UNF senior reaching for the stars lands space tech internship

Growing up in Jacksonville, Hudson Horne loved taking things apart and putting them back together again,

"Diagnosing, building and fixings things always came intuitively to me," he said.

While earning his associate's degree at a local state college, Horne worked as an electronic technician for the Clay County Sheriff's Office for six years, a job he liked, but didn't love.

He soon realized that studying physics and engineering would be a better fit for him, and he enrolled at the University of North Florida in 2022.

Still, he couldn't imagine he would one day intern for a private space technology company, where Horne has now been working for more than two months.

Horne graduated from UNF last week with a Bachelor of Science in Physics with a concentration in mechanical engineering. This fall, he will begin working on his Master of Science in Materials Science and Engineering at UNF.

Research in progress

Horne has been working with Dr. Daniel Santavicca, a physics professor, on a project that uses magnetron sputtering of niobium nitride to produce high quality superconducting thin films.

"I took a class about electronics with Dr. Santavicca, and I got really into it as I learned more about his research," said Horne.

The films can be used to fabricate a variety of useful devices, including single-photon detectors that could enable low-signal optical communication in space.

"Hudson is one of the best students we've had in the physics department in recent years," said Santavicca. "He's incredibly talented and hard working."

This research experience led to Horne being chosen as the recipient of the merit-based 2023-24 Carolyn and Kenneth Shacter Physics Scholarship, acceptance into the UNF Graduate School, and an internship at the space technology company, Star Catcher.

Kenneth Shacter, a retired nuclear physicist and high school physics teacher, and Carolyn, an enthusiast for science and retired high school administrator, have supported physics students at UNF since 2007.

The Shacters said they were impressed with Horne's academic achievements and ecstatic to support him in continuing his education and pursuing his master's this fall.

Research in action

Horne and Santavicca are currently writing a paper about their findings, and Horne is preparing to present at the American Vacuum Society global conference in November. Their next step is to take the research they have conducted and build a superconducting nanowire single photon detector.

Although the projects Horne works on in his internship at Star Catcher are confidential, he shared that his work in the UNF labs has been very helpful in his current position.

"I love space technology research because I get to use physics every day," Horne said. "A lot of physics majors go into practicing engineering and don't get to use physics regularly. UNF prepared me with a solid base of theoretical and applied understanding that is so valuable with my job."

He hopes to continue working at Star Catcher through graduate school and then gain full-time employment. Horne looks forward to contributing to advanced space research and engineering new systems that will expand capabilities on Earth and improve lives.

"I wouldn't have made it this far without my savior Jesus Christ, and I aim to honor him in all my studies and work," said Horne, who is a member of Redeemer St Johns church. "Studying physics gives me a deeper appreciation for God's wisdom in so masterfully crafting this world, and it increases my amazement at the grace that He has shown me. At the end of the day, this is the most important thing and it's what keeps me grounded as I reach for the stars."

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