer could do and the only engineer you know is way over-qualified for the job? And yet -- you ask that engineer to help out and the engineer agrees, even though the work is well beneath his paygrade?

That's the situation I found myself in when I asked Loren Carpenter to be on my team for the Future Photon experiment ( ). Loren is a Pixar cofounder and an Oscarwinning computer scientist. And he has built some of the most innovative machines for gathering data related to subtle and notwellunderstood influences. Nonetheless, thanks to his interest in quantum mechanics, he was willing to build this relatively simple and totally workable automated system for gathering data from an optical doubleslit setup (by TeachSpin).

The one thing missed in this recording is that in the inimitable and modest Loren-Carpenter style, after he says "See, it works!" at the end, he deadpans "...today." But regardless, the automation is quite robust!

I'm ever grateful! This enables me to run many experiments, even as I sleep. YES!!