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Job Info

Employer:
National Institute of Standards and Technology

Employer Home Page:
http://www.nist.gov/

Position Type:
Research
Government

Job skills:
Complex problem solving
Lab or instrumentation skills
Knowledge of physics principles
Modeling or simulation
Data analysis

Michelle O'Brien's Job:
Michelle manages the mammography calibration facility at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST).  The calibration facility at NIST provides 17 beam qualities which mimic standard x-ray sources in order to test and calibrate the dosage measurement equipment used in medical practice.  Such calibration is necessary to ensure that x-ray machines are delivering the minimum possible x-ray dosage to tissue to achieve adequate imaging.

Career Facts

Employer Type:
Government Agency/Laboratory

Physics Degree:
Master

Educational Information

AS - Health Physics,  Chattanooga State Technical Community College
BS - Physics,  University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
MS - Health Physics,  from University of Tennessee at Knoxville

More about Michelle O'Brien

Direct link to Michelle O'Brien's profile:
http://www.spsnational.org/cup/profiles/obrien.html

Biography:

Michelle earned her AS in Health Physics from Chattanooga State Technical Community College,  her BS in Physics from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga,  and her MS in Health Physics from University of Tennessee at Knoxville.  Michelle says that solving challenging problems are what she likes best about her work.