Aerospace engineer, Blinn alumnus Michael Harrison to present discussion regarding Higgs Boson particle

Higgs Boson was predicted to exist in 1964 and finally discovered in 2012

February 14, 2024

Aerospace engineer Michael Harrison will discuss a particle of matter that exists only for an instant at a presentation Wednesday, Feb. 21 at Blinn College.

Harrison, a Blinn alumnus who returns to the Brenham Campus regularly, will discuss the Higgs Boson particle at a free program Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 6 p.m. in the Student Center conference room. The public is invited.

During more than 10 years of presentations to Blinn College audiences, Harrison has spoken on topics ranging from the vastness of the universe to artificial intelligence.

He will discuss a prediction by physicist Peter Higgs in 1964 that an unseen particle must exist, followed by the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle in 2012.

Harrison said his presentations are aimed at “bridging the gap between the opaque jargon of the scientific world and the general public” by using real-world examples that people can understand.

Harrison attended Blinn from 1975-76 after growing up only a block away from the Brenham Campus. He earned his bachelor’s degree in theoretical physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After graduating from MIT, he began working at TRW Space Technology in Redondo Beach, Calif.

Harrison was part was part of a team that worked on the James Webb Telescope, which launched on Christmas Day 2021. An international collaboration of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, the Webb Telescope has reached its destination in space, orbiting the sun almost 1 million miles from Earth.

During his aerospace science career spanning almost 40 years, he has worked primarily in the design of data acquisition and satellite guidance systems.

Harrison’s program is being sponsored by Blinn’s divisions of Business and Mathematics and Engineering, Computer Technology, and Innovation. For more information, contact Lauren Buth, Director of Engineering Programs at Blinn, at lauren.buth@blinn.edu.