Astronomy on Tap Santa Cruz: Engineering in Astronomy and The Gaia Revolution

**Abbott Square Market.**118 Cooper St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Monday June 16, 7:30 pm

• Engineering in Astronomy – A Career Path *

Speaker: Cristian Rodriguez (UCO)

Bio: Cristian Rodriguez, a Mechanical Engineer at the University of California Observatories, has built a dynamic career designing astronomical instrumentation, including working on the SCALES instrument for the Keck Observatory and designing fire-detecting CubeSats. In his talk, “Engineering in Astronomy,” he’ll share his distinctive path in astronomy, revealing how it has deepened his understanding of the intricate process of building scientific instruments. When not crafting the next generation of instruments, Cristian is playing Spanish classical guitar, hiking, at a hot Pilates class, or enjoying the company of his family and friends

The Gaia Revolution: What to Expect When You’re Expecting 20,000 Exoplanet Candidates

Speaker: Sarah Blunt (UCSC)

Bio: Sarah Blunt is a NSF-funded postdoctoral fellow at UCSC working on exoplanet detection and characterization. She focuses on advancing computational and statistical techniques in exoplanet astrophysics, and also thinks about technical education for astronomers. Fun fact: her first words were “Mom those MCMC chains don’t look converged.”

Free and open to people of all ages!