Astronomy on Tap Santa Cruz: Engineering in Astronomy and The Gaia Revolution

Engineering in Astronomy - A Career Path

Speaker: Cristian Rodriguez (UC Observatories)

Bio: Cristian Rodriguez, a Mechanical Engineer at the University of California Observatories, has built a dynamic career designing astronomical instrumentation, including working on the SCALES instrument for the Keck Observatory and designing fire-detecting CubeSats. In his talk, “Engineering in Astronomy,” he’ll share his distinctive path in astronomy, revealing how it has deepened his understanding of the intricate process of building scientific instruments. When not crafting the next generation of instruments, Cristian is playing Spanish classical guitar, hiking, at a hot Pilates class, or enjoying the company of his family and friends

The Gaia Revolution: What to Expect When You’re Expecting 20,000 Exoplanet Candidates

Speaker: Sarah Blunt (UC Santa Cruz)

Bio: Sarah Blunt is a NSF-funded postdoctoral fellow at UCSC working on exoplanet detection and characterization. She focuses on advancing computational and statistical techniques in exoplanet astrophysics, and also thinks about technical education for astronomers