Álvaro Fernández Galiana

I am a Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, expecting graduation Spring '21. Before joining MIT, I received a M.Sc in Aerospace Engineering from the National Higher French Institute of Aeronautics and Space (ISAE-Supaero, Toulouse, France) and a M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC-ETSEIB, Barcelona, Spain).

My interests lie at the interface between physics and engineering. I combine the quest for fundamental scientific discoveries with engineering principles to design cutting-edge precision devices. My research agenda currently focuses on the development of precision opto-mechanical instruments for a wide range of applications. I believe that society, as a whole, will greatly benefit from low-cost, high-precision instruments that can be used in a variety of fields, from metrology and space exploration to agriculture and healthcare.

Selected Projects

Tabletop UHV Compatible Vibration Isolation Platform

A 6-axis vibration isolation platform for in-vacuum experiments

Violin Mode Damper

A simple damper for the test mass violin modes.

Temperature Modulated Raman Spectrometer

Non-invasive Material Characterization using Temperature Modulated Raman Spectroscopy

T-base lathe

Design and contruction of a low-cost T-base lathe

EntrySat

A 3U CubeSat for atmospheric re-entry study

Selected Scientific Publications