Marija Strojnik
Centro de Investigaciones en Optica
For distinguished accomplishments and contributions to infrared astronomy and planet detection; for teaching and curricular innovations; and for mentorship and leadership in promoting and assisting women and minoritized communities.
Sigma Xi Experience
Marija Strojnik joined Sigma Xi about thirty-five years ago, believing in the mission of the Society that research involves companionship in honest and ethical research, where scientists and engineers train younger generations, cooperate in research activities, and search for new discoveries. Although she has been affiliated with institutions that did not have chapters, she has promoted activities commonly carried out by an active Sigma Xi chapters throughout her career. She has been involved in science fairs, science festivals, science talks, and scientist visits to elementary and high schools.
Biography
Dr. Marija Strojnik is a distinguished professor at the Optical Research Institute in Leon, Mexico. Within her general responsibilities as a senior university professor, Marija performs original research and teaches. Additionally, she works as an academic editor and an organizer of scientific meetings. Furthermore, she promotes science at all educational levels. She delivers talks on science, including on Facebook, and writes popular science articles on astronomy in English, Spanish and Slovenian.
Strojnik was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia into a traditional family where she attended the classical high school that included eight years of Latin and two years of classical Greek. Despite discouragement, she enrolled in the Physics Department of the University of Ljubljana, where she met accomplished black physics students from Kongo. She continued her studies at Arizona State University (ASU) where she earned four degrees, including a Ph.D.in optical sciences, becoming the first woman with the specialization in infrared science. In 1981, she earned a master’s degree at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in executive engineering as the third woman in the history of this program.
Her career positions are filled with firsts, including the first woman to lead an engineering team at Rockwell International (now Boeing Corp.) and the first woman to be appointed staff engineer at Honeywell Corporation in 1982. Strojnik has many years’ experience as a university teacher. She taught math and physics at ASU, Pasadena City College, and LaVerne University, as well as senior-level optics at the University of Southern California (USC).
At the Optical Research Center in Leon, Mexico, Dr. Strojnik established the Laboratory for infrared sciences, introduced nine new courses into the curriculum, and formalized the conditions for the award of the master's and doctoral degrees in optical sciences. She was a thesis adviser to more than 25 doctoral candidates who now hold academic positions within Mexican, American, and European institutions.
Strojnik uses her knowledge of optical sciences, engineering, and infrared technology to solve problems for the benefit of humanity. She introduced the non-contact temperature measurement technique that has been routinely used for temperature screening people during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is best known as a planet hunter. She proposed and demonstrated in a laboratory, a new technique for discovering planets outside our solar system. She has published over one hundred twenty refereed publications in international journals with an impact factor. Google scholar acknowledges her with over 3000 citations, h-index of 29 and i10-index of 86 (she has two entries). She authored approximately three hundred conference proceedings papers, with over forty of them delivered as invited or keynote lectures. Alone or with collaborators, she authored nearly 10 chapters in books published in the US and Europe.
Strojnik was awarded the SPIE George W. Goddard award for conceiving, implementing, and demonstrating an autonomous robotic technique for optical navigation using star maps and an intelligent CCD camera. The technique was first successful in guiding the NASA Cassini mission to the outer planets, 2005–2017. It is used indirectly in all vehicle navigation systems on Earth’s surface and every mobile device and phone. For additional inventions, she was awarded seven NASA Technology Certificates. The Slovenian Science Foundation awarded her the title “Star of Popular Science Communication” in 2017.
Strojnik has three daughters whom she raised by herself after her husband passed away from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. She is also a triple survivor of metastasized ovarian cancer, currently battling its fourth occurrence.