A Ph.D. project was started at Paris Observatory by Julien Woillez in September. His dissertation will pertain to OHANA's impact on the central engines of Ultra Luminous Infrared galaxies, as well as a broader study of ULIRGs using the VLA and adaptive optics. For the instrumental part of his dissertation, he will work on phases I and II. His work in Hawaii will be to develop a AO/single-mode fiber coupler and interface for the various telescopes. In France, he will assess the performance of the K band fibered interferometer experimentally in the lab and will test components. A similar effort will be underway soon at Limoges for the silica fibers.
A follow-up meeting with the OHANA committee will take place on December 18th and 19th at CFHT. The main goal of this meeting will be to ensure that Phase I will be completed on time; i.e. that the coherent transport of light from the AO corrected focus to a fixed point on the ground (or may be even to a recombining station) will be tested and examined for differential shifts in polarizations and dispersions; that the scientific goals of OHANA and the funding for phase II will be addressed; and that this phase will be completed by the end of 2001.
So OHANA is certainly moving from the realms of dreams to a very fast and solid reality!