John (Jack) J. Piotrowski

John (Jack) Piotrowski is currently a Matt Johns Instrumentation Fellow at Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California. His expertise is on the optical design, analysis, and integration of optical to near-infrared spectrographs for applications in astronomy. He received his PhD in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 2024, working under Dr. Stephen Smee of the Instrument Development Group. During his PhD, his research focused on characterizing the optical properties of digital micromirror devices (DMDs) and their novel applications in optical system design. Beginning in June 2022, he has extended his research to the development of a next-generation multi-object spectrograph for the 6.5m Magellan I - Baade Telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile working with Dr. Stephen Shectman and Dr. Jeff Crane. As a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Observatories, Jack will continue to work on the optomechanical development of FALCON, while also contributing to The Via Project as the optics lead and deputy instrument scientist.