1
Astrofest 2023: Life After Ph.D. Panel
Dr. Alex
Gagliano
IAIFI Fellow
Harvard CfA/MIT
Dr. Eric Morganson
Sr. Data Scientist
Caterpillar Analytics
Dr. Kartik Sheth
Program Scientist
NASA HQ
Dr. Ali Vanderveld
Senior Staff Machine
Learning Scientist
Wayfair
Moderator: Dr. Cassie
Reuter
Dr. Alex Gagliano
IAIFI Fellow
Harvard CfA/MIT
Cambridge, MA
CV highlights
Grew up in: Northern VA
Undergrad Institution: Virginia Tech
PhD Institution: UIUC
Thesis: Transient-host galaxy correlations
Now: Postdoc Fellow in Physics and AI
Bio: Alex deciphers the physics of explosive transients using machine learning. He is
interested in identifying rare phenomena early enough to enable spectroscopic analyses.
2
Astrofest 2023: Life After Ph.D. Panel
Dr. Eric Morganson
Sr. Data Scientist
Caterpillar Analytics
Champaign
CV highlights
Grew up in SF Bay Area
BS Caltech Physics
PhD Stanford Applied Physics (Astronomy)
Dissertation: Measurement and Applications of
the Faint Source Correlation Function
Postdocs at MPIA & CfA, Staff Scientist NCSA
Bio: I lead the development of minesite simulation software at Caterpillar. This
is in preparation for the electrification of mining industry.
3
Astrofest 2023: Life After Ph.D. Panel
Dr. Kartik Sheth
Program Scientist
NASA HQ
Washington DC
Born: Mumbai, India
Grinnell College + B.A. Physics
UMinn. + MS. Physics (Thesis: Physics Education)
UMary + MS/PhD Astrophysics
Molecular Gas in Nearby Barred and Unbarred Spiral galaxies.
Postdoc - Caltech
Permanent Science Staff: Caltech
Tenure - NRAO/UvA (resigned tenure to go work at NASA)
NASA - Astrophysics and Earth Science (Applied Science)
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
CEO/Founder - Empowered Earth Alliance
Bio: Science and technology policy + management of missions / R&D. Interested in
transitioning to climate change solutions / advancing equity through empowerment
4
Astrofest 2023: Life After Ph.D. Panel
Dr. Ali Vanderveld
Senior Staff Machine Learning Scientist
Wayfair
Chicago, IL
CV highlights
Grew up around the Midwest
Undergrad in physics at UIUC (2001)
PhD in astrophysics from Cornell (2007)
Thesis on supernova measures of dark energy
Postdoctoral positions: Caltech/JPL and U Chicago
Tech jobs: Groupon, 2 startups, Amazon, Wayfair
Bio: Ali is currently the technical lead for the Search and Recommendations org, where
she leads the development of real-time machine learning systems to determine what to
show customers as they shop on a site with millions of products.
5
Astrofest 2023: Life After Ph.D. Panel
