Rachel Morgan

I am an Optical Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center applying integrated photonics technology to a coronagraph instrument concept. We are using a reconfigurable integrated photonic device to enable high contrast direct detection of Earth-like exoplanets with a miniaturized instrument.  

I was previously a graduate student in the Space Telecommunications, Astronomy, and Radiation Lab in the Aero Astro department at MIT. My PhD thesis was on integrated photonics design and demonstration for the mid-wave infrared wavelength range (graduated Summer 2023). I received a BS in Aerospace Engineering and in Physics from MIT in 2018, a MS in Aerospace Engineering from MIT in 2020, and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering in 2023. From 2023-2024, I worked in the Photonics Devices Group at the Politecnico di Milano developing silicon photonics designs for lidar.

I am interested in advanced optics and integrated photonics technology for space applications. I have research and internship experience in the design and test of integrated photonics components, astronomical instrumentation, laser communications, and space systems engineering at MIT, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory.