May 23, 2011
Catholic University astrophysicist Antti Pulkkinen has been named Outstanding Young Finnish Person of the Year by Finland's chapter of Junior Chamber International, a federation of young leaders and entrepreneurs. The honor also means he now is a contender for one of the prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World awards to be selected soon by an international panel of judges.
Pulkkinen, 37, is considered one of the world's top experts in the field of "space weather," which includes how solar activity impacts manmade technology in space and on Earth. He is the lead researcher behind Solar Shield, a system to forecast eruptions on the sun and their resulting and sometimes devastating magnetic disruptions of the world's power grids.
Solar Shield is a joint NASA-Catholic University project. In fact, the University just won an $8 million award from the federal agency to establish a heliospheric research center at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Scientists from the University of Michigan, Hampton University and George Mason University will also serve as team members on the project.
Pulkkinen has proven himself "a superb administrator as well as a superlative scientist," observed L. R. Poos, dean of CUA's School of Arts and Sciences.
His presence at Catholic University and NASA's support of the University's research are signs that Catholic University is "a leader in solar and heliospheric physics," added Frederick Bruhweiler, director of CUA's Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences.
Pulkkinen is a native of Finland, a Scandinavian nation whose northern regions lie within the Arctic Circle. Finland's high latitude made it an "ideal location," Pulkkinen said, for his initial studies of atmospheric phenomenon, including the aurora borealis.
Since September 2010, Pulkkinen has worked in Catholic University's astrophysics research. In the fall, he adds teaching to his duties as associate professor in the Department of Physics and associate director of CUA's Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences.