Science at work
By Randell Kennedy
Stefan Lukow '98 has been fascinated with science as long as he can remember. "I have always liked to explore, understand and fiddle around with things, and have really loved science all of my life," he says. "I didn't know exactly what I wanted to 'be' when I grew up," he explains, "but I always figured, since I was old enough to really think about it, that I was eventually going to be working in science one way or another."
Among Lukow's fondest childhood memories is the day he received a chemistry set as a gift from his parents. "There were all sorts of prepared experiments that you were supposed to be doing and mixing things in the proper amounts, and of course I never did that," he recalls. "Like many other kids, I just wanted to put things together and see what would happen, always hoping for a nice explosion-which never really occurred."
Today, he hopes to prevent explosions.
Lukow is a trace explosives detection chemist for SRA International in New Jersey, listed by Fortune magazine as one of the nation's top 100 companies to work for in 2007. Lukow was hired by SRA to work at the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Laboratory.
His cutting-edge work involves keeping airports, airplanes, trains and border crossings safe from terrorists. He helps to ensure, through continuously evolving scientific procedures, that terrorists are unable to smuggle bombs or explosive devices to wreak havoc domestically. "Basically, I work in the development of new and highly efficient explosives-detection equipment," he says.
SRA provides technology and strategic consulting services and solutions-including systems design, development and integration, and outsourcing and managed services-to clients in national security, civil government, and health care and public health. The company offers text and data mining, contingency and disaster response planning, information assurance, environmental strategies and wireless integration.
"Terrorists are always seeking new ways to get through the 'system' worldwide, and we're continuously working to stay one step ahead of them for security purposes," Lukow says.
His lifelong fascination with science served him well at Wheaton, where initially his plans didn't include chemistry. "I came in freshman year thinking I was going to be a computer science major," he says, "but I eventually decided to switch gears."
Lukow says his favorite subject during high school had been chemistry so he decided to pursue it. "I actually started freshman year chemistry in my sophomore year at Wheaton, and I just ended up doing a lot of work to catch up and get all the basic requirements and electives down, and it all came together for me."
Tim Barker, professor of astronomy, recalls Lukow as a talented and dedicated student. "It was a joy for me to see Stefan grow, from a very good and thoughtful but also quiet student in the First-Year Seminar to an increasingly outgoing and confident teacher and mentor of other students," he recalls. "I had never had a student previously whose judgment, maturity, thoughtfulness and teaching ability I trusted more."
Barker remembers Lukow's excellent work in his "Frontiers of Astronomy" class, which is similar to a graduate school course. "Of the eighteen students who took the course at the time, Stefan was clearly the strongest scholar."
Students in the course are asked to research cutting-edge topics in astronomy and write about them in a style that is understandable to a lay audience.
"Success requires self-direction and motivation, problem-solving and analytical skills, and the ability to communicate clearly, both orally and in writing," Barker says. "Stefan did extensive independent research and wrote clear summaries of what he had learned, supported by graphical computer simulations of planetary orbits that he developed entirely on his own." 
He adds: "Stefan had original ideas about how to present the material, as well as enormous perseverance in carrying those ideas out." The quality of Lukow's work was so good, in fact, that Barker now uses it as part of the regular course work for students at Wheaton.
As a senior, Lukow was recognized for his high academic achievement in chemistry with the American Institute of Chemists Award. After graduating from Wheaton in 1998, Lukow started graduate school at Tufts University, where he received a master's in chemistry in 2000 and his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry in 2005. He was recruited by SRA shortly after receiving his doctorate.
At the Transportation Security Laboratory where he is one of the subject matter experts in explosive detection, Lukow primarily concentrates on new and evolving approaches for explosive detection instrumentation. However, no two days are ever the same.
He was recruited to serve as a research chemist, but he says he is not limited to a traditional laboratory setting. "There are really two main sides to the job," he points out, "the laboratory side and a program management side, where I do most of my work."
Much of his time includes interacting with outside groups, other government agencies, academic labs, and even industrial companies that do some research for the Transportation Security Laboratory. "Often we are approached with a product that shows promise, and we will fund them to develop it further."
