Enectalí Figueroa-Feliciano
| Dr. Enectalí Figueroa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
1971 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Occupation | astrophysicist |
|
Notes pioneered the development position-sensitive detectors. | |
Dr. Enectalí Figueroa-Feliciano a.k.a. "Tali", Ph.D., (born 1971) is an astrophysicist and researcher with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center who pioneered the development position-sensitive detectors. He is an expert and researcher on dark matter.[1][2][3][4] Figueroa-Feliciano develops and carries out experimental measurements of cosmological and astrophysical phenomena. [5]
Early years
Figueroa-Feliciano was born in 1971 in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, which is located on the western coast of the island. After he graduated in 1989 from high school C.R.O.E.M. (Centro Residencial de Oportunidades Educativas en Mayaguez), he attended the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus and, in 1995, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.[4]
NASA
Figueroa-Feliciano continued his academic studies at Stanford University, earning a master's degree (1997) and doctorate (2001) in physics. While studying at Stanford, Figueroa-Feliciano did his dissertation research at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, as part of the Science Cooperative Education program. Upon his graduation from Stanford, Figueroa-Feliciano became an astrophysicist for the Goddard Space Flight Center, where he served as the microcalorimeter leader for the Generation-X Vision Mission; and as a member of the following teams: Constellation-X facility science team, Suzaku Observatory science working group, and the X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC) sounding rocket team.[4]
Figueroa-Feliciano pioneered the development of position-sensitive detectors that will provide an order of magnitude more pixels (and thus larger field of view) than traditional single-pixel X-ray microcalorimeters. He has received several NASA awards for the development and demonstration of position-sensitive x-ray microcalorimeters.
He served as President of the Sixth Executive Council of the NASA Academy Alumni Association from August 1, 2003 to December 31, 2004.[6] On September 2003, Figueroa-Feliciano was interviewed for the position of Astronaut candidate.
Currently
Figueroa-Feliciano is an Assistant Professor of Physics at MIT. He teaches relativity classes '(8.033)' to undergraduates there. His work on dark matter research were featured in the 2008 NOVA scienceNOW program "Dark Matter" on PBS.[1] In 2010, he received National Science Foundation Career Award.
Selected publications by Figueroa-Feliciano
Figueroa-Feliciano has contributed to the following publications as author or co-author:
- Position-sensitive low-temperature detectors; E. Figueroa-Feliciano. Invited review in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research pp. 496–501, 2004.
- Cryogenic Microcalorimeters, M. Galeazzi and E. Figueroa-Feliciano. Contributed chapter in .X-ray Spectrometry: Recent Technological Advances; John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
- Position-sensitive transition edge sensor modeling and results; C. Hammock, E. Figueroa-Feliciano, E. Apodaca, S. Bandler, K. Boyce, J. Chervenak, F. Finkbeiner, R. Kelley, M. Lindeman, S. Porter, T. Saab, and C. Stahle. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research; pp. 505–507, 2004.
See also
- List of notable Puerto Ricans
- Puerto Rican scientists and inventors
- University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez people
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Dark Matter". NOVA. PBS. June 5, 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ↑ "NSF Award #0847342L Increasing the Dark Matter Science Reach of the SuperCDMS Experiment". National Science Foundation. February 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ↑ "Dr. Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano". Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA. Archived from the original on 2006-09-30. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "MIT Physics Faculty: Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano". Physics Department, MIT. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- ↑ MIT News
- ↑ NASA Academy Alumni Association
- "Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano". Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, NASA. April 2004. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
External links
- "Figueroa-Feliciano Research Group". Experimental Cosmology and Astrophysics Laboratory, MIT. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- Margarita Santori López (September 15, 2003). "Colegiales en la NASA". Prensa RUM. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- "NASA Academy Alumni Association". Retrieved 2006-11-09.