Hi! 👋🏼 I'm Dr. Tomás Cassanelli, Astronomer and Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidad de Chile.
About Me
I'm an Assistant Prof. for astronomical instrumentation at the Facultad Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas (FCFM) at Universidad de Chile (UChile). I completed my PhD studies at David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto (UofT), Canada. Prior to starting my PhD, I completed an Astrophysics MSc at Universität Bonn and Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR), Germany; as well as an Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering BSc at Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO), Chile.
Research
My primary lines of research are radio--optical sub-second transients 💥 and their localization, very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI), radio--optical astronomical instrumentation, optical fast photon counters, and holography for radio telescopes 📡 (from centimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths). My PhD thesis research focused on the detection of fast radio bursts (FRBs) with VLBI with a 3000 km baseline from British Columbia to Ontario using the telescopes: Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and the Algonquin Radio Observatory (ARO). I belong to FCFM, the Millimeter-Wave Laboratory, and to the CHIME/FRB Collaboration.
My research group is AstroLab a multi-disciplinary team based at UChile. We are faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students, working together towards undestanding astronomical instrumentation and transient events. To learn more about our local projects (e.g., the Canadian-Chilean array for radio transient studies; CHARTS) visit our website: AstroLab
100-m Effelsberg telescope (MPIfR) Uni-Bonn
10-m Algonquin radio dish UofT
Test sub-mm band (ALMA) Engineering UFRO
8.1-m Gemini South telescope
12-m radio dish (ALMA) Engineering UFRO
Recent Science Publications
0000-0003-2047-5276Science Talks
- FRB2023 Conference (Discussion: hidden parameter spaces)
- FRB2021 Conference (Breaking news session)
- FRB2020 Conference (Technical developments session)
Teaching
I have taught courses in engineering and physics at Universidad de La Frontera and Universidad de Chile. I have also led practical experiences and laboratories at the Dunlap Summer School 2019--2021.
- Applied Electromagnetism (EL3103; online lecture notes Spanish only)
- Radio astronomy: applications, tools, and impact (EL6053)
Outreach
- Research communities Springer Nature: A VLBI-localized FRB probes the ISM at z ~ 0.2
- Volunteer at Skype a Scientist (Jan, 2020)
- Other outreach events through Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics: Astronomy on Tap Toronto, Doors Open Toronto, and Space Time Toronto
- ECLIPSE 2020 Universidad de La Frontera (Spanish only): El Radio Universo Desconocido (The Uknown Radio Universe)
Media Appearances
- Más de 350 millones de pesos en dos proyecto QUIMAL (Dic, 2023)
- Universidad de Chile inaugura cámara anecoica para la investigación de antenas, sensores y sistemas de radiofrecuencias (Jun, 2023)
- Dunlap Institute Graduate student of the month (Sep, 2021)
- Titulado UFRO forma parte de importante hito astrofísico (Nov, 2020)
- Detection of a radio burst in Milky Way could resolve origins of mysterious phenomenon (Nov, 2020)
Contact
You can contact me through email 📧 at tcassanelli@ing.uchile.cl