Alan Brass Prize Fellowship in Instrumentation and Technology Development

Narsi Anugu, the first Brass Fellow, describes the CCID-75 camera to Alan Brass. Narsi integrated this camera system for the MMT AO system's wavefront sensor as part of the MAPS upgrade, which Narsi made significant contributions to during his fellowship.

The Alan Brass Prize Fellowship for the Development of Astronomical Instrumentation is a three year postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. The Brass Fellow pursues an ambitious program of astronomical instrument development independently or in collaboration with the students, staff, and faculty of Steward Observatory.

The Brass Fellow receives an annual stipend, as well access to a generous research fund to support their scientific program. All of the observational and computational facilities of the Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory are available to the Fellow, who is encouraged to conduct independent research and to develop collaborations with faculty, staff, and students.

About Alan Brass: Alan Brass was a docent at the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab from 2007 to 2021, where he showed countless visitors the wonders of large telescope mirror fabrication. He graduated from the Polytechnic Institute of New York, with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and holds an M.A. from Binghamton University.  Alan was a Tucson resident from 2000 to 2021. As a member of the RFCML outreach team he played a large role in communicating the successes of Arizona astronomy to the public. His generosity in supporting the Brass Fellowship will enable Steward Observatory to remain at the forefront of innovation in astronomical instrumentation, providing new achievements to share with the world.

The current Brass Fellow is Nicole Melso.

Past Brass Fellows:

Narsireddy Anugu (2019-2021)