Dimitri Mawet
Research Interests: Extrasolar Planetary Systems Formation and Evolution; Optical and Infrared Astronomy Instrumentation
Overview
Dimitri Mawet is a professor of astronomy with 25 years of experience in developing advanced technologies and specialized instrumentation for high-contrast imaging and the spectroscopic characterization of exoplanets. His work spans coronagraphy, wavefront control, nulling interferometry, spectroscopy, and polarimetry.
Professor Dimitri leads extensive science campaigns, primarily utilizing the W.M. Keck Observatory's 10-meter telescopes. He manages a group of approximately 10 students and postdocs and mentors several undergraduate students as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Exoplanet Technology Laboratory and the High Contrast Spectroscopy Testbed for Segmented Telescopes (HCST) at Caltech. The lab is primarily focused on developing technologies for NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) as well as future ground-based instrumentation.
Additionally, he is the PI for several key instruments at the Keck Observatory, including the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC), HISPEC (currently in preliminary design), and MODHIS, a planned first-light instrument for the Thirty Meter Telescope.
Selected Awards
- NASA Agency Honor and Group Achievement Awards for the HabEx Science and Technology Definition team, 2019
- NASA Agency Honor and Group Achievement Awards for the WFIRST Independent External Technical/Management/Cost Review, 2019
- ESO Exceptional Performance Award, 2013 & 2014
- NASA Group Achievement Award, High Contrast/Resolution Exoplanet Imaging Team, 2011
- JPL Team Award for outstanding contributions to the Exoplanet Coronagraph Technology Group, 2010
Selected Awards
- NASA Agency Honor and Group Achievement Awards for the HabEx Science and Technology Definition team, 2019
- NASA Agency Honor and Group Achievement Awards for the WFIRST Independent External Technical/Management/Cost Review, 2019
- ESO Exceptional Performance Award, 2013 & 2014
- NASA Group Achievement Award, High Contrast/Resolution Exoplanet Imaging Team, 2011
- JPL Team Award for outstanding contributions to the Exoplanet Coronagraph Technology Group, 2010
Caltech Affiliations
- Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2021-present
Caltech Affiliations
- Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2021-present
Leadership
- Director of Instrumentation, Caltech Optical Observatories (COO), 2025-present
Leadership
- Director of Instrumentation, Caltech Optical Observatories (COO), 2025-present
PhD Thesis: Subwavelength gratings for extrasolar planetary system detection and characterization
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Instructor: Mawet