Vivian Welch

Working with Dr. Katie Morzinski from the Astronomy and Steward Observatory Department on a research project titled "Discovering New Faint Substellar Companions via Radial-velocity Trends and Adaptive Optics." I implement image pair subtraction, bad pixel correction, and centroid detection algorithms in python and use SAOImage DS9 to analyze data from the Magellan AO telescope, to visually confirm RV trends.

Debugging Bioverse, a Python package for simulating the results of a statistical survey of the properties of nearby terrestrial exoplanets via direct imaging or transit spectroscopy. This includes data processing in python, setting up and maintaining pip install, creating continuous integration and rigorous testing systems, using anaconda to organize workflow and test version requirements, creating pull requests in GitHub, creating meaningful commit messages, writing documents outlining changes in a new release, and more.

• Developed 2D and 3D collision simulators using C++: Ensured accurate simulation of Newtonian physics in collaboration with the company owner, maintaining high code quality through code reviews and iterative improvements.
• Designed and implemented collision algorithms: Engineered algorithms for precise collision detection, response, and friction simulation, improving accuracy in physical simulations.
• Enhanced performance: Optimized algorithms and streamlined code for efficiency, focusing on minimizing clock cycles at the compiled assembly code level.
• Debugged software: Wrote tests with high code coverage to identify and fix issues, ensuring software reliability.