My research is focused on the development of technologies in support of high-contrast imaging and characterization of extra-solar planets, including new coronagraph designs, image processing algorithms, or wavefront sensing and control. I have contributed to the design and construction of ground-based coronagraphic instruments such as the Gemini Planet Imager or Palomar Project 1640. I worked on preparing operations for the the James Webb Space Telescope optical alignment and coronagraphy for almost a decade, and since 2017 I have dedicated myself full time to the Makidon Optics Laboratory.

Pronouns: He/Him/His

GitHub: RemiSoummer

LinkedIn: Rémi Soummer

Originally born in Croatia and grown up in Austria, I completed my Master’s degree in Astronomy and Instrumentation at Leiden University in the Netherlands. In the fall of 2017, I started working as a Research and Instrument Analyst at the Russell B. Makidon Lab at STScI. I started off on the JWST Optical Simulation Testbed (JOST), a three-lens anastigmat including an IrisAO segmented deformable mirror (DM) on which we use for Wavefront Sensing and Control (WFS&C) solutions on segmented apertures like the JWST, exploring a wide field of view. Over time, I shifted my work more and more on the lab’s workhorse testbed HiCAT, investigating high contrast imaging solutions for segmented telescopes with an Apodized Pupil Lyot Coronagraph (APLC) and system-level performance analyses. I also work on a study about ultra-stable telescopes, implementing the PASTIS contrast prediction model on the LUVOIR-A APLC designs. I write a lot of scientific software in Python and push for good practices in software citation and publishing.

GitHub: ivalaginja

I am a PhD student from the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, working jointly with Professor James Fienup and the Makidon Optics Lab team, where I work to develop and implement wavefront sensing and control techniques for the HiCAT testbed.  I received a BS in electrical engineering from the University at Buffalo in 2015.  More broadly, I’m interested in wavefront sensing, astronomical instrumentation, and computational imaging.

GitHub: sdwill

I am a visiting student from ENS Paris-Saclay in France. I am interested in the theory and implementation of machine learning algorithms and am currently working on a predictive algorithm for time series forecasting. My activities at STScI are to bring new statistical methods for Wavefront Sensing & Control.

I am a visiting graduate student from Professor Kerri Cahoy’s group at MIT and am working on an instrument-guided post-processing method for coronagraphic instruments at STScI. I am also generally interested in high contrast astronomical instrumentation, optical physics, and figuring out how to measure interesting things.

I am a Senior Software Engineer at Space Telescope Science Institute and the lead Software Engineer for the Russell B. Makidon Optics Laboratory. I am responsible for overseeing all software demands for the lab, which predominantly involves Python code to run our various experiments communicating with testbed hardware. Prior to this, I worked in both the Science Calibration Software Branch and the Data Analysis Software Branch working on the Hubble Space Telescope Calibration Pipeline and the Astropy project. Prior to even that, I was a C++ developer and Jr. Systems Architect for HPCC-Systems at LexisNexis Risk solutions. I have PhD experience in Theoretical and Numerical Cosmology and a Masters degree in Physics and Chaos theory.

GitHub: jamienoss

LinkedIn: James Noss

Originally from the United Kingdom, I received a Masters degree in Physics and Astrophysics from the University of Exeter. My time at STScI began in 2015 as a summer intern, until I was officially hired as a Research and Instrument Analyst in the fall of 2016. Since then, I have been working as a high-contrast imaging expert on the JWST Mid-Infrared Instrument team. I joined the Makidon Optics lab in the spring of 2020, where my work is focused on the optimization and analysis of coronagraph designs for the NASA’s ExEP-led Segmented Coronagraph Design and Analysis (SCDA) study. 

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

I am a principal astronomical optics engineer in the Telescopes group and in the Makidon Optics Laboratory at STScI.  My research interests include, broadly, wavefront sensing and control and, more specifically, phase retrieval algorithms.  I am generally interested in optical engineering, design, analysis, and measurement.  Before coming to STScI, I worked as an optical engineer with multiple startups, Apple, KLA-Tencor and Sandia National Laboratories, designing optical systems, lenses, and diffractive optics for diverse applications including cell phone cameras, 3D imaging, optical computing, quantum computing and semiconductor metrology.  For example, I worked on the dual cameras in the iPhone 7 plus and on the FaceID module in iPhone X series of phones.  I earned my PhD from the Institute of Optics of the University of Rochester.

GitHub: grbrady

I am an Astronomical Optics Scientist in the Telescopes branch in the Instruments division at STScI. I previously was involved in testing the optical performance of the JWST primary mirror, and now support the JWST Wavefront Sensing and Control Team by making sure that we can guide during the commissioning of the telescope. In the Makidon Optics Lab, I have previously worked on the HiCAT testbed — developing experimental software and calibration tools.

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

GitHub: kjbrooks

I have provided support to a range of flight and research activities at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) since 1996. I supported metrology efforts on JWST, HST, AXAF/Chandra LRO and worked in the development and testing of hardware designed to advance the performance of the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) at GSFC.  I have supported the VNC for over 13-years and was involved in all three phases of the instrument's development.  I currently am supporting the High-Contrast Imager for Complex Aperture Telescopes (HiCAT) at The Space Telescope Science Institute providing optical metrology support to the HiCAT testbed. 

Prior to this work, I contributed to the development of numerous metrology stations that were used to characterize the HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) filter set.  I was also involved in the fabrication, alignment and research activities associated with the James Web Space Telescope Wavefront Sensing and Control Testbed at GSFC. This testbed was instrumental in the early development of control algorithms later used for the coarse alignment and fine phasing of the JWST primary mirror segments.