Part of his job includes overseeing many of these contracts, grants and projects. He makes sure they are on track and monitors them from a technical perspective to confirm that what is proposed is actually what is generated.
Lukow is also involved in frequent tests and evaluations to gauge the effectiveness of trace explosive detection equipment. "Once our lab obtains a final product from one of our projects," he explains, "it requires testing to ensure that it works to our specifications." Typically, the company or university that designed the instrument will do its own preliminary experiments, Lukow says. "But we have to put it through a very rigorous testing process." This is necessary since the overall goal is to deploy these instruments in public venues such as airports, border crossings, embassies, rail stations and other vulnerable potential targets.
"The test and evaluation process, where I come in, examines the instrument under conditions in a simulated airport environment," he says. "Since that is a less controlled setting, the instruments can perform differently than at our lab."
The results from these tests are very important to the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration. The findings also help vendors determine the modifications needed to improve their designs. "For these tests, I help write the plans detailing the lengthy testing procedures, travel to the test site to oversee the process, revise the final written reports, and present the results internally and to our headquarters."
Lukow says his Wheaton chemistry background continues to be vital every day. "It has provided me with all the fundamental knowledge to build on in my current job." He says the technical oversight of the projects he works with requires detailed insight on exactly how the trace instruments work on a chemical level.
"Like the tests and evaluations, the analysis of the data that is generated requires a thorough understanding of the chemical processes occurring within the instruments," he says. "The knowledge my job requires was built upon my Wheaton education."
Some of his hands-on work while at Wheaton included assignments in various labs around campus. Lukow also worked as a summer quality control intern at Serono Labs in Randolph, Mass., where he conducted weekly water quality testing using classical wet chemical methods and performed quality control measurements on batches of human growth hormone using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy.
He worked as a winter analytical chemistry intern at Kendall Healthcare in Mansfield, Mass. At the lab, located near Wheaton's campus, he performed quality control tests on medical products using chemical and physical test methods.
Lukow also worked on research and development teams with biomechanical engineers at ACT Medical in Newton, Mass., to perfect the design of an endoscope-mounted esophageal ligation device.
All of this hands-on experience provided through Wheaton served as an invaluable "launching pad" for graduate school and beyond.
Lukow was completing the final stages of his Ph.D. work at Tufts in 2000 and had started searching for a job when he got a call from SRA. "I received a phone call from the man who is now my boss. He told me he found my resume and wanted to talk to me about my experience and interests."
Lukow was initially surprised about the position. "My thesis research didn't involve explosives," he says, "it involved work in soil analysis." He did, however, do some work in explosive detection as part of a graduate elective requirement at Tufts.
Those who know Lukow recognize his ability to pursue more than one project at a time, and his new employer saw this as an asset for the position. "I have upwards of seven or eight projects I'm handling at one time. I have tests that need to be run. I have reports that need to be read and edited and proposals to be reviewed and so forth," he says. "There's a lot to do, but I wouldn't want it any other way."
As the father of a baby boy, Lukow also is multitasking on the home front. "It's a great challenge and an even greater reward being a dad," he says. "There's always something new going on every day. My wife [Leslie Sarikas Lukow '99] and I truly enjoy it, though."
While being a parent is the most rewarding part of his life, Lukow says, he often thinks about how his job ultimately promotes safety for everyone, young and old.
"I do a fair amount of travel in my job and actually going through an airport checkpoint and seeing the whole process run smoothly makes me feel a sense of accomplishment," he says. "I know that it is annoying to have your shoes removed when you go into a checkpoint, to put little shampoos in a plastic baggie, but there are reasons for that."
Lukow says he looks forward to the day when world events will shift the focus of his job away from detecting explosives. "But for right now, it needs to be done....Our work and the work of the people and project we support is necessary to keep people safe," he says. "I'm glad that my education and experience can contribute to that public security-and it feels good to keep a step or two ahead of terrorists in order to eliminate as many potential hazards as possible."
