I am part of the laser antenna surface scanning instrument (LASSI) project. The aim of this project is to deliver surface corrections for the Green Bank telescope (GBT) faster than previous methods (e.g., out-of-focus holography) to make high frequency (≥ 25 GHz) observations more efficient. We will accomplish this using a terrestrial laser scanner to map the surface of the GBT's primary dish and determine how its shape deviates from a paraboloid. These corrections are then sent to the active surface that controls the 2008 panels that make up the GBT's primary.
Galaxies turn gas into stars. In order for the gas to end up as a star it needs to cool down during the process, this means that at some point the gas must be neutral and cold. Using carbon as a tracer of the cold gas (carbon is the 3rd or 4th most abundant element in our Galaxy, depending on the region) we aim to understand the properties of this cold gas. Once we know its properties we can judge if the gas will continue cooling and end up forming molecular gas clouds, the birth site of stars, or if it will heat up and become unstable.
As part of my MSc I built a radio interferometer that is now being used to teach the principles of interferometry.