Short Biography

I graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in physics, astrophysics, and astronomy in 1997, and earned a physics Ph.D. at Caltech in 2006 in the submillimeter astrophysics group of Tom Phillips. I innovated the data reduction approach (CRUSH) and observing modes (e.g. Lissajous scans) for the SHARC-2 350μm camera, designed wide-band SIS mixers, and brought the first far-infrared characterization of the submillimeter galaxy (SMG) population. As postdoc in Karl Menten's group at the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn, I was active in the optimization and commissioning of the APEX bolometer cameras LABOCA and SABOCA, the polarimetry frontend PolKa, and in conducting the LABOCA surveys. From 2009, I worked on commissioning the GISMO 2-mm camera for the IRAM 30-m telescope as independent postdoc at the University of Minnesota. I co-proposed (with Jonas Zmuidzinas) lithographic spectrometers for the (sub)millimeter band. At Caltech, between 2012-2017, I contributed to SuperSpec and MAKO, provided a readout solution for kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs), and delivering the imaging software for SOFIA/HAWC+. Nowadays, I am working on software for the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the spectral imaging pipeline of SOFIA/HIRMES. Beyond new techniques and technologies, I am interested in studying the high-z mm-bright star-forming populations and in formulating dust models for understanding them.