Richard Knoche Email & Phone Number

Washington, Dc, Us

New York, New York, Us

San Francisco, Ca, Us

• Consulted for AptDeco.com to quantify the subjective quality of half a million user-uploaded images.• Implemented 60 hand-crafted image features in a Python-based AdaBoost random forest classifier to automatically identify high-quality and low-quality images with 73% and 68% accuracy, respectively.• The classifier will improve editor efficiency by 40%, and save an estimated $45,000 annually.

College Park, Md, Us

Data Analysis• Developed ground breaking techniques to distinguish electric-field induced signal variations from detector inefficiency induced signal variations in a complex, spatially and time varying electric field.• Developed 3D position dependent signal corrections that automatically integrated into the data processing framework.• Developed novel techniques to improve signal resolution by apply corrections on a per-channel basis• Developed techniques to extract in-situ signal corrections from detector backgrounds.• Produced code that automatically extracted hundreds of interesting quantities from calibration data and uploaded them to a MySQL database.• Calibrated the detector's electron recoil response as a function of energy and electric field throughout the Run04 data taking campaign.• Calibrated the detector's light and charge gain factors to produce an accurate combined energy model.• Measured light and charge yields from multiple line sources. Hardware• Developed internal tritium calibration technique to calibrate the LUX detector’s electron recoil response with unprecedented precision. The calibration source is now the standard in dark matter experiments around the world.• Built on-site gas sampling system for real-time monitoring of xenon impurities at the part-per-trillion level.• Assayed 300 kg of xenon prior to use in the LUX detector to ensure the success of LUX’s xenon purification campaign.Responsibilities• Led on site detector operations as Deputy Science Coordination Manager• Responsible for monitoring system status and responding to alarm conditions as Detector Operations Manager• Served as liaison between LUX and SURF personnel as on-site shift manager.

Harrisonburg, Va, Us

• Designed and maintained table-top experiments to characterize the complex, non-linear behavior of granular systems• Implemented computer vision techniques to quantitatively characterize particle movement in a two dimensional shear flow.• Utilized optical polarization techniques to quantify stress networks in granular systems• Performed statistical analysis to characterize relevant parameters in a two dimensional granular shear flow.

Greenbelt, Md, Us

• Analyzed data from Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) to provide the most sensitive search for hard X-ray emissions around the on-set time of supernovae.• Quantified the X-ray counterpart to Fermi-LAT pulsar observations using X-ray emission data from the Chandra and BeppoSax missions.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Physics

Bachelor’S Degree, Physics, Magna Cum Laude