Jon

I know this very smart guy who is into all kinds of things, but since this here is a mad science blog, and we mostly talk about pulsed power and high voltage and that sort of thing, I shall mention Jon in that context: he makes lasers. From scratch. Very fast lasers. Nitrogen lasers. With very high peak powers.  


The nitrogen lasers' output is short wave UV.  Powerful pulses of coherent short wave UV can be used to "pump" other lasers using organic dyes for the lasing medium.

If this sounds interesting, go check out his blogish sort of thing:
http://www.jossresearch.org/tjiirrs/005c2.html#FirstLight


He's into REALLY cool "mud pies" too.  Seriously, check out his pottery work.