{"682553":{"#nid":"682553","#data":{"type":"news","title":"10 Questions with Jud Ready","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESpace researcher. Materials scientist. Entrepreneur. And Yellow Jacket. The only thing missing on Jud Ready\u2019s resume is \u201castronaut.\u201d Not for lack of trying, though. Ready had hoped earning his bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s, and doctoral degrees in materials science and engineering at Georgia Tech would lead him to a spot in NASA\u2019s Astronaut Corps. Instead, it\u2019s led him to the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), where his passion for space is alive and well.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E1. What about space fascinates you?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIt all goes back to my dad being interested in space. In first grade, we went to a how-to-use-the-library class, and I came across a book about the Mercury and Apollo astronauts. I checked it out and renewed it over and over again. I eventually finished it in second grade. So, I\u2019ve had a lifelong commitment since then to space.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E2. What drew you to engineering?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EI grew up in Chapel Hill. In that same first grade class, we went to the University of North Carolina chemistry department. My mom is really into roses, and they froze a rose in liquid nitrogen then smashed it on the table. It broke into a million bits, and I was like, \u201cWhat?!\u201d The ability of science to solve the unknown grabbed me. And I had a series of very good science teachers \u2014 Mr. Parker in fifth grade, in particular. Then I took a soldering class in high school. We built a multimeter that I still have and still use, and various other things. And I suddenly discovered and started exploring engineering. Plus, I just like making things.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E3. How did your career change from hoping to be an astronaut to being an accomplished materials engineer?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWhen I started looking at colleges, that was my primary interest: What school would help me become an astronaut the quickest. I applied to Georgia Tech as an aerospace engineer, but was admitted as an undecided engineering candidate instead. It was the best thing that could have happened. Later, I got hired as an undergrad by a professor who was doing space-grown gallium arsenide on the Space Shuttle. Ultimately, they offered me a graduate position. I accepted, because I knew you needed an advanced degree to be an astronaut \u2014 and for a civilian, a Ph.D. in a relevant career such as materials science.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI applied so many times to be an astronaut \u2014 every time they opened a call from 1999 until just a few years ago. Never got in. But I was successful at writing proposals and teaching. So I started doing space vicariously through my students, writing research proposals on energy capture, such as solar cells; energy storage, such as super capacitors; and energy delivery like electron emission. They\u2019re all enabled by engineered materials.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E4. What makes Georgia Tech and GTRI a key contributor to the future of humans and science in space?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Tech offers us so many unfair advantages over our competition. The equipment we\u2019ve got. The students. You\u2019ve got the curiosity-driven basic research coupled with the GTRI applied research model. We\u2019ve had VentureLab and CREATE-X. Now we\u2019ve got Quadrant-i to foster spinout companies from research. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E5. One of your solar cell technologies is headed to the Smithsonian National Air \u0026amp; Space Museum. What is it?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EEarly in my career, we developed a way to texture thin film photovoltaics to allow for light trapping. Inverted pyramids are etched into silicon wafer-type solar cells so a photon of light has a chance to hit different surfaces and get absorbed. But thin film solar cells typically don\u2019t etch well. I thought we could use carbon nanotubes to form a scaffolding, a structure like rebar. It\u2019s mechanically reinforcing, but also electrically conductive. We coat the thin film solar cell material over the carbon nanotube arrays. You\u2019ve got these towers, and you get this photon pinballing effect. Most solar cells perform best when perpendicular to the sun, but with mine, off angles are preferred. That\u2019s great for orbital uses, because the faces and solar panels of spacecraft are frequently off-angle to the sun. And then you don\u2019t have the complexity of mechanical systems adjusting the solar arrays. So, we got funding to demonstrate these solar cells on the International Space Station three times, and those are some of the cells we provided to the Smithsonian.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/magazine\/2025\/spring\/10-questions-jud-ready\u0022\u003ERead more on the CoE Webpage\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ESpace researcher. Materials scientist. Entrepreneur. And Yellow Jacket. The only thing missing on \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mse.gatech.edu\/people\/jud-ready\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJud Ready\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u2019s resume is \u201castronaut.\u201d Not for lack of trying, though. Ready had hoped earning his bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s, and doctoral degrees in \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mse.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ematerials science and engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E at Georgia Tech would lead him to a spot in NASA\u2019s Astronaut Corps. Instead, it\u2019s led him to the \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E, where his passion for space is alive and well.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Ready had hoped earning his bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s, and doctoral degrees in materials science and engineering at Georgia Tech would lead him to a spot in NASA\u2019s Astronaut Corps. Instead, it\u2019s led him to GTRI, where his passion for space is alive and well. "}],"uid":"36413","created_gmt":"2025-05-27 19:58:20","changed_gmt":"2025-05-28 11:42:05","author":"pdevarajan3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-05-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-05-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677137":{"id":"677137","type":"image","title":"jud-ready-solar-cells-by-branden-camp.jpeg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EJud Ready holds a sample of a perovskite solar cell, along with other samples similar to those launched to the International Space Station. (Photo: Branden Camp)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1748375978","gmt_created":"2025-05-27 19:59:38","changed":"1748375978","gmt_changed":"2025-05-27 19:59:38","alt":"Jud Ready holds a sample of a perovskite solar cell, along with other samples similar to those launched to the International Space Station. (Photo: Branden Camp)","file":{"fid":"261005","name":"jud-ready-solar-cells-by-branden-camp.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/27\/jud-ready-solar-cells-by-branden-camp.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/05\/27\/jud-ready-solar-cells-by-branden-camp.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":213161,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/05\/27\/jud-ready-solar-cells-by-branden-camp.jpeg?itok=cl2VModx"}}},"media_ids":["677137"],"groups":[{"id":"660369","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"367481","name":"SEI Energy"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"186858","name":"go-sei"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"},{"id":"193652","name":"Matter and Systems"},{"id":"193657","name":"Space Research Initiative"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJoshua Stewart (jstewart@gatech.edu)\u003Cbr\u003EAssistant Director of Communications,\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr\u003ECollege of Engineering, Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jstewart@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}