John Hutchings – Canadian Project Scientist And Fine Guidance Sensor Scientist, NRC
Canadian Project Scientist and Fine Guidance Sensor Scientist, National Research Council of Canada (NRC)
John B. Hutchings had a dual role in the James Webb Space Telescope project at the National Research Council Canada, Victoria, Canada. Since 2001, he was both the Webb telescope Canadian Project Scientist and the Webb telescope's Fine Guidance Sensor Instrument Scientist.
Hutchings research areas include: Massive stars in local galaxies; stellar winds; X-ray binaries; Novae; Cataclysmic variables; interstellar medium; active galaxies and Quasars; radio galaxies; and high redshift galaxy clusters. He's made observations using X-ray and Ultraviolet satellites, optical spectroscopy and imaging, radio imaging and line detection.
He has worked on a number of space astronomy instruments and programs. Major projects he worked on include the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), Hubble Space Telescope (HST), The Hubble's Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), Ultraviolet Image Telescope (UVIT) on Astrosat, and the next Generation Space Telescope, re-named as the James Webb Space Telescope in 2002.
Specifically, Hutchings was a member of Hubble Space Telescope GHRS team from 1976 to 1997, the Hubble STIS team from 1982 to the present; and on a number of other instrument proposal teams.
Since 2000, John has been the Canadian Principal Investigator on the Indian Space Research Organization's Astrosat Mission. From 1998 to 2000, he was involved with the NASA/Canadian Space Agency Next Generation Space Telescope External Science Review, the Ad-hoc Science Working Group from 1998 to 2000, and the Interim Science Working Group in 2001.
From 1987 to 2007, he was the Canadian project scientist and science team member for FUSE. During that time, he was also involved with the Canadian Space Agency Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (CUVIT) concept study (1996-7), where during phase A in 1998 he was the Principal Investigator.
He also served on various NASA users committees. They include Einstein (1979-82), IUE (1984-6), HST (1990-4, chair 1994); and Various IUE, HST, Newton X-ray Observatory (XMM), XTE, HST, Technical, Chandra, review panels (chair of several); the NASA IUE Science Working Group (1976-8); and the Hubble Science Working Group (1991-93). He has been on the Scientific Organizing Committee for numerous symposia since 1973.
Hutchings also served on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) Users committee (1982-4, chair 1984); the Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope (CFHT) Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) from1979-83, and on the CFHT TAC from 1996-7, while acting as the chair in 1997. He again served on the CFHT SAC from 1995-1999, and chair from 1998 to 2000, and on the Joint Subcommittee for Space Astronomy from 1987-90.
He's also won a number of awards and honors, including: the CASCA Beals award 1982; the Science Council of British Columbia gold medal 1983; Fellow, Royal Society of Canada 1987; and Royal Jubilee Medal 2002.
He received his Bachelor's of Science in Physics from Witwatersand University, Johannesburg, South Africa in 1962; a Master's degree in Physics and Astronomy from the same University in 1964, and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Cambridge University, U.K., in 1967.