On April 24, an alumnus spoke to us about his work since he left Missouri State.  

Dr. Jonathan Dowell, who graduated from then SMSU in 1985, spoke with students and staff about his work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.  

“I’ve worked in many different projects, solving a wide range of problems for customers including the U.S. Marine Corps, the Santa Fe Police Department and many others,” Dowell said. “What interests me about this work is taking what I learned at SMSU and the University of Virginia and using that knowledge to make things better.” 

Dowell created directional radiation detectors. Called lighthouse detectors, they measure the amount of radiation and where it is coming from.  

To build a lighthouse detector, a usual detector is surrounded with a screen containing a window that blocks some of the radiation except what enters through the window. Since this screen hides most of the detector, only a small beam of radiation can come into the detector, like the beam of light from a lighthouse in reverse, hence the name. 

“One of our applications mounts detectors on a radio-controlled HAZMAT robot,” Dowell said. “We can send this robot into areas containing radioactive materials to do surveys and measurements without having to have people enter those areas.”   

Dowell said that these robots are being used at two test sites including the 1945 Trinity test. 

About the demonstration 

Dowell addressed students and faculty from MSU. He showed one of his gamma lighthouse detectors and the uses it has.  

One notable guest was Dr. Bob Thurman, Dowell’s undergraduate adviser. Thurman is now faculty emeritus.  

We are so glad that Dr. Dowell came back to share his research. Thanks, Dr. Dowell! 

Learn more about Dowell’s research on STEM Spots.