Current Members:

Ian P. McLean

Research Engineer

imclean [at] astro.ucla.edu

Ian P. McLean is a Research Engineer at the UCLA AstroPhotonics Technology Laboratory (APT Lab), where he leads hardware development and system-level design for photonic instrumentation supporting astronomy and Earth-sensing applications. He holds bachelor's degrees in Physics and Astronomy and works across the development of complex optical systems, from conceptual design and analysis through integration, testing, and experimental validation. His current work focuses on the design and development of photonic instrumentation, incorporating optical, mechanical, and thermal design to create compact, high-performance systems for astronomical and remote-sensing applications. Through his work at the APT Lab, he helps drive the engineering development of instrumentation from individual components and subsystems to fully integrated experimental platforms.

Samantha Morrison

PhD Student

smorrison20 [at] ucla.edu

Samantha Morrison is a graduate student in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a member of the Astrophotonics Technology Lab led by Dr. Pradip Gatkine. Her graduate research focuses on the simulation and development of an on-chip nulling interferometer for direct detection of exoplanets at the CHARA Array. Samantha received her M.S. in astronomy and astrophysics from UCLA in June 2026 and her B.A. in physics with honors from Grinnell College in December 2023.

Sydney Skorpen

PhD Student

sskorpen [at] ucla.edu

Sydney is a graduate student in Dr. Gatkine's research lab. Her research involves preparing and executing on-sky tests of arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) chip-based spectrographs, in collaboration with lab members and outside researchers. The most recent on-sky test involved an AWG with a spectral resolution of 30,000 at Palomar Observatory using the Hale telescope. Sydney received her M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics and B.S. in Astrophysics from UCLA.

Juan Toledo

Graduate Student Researcher

juantoledo123 [at] ucla.edu

Juan Toledo is an M.S. candidate in Materials Science and Engineering at Cal State LA and a researcher in the UCLA Astrophotonics Lab. His work focuses on integrated photonics and near-infrared instrumentation, including the characterization of arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs), optical system testing, and the development of cryogenic instrumentation for H2RG infrared detectors. His broader interests include optical sensing, remote sensing, astronomical instrumentation, and developing technologies that bridge materials science, photonics, and astronomy.

Andrew Rice

Undergraduate Student Researcher

arice06 [at] ucla.edu

Andrew Rice is an undergraduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is a member of Dr. Pradip Gatkine's Astrophotonic Technology Lab. He is currently studying Aerospace Engineering with an emphasis in the Space Track, and he hopes to eventually work on satellites as part of space exploration. In his spare time, Andrew collaborates with fellow undergraduate students as a member of the Bruin Spacecraft Group on the design and launch of two different CubeSat missions.

Nachiketa Mishra

Undergraduate Student Researcher

nachiketa09 [at] ucla.edu

Nachiketa is a recent UCLA graduate with a B.S. in Astrophysics who is currently working in Prof. Pradip Gatkine's APT Lab. His work focuses on optical interferometry and astronomical instrumentation. He is especially interested in developing new instruments and observational techniques that can improve our ability to study planetary systems and other astrophysical objects. Outside of astrophotoincs, Nachiketa enjoys learning about interesting tidbits of history and playing Warhammer 40,000.

Sai Vidyud Senthil Nathan

PhD Student

saividyud [at] ucla.edu

Sai is a graduate student in astronomy and astrophysics working in both Dr. Gatkine's Astrophotonics Technology Lab and Dr. Smadar Naoz's research group. His current graduate research involves simulating the detection of different astrophysical phenomena including protoplanetary disks, binary systems, and exoplanets through spectroastrometry using photonic lanterns on Lick Observatory. Sai received his B.S. in astronomy and astrophysics with honors and a B.S. in aerospace engineering with honors research distinction in astronomy and astrophysics from The Ohio State University in May 2026.

Former Members:

Vikram Seenivasan

Postbaccalaureate Researcher

Currently: Masters of Advanced Study student at Cambridge University

vikrams25 [at] ucla.edu

Vikram Seenivasan is an incoming Masters of Advanced Study student in the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge. He was a post-baccalaureate researcher in the APT Lab where his work focused on inverse-designed transition interfaces to improve throughout of astrophotonic spectrographs. He previously received his B.S. in Physics from UCLA. He also worked in the Astrophysics Data Lab at UCLA, where his work focused on generalizability and interpretability of machine learning models for photometric redshift estimation.

Jeremy Lin

Undergraduate Student Researcher

Currently: Astronomy PhD Student at University of Maryland

jlin1221 [at] terpmail.umd.edu

As an undergraduate student in the APT Lab, Jeremy Lin's work focused on the software pipelines for astrophotonic spectrographs, including integrating supporting instrumentation, data acquisition and calibration, and spectroscopic retrieval. After obtaining his B.S. in Astrophysics and Statistics & Data Science from UCLA in 2026, he went on to continue research in astrophotonics by pursuing a PhD in Astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Ahmed Sanny

Postdoctoral Fellow

Currently: Engineering Staff at ESO Headquarters, Germany

sahmed [at] astro.ucla.edu

Sanny is a directorate of engineering staff at the ESO Headquarters (Germany). Previously, he worked as a postdoc at the University of California, Los Angeles (USA), and earned his PhD (cotutelle) from Universität zu Köln (Germany) and Macquarie University (Australia). His research focuses on developing and implementing astro-photonics technology for on-sky operation.

Jane Heathcote

Postbaccalaureate Researcher

Currently: Astronomy PhD Student at University of Maryland

jheathco [at] umd.edu

Jane is a graduate student currently working with Sylvain Veilleux at the University of Maryland. Her primary interest is astrophotonics, focusing on instruments for ground-based optical and infrared telescopes. Her previous experience focused on astrophotonic high-resolution spectrographs designed for exoplanetary science with Pradip Gatkine at UCLA. She is now interested in how astrophotonics can improve follow-up observations of gamma ray burst afterglows.