I grew up in Wisconsin, and received my BA in Physics & Astronomy from Carleton College in Minnesota. I moved to Baltimore in the summer of 2018, and have been working at STScI to support the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope. I joined the lab in spring 2020, and have worked on projects including the flux normalization of our light source assembly and the gain calibration of our deformable mirrors. My interests include Earth & Planetary science, ultimate frisbee, and learning how to make bread.

Pronouns: He/Him/His

GitHub: mmaclay

LinkedIn: Matthew Maclay

I am an engineering intern in the Makidon Optics Lab at the Space Telescope Science Institute. My work mainly consists of mechanics focused hardware tasks for HiCAT and updating CAD models. I am a rising senior at Johns Hopkins University studying mechanical engineering with a concentration in biomechanics.

I develop and employ advanced instrumentation for imaging planets and disks around other stars, in particular making extensive use of infrared integral field spectroscopy and imaging polarimetry. I have been a part of the Gemini Planet Imager team since the project's inception over a decade ago, and these days I co-lead GPI's Data Analysis & Data Pipeline team. I carry out observations of nearby circumstellar disks using HST, GPI, and other facilities, and collaborate in the development of our lab testbeds for high contrast and wavefront control.

GitHub: mperrin

STScI Leadership Profile: Marshall Perrin

I am a project manager, systems engineer, and software developer working primarily on JWST Optical Telescope Element commissioning and wavefront error trending.  I started working on the JWST Wavefront Sensing and Control team in 2007, and have worked on several of the software components.  I do HiCAT project management for the lab, and a little software work. 

GitHub: tcomeau

High contrast imaging of nearby stars opens new avenues to map regions of the planetary formation phase-space yet unexplored with indirect methods. This technique is also the most promising to search for biomarkers in the atmosphere of earth-like planets in order to eventually address the fascinating question: “Are we alone?” Such observations are however quite challenging: they rely on detecting sources fainter than their host stars by factors ranging from 105 − 107 for young gas giants, to 1010 for earth analogs. I investigate a broad range of problems aimed at facilitating and carrying out direct imaging exo-planetary science. More specifically, I am currently working on: 

• High-contrast imaging instrumentation to prepare the ELT/post-JWST era, with long term goals aimed at capturing in-situ planetary formation phenomena and probing for biomarkers in the atmosphere of earth analogs.
• Direct imaging surveys with today’s state of the art facilities, aimed at revealing a broader range of planetary systems, unveiling their formation history and exploring their atmospheric compositions. 

GitHub: lpueyo

STScI Research Directory Profile: Laurent Pueyo

I played a pioneering role in developing extreme adaptive optics coronagraphy and was involved in the first three such instruments: The Lyot Project on USAF's AEOS telescope, Project 1640 on Palomar's 200-inch, and the Gemini Planet Imager. I lead high resolution interferometric methods for the James Webb Space Telescope by placing a non-redundant aperture mask in JSWT-NIRISS. I develop instrumentation to address problems of imaging planets around other stars, the environs of supermassive black holes at the centers of Active Galactic Nuclei. I also co-teach a JHU graduate course in Fourier Optics.

GitHub: anand0xff

I am a support scientist in the STScI instruments division. My research interests span star formation, stellar evolution, stellar clusters and resolved stellar populations in the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies. I am involved in the development of astronomical instrumentation, with strong focus on multi-object spectroscopy using digital micromirror devices (DMDs) as slit-selection mechanism. I am the PI of “the STUF” — a project funded by the STScI Director and hosted in the Makidon Lab. The STUF aims at characterizing the optical properties of DMDs in the ultraviolet, with the goal of advancing this technology to the point where it will be usable in space.

GitHub: mgennaro

I arrived at the Space Telescope Science Institute in 2008, bringing a deep and varied computer science background. My work as an IT Technologist involves supporting the Russell B. Makidon Optics Laboratory among other endeavors.  I greatly enjoy applying special care and consideration the varied opportunities my role provides.

I am a Systems Administrator with the Space Telescope Science Institute, supporting desktop hardware and software for Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems. I support the Russell B. Makidon Optics Lab including the HiCAT and JOST systems, and other IT infrastructure within the Lab. The Optics Lab is an incredibly unique environment which provides an exciting and challenging element to the IT environment I truly enjoy supporting.

I am currently a Lead Administrative Assistant for Instruments Division and have been at STScI for ten years.  I have been the administrative support for Rémi Soummer and the Russell B. Makidon Optics Lab since 2017.

I was born in the USA but grew up in Australia. I got both my bachelors in mechanical engineering (1987) and PhD (1996) in engineering education from the University of Western Australia. I worked in Japan for three years designing and building systems to measure human motion, specifically the motion of a ski athlete skiing down a real mountain. After that, I worked briefly at a design consultancy in Western Australia (GENG Inc.). My main professional experience has been as a teaching-oriented academic at universities. I have taught many courses in engineering mechanics, materials and design. I have been at JHU since 2011 and have led the Masters in Engineering (ME) Senior Design course. In the summers, I go to industries seeking suitable projects and spend the rest of the year teaching and leading a small team of students through a design, build, test, fail, redesign, rebuild, document sequence. My ME Senior Design teams have built several useful things for the Makidon Lab including several iterations of the HiCAT table cover and a feedback control system for target acquisition.

Personal Website: nathotron