Penn State University

Current employer.  I am employed in the department of Astronomy and Astrophysics as a Research Professor. I am one of the leads and the lab manager of the Space Instrumentation Group, and I also work with the Wissel group on the radio detection of ultra-high-energy neutrinos. Through that work I am a science team member of the Radio Neutrino Observatory Greenland (RNO-G), where I have deployed to Summit Station as a driller, and Project Manager for the Phased Array on the ERC-funded HERON project.

Photos: Penn State

The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

The collaboration with the University of Iowa is with Professor Casey DeRoo's group.  We work together on X-ray instrumentation.

Photos: University of Iowa · November 2009 · May 2010 · November 2010 · June 2014

Center for Electronic Imaging (CEI), The Open University

The 'e2v centre for electronic imaging' (CEI) is a research centre within the Department of Physical Sciences at the Open University. It is a collaboration between the Open University and e2v technologies plc., who provide sponsorship contributing towards PhD studentships and research positions.

The CEI is dedicated to the research and development of advanced technologies for electronic image sensing and provides knowledge exchange between the UK technology industry and academia. The main focus of the CEI's work relates to the development of imaging sensors for space applications, with expertise in X-ray spectroscopy and the study of the effects of radiation damage.

Photos: The Open University

e2v technologies plc.

e2v technologies create innovative solutions for high performance systems; designing, developing and manufacturing inspirational solutions for the most exacting requirements of global systems companies. 

The collaboration between the CEI and e2v technologies creates a pathway for the transfer of knowledge and technology between industry and academia.

Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

My collaboration at Osaka University is with Hiroshi Tsunemi who works in the Graduate school of Science, Earth and Space Science.  We have previously worked together on the characterisation of Hamamatsu CCDs for the proposed WHIMEx mission.  We also collaborated on the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) on the Japanese mission ASTRO-H (Hitomi, launched in 2016).

Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics Panter X-ray Test Facility

The Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics Panter X-ray Test Facility is a 130 m long X-ray test facility located in Neuried on the southwest outskirts of Munich.  Panter was originally built to support the ROSAT telescope development.  The main chamber is 12 m long and 3.5 m in diameter.  I have taken part in many test campaigns at Panter and worked on commissioning an X-ray camera system for the main chamber.

Photos: PANTER, October 2014

Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) at BESSY II

The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is the national metrology institute providing scientific and technical services. My collaboration with PTB allows me to test CCD performance over a precise range of X-ray energies.  Due to my extensive use of this facility I have become a visiting researcher.

Photos: PTB at BESSY II · April 2010 · November 2011 · June 2012 · October 2012 · March 2013 · May 2013

The Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, UK

The Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility located in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. Its purpose is to produce intense beams of light whose special characteristics are useful in many areas of scientific research.

The collaboration was part of my work on the development of a high speed, low noise camera system for high energy X-ray detection for medical applications.

Photos: B16 at the Diamond Light Source

Japanese Society of the Promotion of Science (JSPS)

The JSPS is a society that encourages collaboration between scientists in the UK and Japan.  In 2013 I was awarded a JSPS summer fellowship to continue my collaboration with Hiroshi Tsunemi at Osaka University.  The fellowship made me an alumnus of the society, enabling me to strengthen my links with Japan.

Test facilities

I have varying levels of experience using the following facilities:

• Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland), using the Swiss Light Source

  • Photos: Paul Scherrer Institute, May 2011

• Goddard Space Flight Center X-ray Interferometry Testbed (Greenbelt, MD, USA)

  • Photos: GSFC 600 m beamline, January 2014

• Marshall Space Flight Center Stray Light Facility (Huntsville, AL, USA)

• Wallops Flight Facility (Wallops Island, VA, USA) 

  • Photos: grating module vibration testing, March 2016

• White Sands Missile Range (NM, USA)

• Ronald Reagan Space and Missile Test Range (Roi-Namur, Marshall Islands)

• Poker Flats Research Range (Fairbanks, AL)

• Diamond Light Source (Harwell, UK)

  • Photos: B16 at the Diamond Light Source

• MPE PANTER test facility (Munich, Germany)

  • Photos: PANTER, October 2014

• BESSY II (Berlin, Germany)

  • Photos: PTB at BESSY II · April 2010 · November 2011 · June 2012 · October 2012 · March 2013 · May 2013

• SPring-8 (Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan)

• The Center for X-Ray Optics (CXRO) Reflectometer at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)