Senior Photonics Engineer, Free-Space Optics
Core
Define atmospheric channel modeling and design optical hardware to work through atmospheric turbulence for free-space optical communications payloads.
Role type
Senior IC photonics engineer (free-space optics)
Builds
Optical communication payloads and atmospheric channel models for satellites
Domain
Aerospace / Free-space optical communications
Deliverable
production ML models
Required skills
Free-space optical communications, Adaptive optics, Atmospheric propagation modeling, Python, Optical turbulence theory, Experimental design, Data analysis
Preferred skills
Photonic integrated circuits, Wave-optics simulation, Pointing acquisition and tracking, Field campaign operations
Technologies
Spatial light modulators, Deformable mirrors, Shack-Hartmann sensors, Zemax, AOTools, WaveProp, Python
Responsibilities
Design and build tabletop experiments emulating optical propagation through turbulent media; Measure coupling efficiency and bit error rate in free-space optical links; Characterize wavefront sensing and correction hardware; Conduct outdoor and mountaintop field campaigns for optical links; Build and calibrate optical propagation and channel models in Python; Define the experiment roadmap and automate data pipelines; Mentor engineers and technicians
Seniority
Senior, hands-on IC
