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About

Eric Wille is a specialist in X-ray optics instrumentation, with a career centered on developing advanced mirror technologies for next-generation space-based X-ray observatories. His most significant contributions lie in the design, fabrication, and mass production of Silicon Pore Optics (SPO), an enabling technology for ESA's ambitious ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics) mission. Wille's work has tackled some of the field's most demanding engineering challenges: achieving high angular resolution while minimizing mirror mass and cost at unprecedented scales. His 2013 paper on segmented x-ray optics integration, his most cited work with 21 citations, addressed critical alignment and fabrication techniques using borosilicate glass slumping, while his research on SPO mass production has helped establish viable manufacturing pathways for assembling the hundreds of mirror modules ATHENA requires. Beyond individual components, Wille has contributed to the broader integration infrastructure, including the development of full-scale optical benches and co-alignment facilities essential for assembling the telescope's mirror array. His body of work, spanning over a decade of mission-critical technology development, has been instrumental in advancing Europe's capabilities in high-energy astrophysics instrumentation and positioning ATHENA as a transformative future observatory.