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About

Anilkumar Mailvaganam is a key figure in the development of next-generation astronomical instrumentation, with his work centered on enhancing the observational power of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). His primary research area involves the design and implementation of advanced fibre-fed positioning systems, most notably through the MANIFEST project. As a major contribution, Mailvaganam leads the effort to equip the 24.5m GMT with MANIFEST, a sophisticated robotic fibre-positioner that will dramatically expand the telescope’s field-of-view and multiplexing capabilities. This system will feed light from a 14 arcmin field to the GMT’s first-light instruments—the high-resolution spectrograph G-CLEF and the low/mid-resolution GMACS—enabling simultaneous multi-object spectroscopy across a wide area. By doing so, his work will allow astronomers to conduct large-scale surveys of galaxies, stars, and transients with unprecedented efficiency. While his most cited paper (2024, 2 citations) is still emerging, its significance lies in defining the operational framework for a facility that will shape astronomical discovery for decades. Mailvaganam’s engineering and scientific leadership is instrumental in realizing the GMT’s full potential, marking him as a vital contributor to the future of ground-based astronomy.