Daniel Mortimer Email & Phone Number

Germany

Exeter, England, United Kingdom

I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow primarily focused on developing the beam combination scheme for the planned BIFROST instrument. BIFROST will combine the light from the four, 8m telescopes at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. I am also involved in the analysis of interferometric data on young stellar objects as well as continuing my work to deliver the FOURIER beam combiner to the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer.

I am currently serving as the president of the non-profit International Workshop for Astronomy (IWA). IWA has almost 5 decades of experience running the International Astronomical Youth Camp (IAYC), an annual summer camp designed to promote astronomy and international collaboration.

Germany

This role required me to work in an international team of scientists tasked with the organisation and running of the summer camp. here I taught for four hours a day for three weeks, leading eight participants through four projects simultaneously. 2015 - projects were designed around the theme of data reduction from professional observatories, analysing data from telescopes such as the VLT.2016 - projects were designed around the theme of gathering data and producing results with as little equipment as possible.2017 - projects were designed around the themes of both using amateur telescopes to gather data then reduce and analyse the data and python simulations.2018 - projects were designed around the theme of interferometric telescopes, predominantly in the optical.

This role involves primarily replying to large volumes of emails to provide information and assistance where needed to applicants of the International Astronomical Youth Camp. This role also includes organising and managing the IAYCs grant program, the application system and being involved in updating organisational policies and procedures where needed.

Cambridge, United Kingdom

I conducted research for my PhD into the design and development of the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer, specifically, the development of the first generation near-infrared science beam combining instrument (FOURIER) from the conceptual design phase to laboratory testing.

Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

The Cavendish graduate student conference is an annual event where all graduate students in the laboratory are invited to present their work to their peers. This one-day conference consists of talks, poster sessions, a keynote speaker and catering. I was part of a small committee tasked with organising every aspect of this conference. My roles included: • Selecting and inviting the keynote speaker (Chris Lintott)• Reviewing and selecting applications for talks and posters • Managing the event on the day • Organising catering • Collecting feedback via surveys after the event

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Laboratory demonstrator for the second year undergraduate natural science Laboratories. This role involves explaining physics concepts, troubleshooting nonfunctioning experiments, ensuring the students are on task and grading of the student's lab notes. Michaelmas term - Electronic systems for experimentation: In this lab, the students built many circuits and tested various properties of circuitry to give them a deeper understanding of how electronic measurement systems in experiments may affect their results. Lent term - Waves and optics: I predominantly worked on an experiment that uses ultrasound to test Fraunhofer and Fresnel diffraction and the speed of sound in various substances.

Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom

Supervising (tutoring) first-year undergraduate Physics students in groups of two. This role required me to assign weekly problems to complement topics covered in the student's lectures, marking the submitted solutions and hosting weekly sessions with the students to discuss that week’s assigned problems and clarify any issues with their understanding of the lecture material. I supervised the students through the entire first-year physics curriculum which included the following modules: Michaelmas term – Dynamics, Oscillating SystemsLent term - Waves and Quantum Waves, Special Relativity, Rotational MechanicsEaster term - Gravitational and Electromagnetic Fields, End of year exam preparation

Leeds, United Kingdom

I initiated the creation and was the two-time president of the Leeds University Union astronomical society. The creation required my co-founders and me to prepare a pitch to convince the union to allow us to form a society. During my presidency I was heavily involved in helping the society grow from nothing to having over 50 paying members, successfully applying for funding to purchase our own telescopes, organising a lecture series given by invited speakers, running regular observation sessions and hosting trips around the UK.

Vienna

Here I spent time working independently on what eventually led to the development of a galactic dynamics simulation package written in python by myself which is able to take on sky coordinates and proper motions, convert them into a galactocentric frame and numerically integrate over a period of time, returning the positions of the objects at any given point relative to the local standard of rest or the galactic center.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Physics

Master Of Physics With Astrophysics (International) (Honours), Physics, First Class

Exchange Year, Physics

Exchange year as part of my integrated Masters at the University of Leeds.