Classification: Joint Faculty

Education: 

• Ph.D., physics, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics & Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, 2009
• M.S., engineering physics, Carl-von-Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, 2005
• B.S., electrical engineering, Universidad de Costa Rica, 2001

Research Interests: 

In the Laboratory of Space Systems and Optomechanics (LASSO) at University of Arizona, we focus on designing and developing inertial sensors with application in distinct fields such as gravitational-wave astronomy and space geodesy.

Our group research is centered in:

• Novel optomechanical inertial sensing technologies.
• Optical precision measurements.
• System characterization and signal processing.

LASSO members are also part of international collaborations such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antena – LISA Consortium and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory – LIGO Scientific Collaboration, where we contribute to the characterization and development of ground and space-based observatories.

Honors and Awards: 

• NASA Engineering Technical Achievement Award 2022 – co-recipient as member of the NASA LISA Telescope Team
• Mercator Fellow (DFG Guest Professor) with the German Research Foundation (DFG – Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft), in the Collaborative Research Center 1464 (SFB – Soderforschungsbereich): Relativistic and quantum-based geodesy, January 2021 – December 2024.
• Mercator Fellow (DFG Guest Professor) with the German Research Foundation (DFG – Deutsche Forschungs-gemeinschaft), in the Collaborative Research Center 1128 (SFB – Soderforschungsbereich): Relativistic geodesy and gravimetry with quantum sensors, October 2014 – June 2019.
• NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Gravitational Astrophysics Laboratory (Code 663), Maryland, USA, July 2009–July 2011.
• Graduate Fellowship of the International Max Planck Research School on Gravitational Wave Astronomy, Hannover, Germany, April 2007–June 2009.