Nicholas Smith
Tucson,AZ
Summary
I am an undergraduate lab research assistant who recently transferred to the University of Arizona. I am interested in working on projects related to radio interferometry, receivers, and instrumentation. I have experience in instrumentation from three sources. First is a student led radio telescope build at my community college which I led. Then the development and characterization of the Airborne Coronal Emission Surveyor as a part of Harvard's SOLAR REU. And most recently being an undergraduate lab assistant working on SDR's and receiver noise measurements with plans to soon start working on BHEX.
Overview
2026
2026
years of professional experience
Work History
Laboratory Research Assistant
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
12.2025 - Current
- Setting up SDRs to receive and analyze signals.
- Calibrating SDR data.
- Preparing SDRs for use with an interferometer.
- Measuring receiver noise with Y-factor measurements.
- Future plans to work on BHEX, exact details to be determined.
Intern
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian
Cambridge, MA
06.2025 - 08.2025
- Helped to develop and characterize the Airborne Coronal Emission Surveyor (ACES).
- Developed scripts for calibration and an optical alignment procedure.
- Changed optics
- Measured spectral resolution by finding and analyzing the instrument line shape.
- Assessed sensitivity improvement by comparing the zero path difference intensities of interferograms as aperture size was varied.
- Results showed improvements to sensitivity, a spectral resolution approaching the instruments best case value, and calibration that allows the proper identification of spectral lines.
Student Project Leader
Glendale Community College ASTRO Club
Glendale, AZ
- Taught myself the basic instrumentation of radio telescopes by reading textbooks and looking at other peoples 21cm telescope builds (including the Haystack SRT).
- Built a proof of concept horn antenna with a paint thinner can, SDR and aluminum covered foam insulation boards.
- Detected artificial sources including unwanted interference from our own devices.
- Measured beam pattern of feedhorn.
- Built new feedhorn from sheet metal and assembled amplifiers and filters in effort to improve receiver.
- Confirmed the new receiver worked by using frequency generators in the lab.
- Unable to overcome noise generated in an uncooled receiver operating in a 115 degree summer and did not know how to properly use an SDR, preventing 21cm line detection.
Laboratory Technician
Glendale Community College
Glendale, AZ
03.2025 - 05.2025
- Helped professors to create, optimize, and troubleshoot labs for the introductory Mechanics, E&M, and Thermodynamics/Waves/Optics courses.
- Identified and fixed problematic equipment and procedures in proposed labs before they were implemented in the classroom.
Education
Summary
Bachelor of Science - Astronomy
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ05-2028
Associate of Science - Astronomy
Maricopa Community Colleges, Glendale Community College
Glendale, Arizona, AZ05-2025
Maricopa Community Colleges, Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Chandler, AZMaricopa Community Colleges, Phoenix College
Phoenix, AZSkills
Python Programming
C Programming
MATLAB Programming
SDR
Lab Testing
Data Analysis
Calibration
Characterization
Instrumentation
Electrical Engineering
Optics
FTIR
Relevant Coursework
C Programming
Electricity and Magnetism I
Theoretical Mechanics
Mathematical Methods in Physics
Fundamentals of Astronomy
Computer Programming 1 (Python)
Calculus Based Mechanics
Calculus Based Electricity/Magnetism
Thermodynamics, Optics, and Wave Phenomena
Life in the Universe
Intro Solar System Astronomy
Intro to Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Calculus 1-3
Linear Algebra
Modern Differential Equations
MATLAB Programming
Circuits and Devices
Signals and Systems
Timeline
Laboratory Research Assistant
University of Arizona
12.2025 - Current
Intern
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian
06.2025 - 08.2025
Laboratory Technician
Glendale Community College
03.2025 - 05.2025
Student Project Leader
Glendale Community College ASTRO Club
Summary
Bachelor of Science - Astronomy
University of Arizona
Associate of Science - Astronomy
Maricopa Community Colleges, Glendale Community College
Maricopa Community Colleges, Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Maricopa Community Colleges, Phoenix College