Tara Rybnicek (MS Physics, 1997) will discuss highly applied areas of physics, her experiences in industry, and her trajectory juggling career and family. Undergraduates and grad students are invited to this informal discussion with a UNL graduate.

Tara McAvoy Rybnicek, Principal Engineer II with Honors at Raytheon Vision Systems, has a B.S. in Physics from Mary Washington College (1994) and an M.S. in Physics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1997). Born and raised in New York, Tara’s interest in physics began during her senior year in high school and continued as she pursued an all-encompassing liberal arts education at Mary Washington College while majoring in Physics. A family move out west brought Tara to Nebraska where she earned her M.S. Physics under the nurturing guidance of Peter Dowben. With 8 years semiconductor process and product engineering experience, and 5 years off to raise her family, Tara joined Raytheon Vision Systems in 2008, starting on the Uncooled Microbolometer team as process engineer for silicon nitride and metal depositions. With the shift to foundry processing, Tara shifted her role as well, assisting in the bolometer process qualification and production readiness for both 25µm and 17µm products. Most recently, Tara has transitioned to RVS’s technical lead on bringing the sub-17µm bolometer process from initial development through to production readiness.