Dr. Bijan Nemati

PRINCIPAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST VI, Center for Applied Optics

Biography

Physicist with extensive background in the development of advanced optical instruments for the detection of astrophysical objects. Broad research and engineering experience spanning experimental high energy physics, stellar interferometry, coronagraphy, and precision metrology.

Education

  • Ph.D. 1990 University of Washington, Seattle, WA, High Energy Physics
  • B.S. 1985 University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, Engineering Physics

Previous Positions

  • 4/2017 to Present: Principal Research Scientist VI, CAO-UAH
  • 4/2001 to 4/2017: Senior Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
  • 4/1997 to 4/2001: System Engineer, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space, Palo Alto, CA

Projects

  • WFIRST Coronagraph (NASA) – Integrated Modeling Lead
  • WFIRST Coronagraph (NASA) – Detector Lead
  • Space Interferometry Mission (NASA) – System Architect
  • Inverse Synthetic Aperture Lidar (JPL) – Principal Investigator

Selected Publications and Presentations

  • The effects of space telescope primary mirror segment errors on coronagraph instrument performance, Bijan Nemati, et al., UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments, 2017, Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 10398 (2017)
  • Sensitivity of the WFIRST coronagraph performance to key instrument parameters, B. Nemati, et al., Techniques and Inst. for Det. of Exoplanets, 2017, Proc. of SPIE, Vol. 10400 (2017)
  • The effect of radiation-induced traps on the WFIRST coronagraph detectors, B. Nemati, et al., Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016, Proc. SPIE, Vol. 9915, (2016)
  • Numerical modeling of the proposed WFIRST-AFTA coronagraphs and their predicted performances, J. Krist, B. Nemati, B. Mennesson, J. Astr. Tel. Instr. Sys., SPIE, Vol. 2, Issue 1, (2015)
  • Finding Very Small Near-Earth Asteroids using Synthetic Tracking, M. Shao, B. Nemati, et al., the Astrophysical Journal 782, 1 (2014).