Enectalí "Tali" Figueroa-Feliciano (born 1971) is a Puerto Rican

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and professor at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

who pioneers the development and application of transition edge sensor (TES) detectors to experiments for detecting

dark matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...

neutrino A neutrino ( ; denoted by the Greek letter ) is an elementary particle that interacts via the weak interaction and gravity. The neutrino is so named because it is electrically neutral and because its rest mass is so small ('' -ino'') that i ...

interactions, and for

X-ray astronomy X-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to ...

Early years

Figueroa-Feliciano was born in 1971 in the city of

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is the ninth-largest Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez (Township of Virgin of Candelaria, Our Lady of Candelaria), and is also ...

, which is located on the western coast of the island. After he graduated in 1989 from high school C.R.O.E.M. (Centro Residencial de Opportunidades Educativas en Mayaguez), he attended the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus and, in 1995, earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

NASA

Figueroa-Feliciano continued his academic studies at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, earning a master's degree (1997) and doctorate (2001) in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. While studying at Stanford, Figueroa-Feliciano did his dissertation research at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, as part of the Science Cooperative Education program. Upon his graduation from Stanford, Figueroa-Feliciano became an astrophysicist for the Goddard Space Flight Center, where he served as the microcalorimeter leader for the Generation-X Vision Mission; and as a member of the following teams: Constellation-X facility science team, Suzaku Observatory science working group, and the

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

Quantum

Calorimeter A calorimeter is a device used for calorimetry, or the process of measuring the heat of chemical reactions or physical changes as well as heat capacity. Differential scanning calorimeters, isothermal micro calorimeters, titration calorimeters ...

(XQC) sounding rocket team. Figueroa-Feliciano pioneered the development of position-sensitive detectors that will provide an order of magnitude more

pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a Raster graphics, raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, p ...

s (and thus larger field of view) than traditional single-pixel X-ray microcalorimeters.MIT Faculty
/ref> He has received several NASA awards for the development and demonstration of position-sensitive x-ray microcalorimeters. He served as President of the Sixth Executive Council of the NASA Academy Alumni Association from August 1, 2003, to December 31, 2004. In September 2003, Figueroa-Feliciano was interviewed for the position of Astronaut candidate.

Awards and distinctions

Figueroa-Feliciano was awarded a NSF Early Career Development Grant while at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. He is a Kavli Frontiers of ScienceKavli Frontiers of Science
/ref> Fellow.

Career and Research

Figueroa-Feliciano is an associate professor of physics at

. His current research goalsFigueroa Research Group
/ref> include the search for dark matter (both directly and indirectly), the study of neutrino-nucleon scattering, and X-ray astronomy. His work on dark matter was featured in the 2008 '' NOVA scienceNOW'' program "Dark Matter" on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. In 2010, he received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Selected publications by Figueroa-Feliciano

Figueroa-Feliciano has contributed to the following publications as author or co-author: *''Position-sensitive low-temperature detectors;'' E. Figueroa-Feliciano. Invited review in ''Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research'' pp. 496–501, 2004. *''Cryogenic Microcalorimeters,'' M. Galeazzi and E. Figueroa-Feliciano. Contributed chapter in .''X-ray Spectrometry: Recent Technological Advances;'' John Wiley & Sons, 2004. *''Position-sensitive transition edge sensor modeling and results;'' C. Hammock, E. Figueroa-Feliciano, E. Apodaca, S. Bandler, K. Boyce, J. Chervenak, F. Finkbeiner, R. Kelley, M. Lindeman, S. Porter, T. Saab, and C. Stahle. ''Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research;'' pp. 505–507, 2004.

Note

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa-Feliciano, Enectali 1971 births People from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Living people Puerto Rican scientists NASA people NASA astrophysicists Stanford University alumni Northwestern University faculty